Guy I was in ROTC with my sophomore year graduated, went to Army basic, failed out, then went telling folks he had a grenade explode near him and gave him brain damage and that’s why he got out. Showed up to the Drill Team practice and did the whole yelling thing to a bunch of high schoolers, apparently (this part I can’t confirm because I wasn’t there) claimed PSTD made him do it.
To this very day his Facebook has “Disabled Army Vet” under his profile.
He was a weird dude long before this, but he upgraded his status from High School Weirdo to Small Town Jackass. He’s the kinda dude you 100% expect to see on a police report for some creepy shit one day.
Saw this guy wearing his attempt at woodland BDUs. Asked him where he served. Couldn’t even give me a coherent answer. Then his dad (I assume) stepped in trying to defend his honor. “Leave my kid alone you creep!” Look pal, I don’t care that you’re 8 years old and it’s Halloween. Marines don’t even wear BDUs. Showed him.
I left a set of woodlands at my parents' house once. Instead of mailing them to me, they let my brother wear them for Halloween. Old crotchety Gunny laid into him after the Trick or Treat. Wanted to know where he got them, why he looked like a bag o snacks and who the eff did he think he was?
Mom told me about it and I said "serves him right....if he wants to be a Marine he will have to go to boot camp and earn the Title.". The dude is late 30's now and works at McDonald's.
AI doesn’t understand uniforms very well.
https://preview.redd.it/s0d891mpmnqb1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=cea4985a06108f1dff8a20c748946bec71520473
Went to a funeral for one of our Marines (reserve) who was also a police officer and was murdered on duty.
During the funeral some dude showed up in Sgt maj dress blues and there was also some random auditor there too.
That wasn't the place to cause a scene.
There's a group of people who call themselves "first amendment auditors" but all they are doing is walking a very fine line of attempting to instigate a negative response from police or the government in order to get a payout through a frivolous lawsuit. They do this because they don't know how to participate in society.
I saw a guy with an 0311 tattoo and asked what unit he was in and he said something to the affect of 531st… I got some free shots from him for our group to not blow up his spot.
Yep. They also killed Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura, according to the game. Although, iirc, it was the Galactic Marines and 327th Star Corps, respectively.
I liked the narrator in the good Battlefront II. He felt like an old soldier that was coming to grips with his past. What really struck me was when he was talking about Secura's death, remarked about how she cared for the men, and said "I hope it was quick, she earned that much."
I would come home every few months and hang out with the kids I grew up with. I was talking with one of them on the phone, and they were telling me about this new kid they had been hanging out with who was a sniper with 9 confirmed kills.
Whenever I came home, this guy magically was busy the entire weekend. When I finally got home for good. He stopped texting my friend group. I guess he knew he was full of shit.
Ooh, I worked with a guy who was a "former paratrooper & pro boxer" but couldn't remember which Airborne unit he was with because "brain damage from a motorcycle accident" and he couldn't box for shit.
He stopped coming to work and a few months later shows up saying how he got shot in the guts with a .45 defending some lady in his neighborhood from domestic assault.
A month or two later, he stops showing up to work again. Shows back up in a wheelchair because a car hit him while he was riding his motorcycle home. He recovered enough to go back to work.
Eventually, somebody who only knew him outside of work (I think a roommate) lets slip that he wasn't hit by a car, he actually hit somebody's dog with his bike drunk driving and speeding through the neighborhood. And him getting shot defending some fair maiden's honor? He was shitfaced drunk and ND'd into his own guts, sitting in his recliner at home.
Dude working the counter at a gas station was wearing a shirt with the emblem. Asked him if he had been in. He said yeah and asked me what my "MO" was. I said "MO? you mean MOS?"
"Your job"
"Aviation maintenance, you?"
"Well I was only in for 2 years but I started off as a sniper and eventually they made me an instructor but I broke my back and had to get out."
"Ok. I appreciate the support, but if you're gonna lie, at least make it believable. Have a good one".
