Posted on Aug 1, 2017
Why do you believe some SMs feel the need to embellish the level of their service by lying about their MOS or deployment experience?
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Obviously, this doesn't not pertain to most veterans, but it can be easily said that some men and women tend to either twist the truth or outright lie about the extent of their service in the military. Why do you believe they may do this?
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Responses: 29
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Some folks just have a low self esteem I guess about what they actually accomplished. We're always gonna have that friend that likes to embellish or exaggerate their war stories( it makes for a good laugh when done right).
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MAJ Don Bigger
Agreed. Primarily low self-esteem.
I learned that while getting my double PhD in Human Psychology and Psychotherapy while on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Heidelberg
I learned that while getting my double PhD in Human Psychology and Psychotherapy while on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Heidelberg
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LTC John Mohor
Thanks for reaffirming that I do still remember something from my undergrad Psychology Course!
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Why does anyone lie or embellish anything in life? It's not just in the military. People do this in the civilian world. Think about fishing stories. People tell whoppers of tales about the size of the fish they caught. No one wants to say they caught the smallest fish in the world. Each time they tell the story the fish gets an inch or two bigger.
It's hard to say why anyone lies or makes up stuff. It depends on the person. People might lie or embellish service to make themselves look like they did more than they actually did. Most civilians don't understand how the military works. So some people don't want to say "I sat behind a desk every day and processed paperwork." So they might make up some things. Or maybe if they are older they just remember it differently than it happened.
It's hard to say why anyone lies or makes up stuff. It depends on the person. People might lie or embellish service to make themselves look like they did more than they actually did. Most civilians don't understand how the military works. So some people don't want to say "I sat behind a desk every day and processed paperwork." So they might make up some things. Or maybe if they are older they just remember it differently than it happened.
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When I was in the tall tale was certainly common. "So there I was, no sh!t..." was almost always a prelude to one fish story or another.
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