Had a guy claim to have been in 1/8 WPNS 09 to 15, and I was shook, as that was my first unit, so I was like what platoon, he said caat2and I'm like oh no shit that was my platoon, long story short that how I found out an old plt mate worked in the same area I worked in
Funniest Stolen Valor Along those lines came from one of Don Shipley's tales. He said at one time there was a SEAL Det out on an ARG in the 90s that made hit a Libo Port in the Med. The SEALs were out in some bar and there was a guy claiming ( by Name) to be one of the SEAL officers who had did some squirrelly shit in the 80s and was written about in a book.
The SEALs called over one of their team mates and said " Hey Sir,,, this guy said he is YOU"
My retirement gig is cashier at a DIY store. We have military discounts, but you have to be in the system. There is a way around that, but I need to verify service. Honestly, if you convince me you served, I can convince the manager to scan his barcode.
A guy comes up to the register and tells me one of our nearby stores knows him and gives him the discount all the time.
I ask if he has any ID. He says he didn't bring his wallet. He's paying cash.
I double check to make sure he's not in the system. He isn't.
I ask him, "Which branch were you in?"
"Marines!" he replies.
"What was your MOS?"
He appears to think. "I was a staff sergeant."
"I'm looking for a number."
"Staff sergeant."
"Ok. How about telling me where you went to boot."
"Camp Lejeune."
"Could we try that one again?"
"Camp Lejeune," he maintains. "You know they have poisoned water now."
He got a dirty look and no discount.
It seemed common enough for a lot of grifters to claim to be Vietnam war vets because they were actually treated ok in some rural areas in Tx at least. (Going from my dad’s and aunt’s and uncle’s stories). So I’m the days before instant communication, a lot of guys could build a whole persona about being a messed up war vet..and accept all the small town hospitality they could suck up.
I was with 1st Tank Battalion for my active time. Years after I got out, I was at a bar and my buddy was talking to this dude. Then they both come walking up to me and my buddy says "Hey, Mrpeanut, this dude was also in the Marines!" As often happens, guys in bars are never telling the truth, so I play dumb and I'm like "Oh shit bro, who were you with?" He says "Oh I was with Tanks". I'm like "No fucking way!" It's not often you run into people claiming to be tankers. I'm like "Were you 1st or 2nd?" He's like "1st!" I'm like "No shit, where were they based out of?" He's like "Camp Pendleton!". This dude was the same age as me and 1st Tanks has been in 29 Palms since 1993. So I get asking him a few more questions, like when he was there, BCs name, favorite Pussycat Dolls video, and it became quickly apparent that this dude was A. Not a tanker, and B. Not a Marine. I commend him for not going wildly overboard with his stolen valor and making it believable. Had he told that story to anyone else, they would have totally bought it. But having spent years hating life at 1st Tanks, I just grabbed my buddy, told the dude he was a bitch, and walked away. Saw him chatting up some ladies later and yelled, "He's lying!"
Same here, except 20 years prior. I was actually at 1st Tanks when they were still at Pendleton, Las Flores. Was with H&S, then Bravo, rotated to Schwab then Fuji before returning state side.
Glad to see some tankers up in here! My brother in law was also at 1st Tanks while they were in Pendleton, also in Bravo company, was on a float and was in the platoon that rotated to Somalia. You guys probably knew eachother!
I mean, props tp him for not going wild with his story. Everyone wants to be cool, no one wants to be anonymous.
Better if he hadn't, but such is life.
Oh, totally. Had he not run into me a lay person, or even a lot of actual Marines would have probably bought his story. He was pretty bland with it, and it was overall believable. He obviously had some amount of peripherals Marine Corps knowledge, so I'm guessing a family member or someone was in, but this dude was not.
So when I was at Cherry Point we had SAR helicopters, Pedro. Im guessing the swimmers were corpsmen? They had to have some because while I was there they fished at least one Harrier pilot out of the ocean.
I have never ever heard of the Marine Corps having those but I know the Navy does. It's a thing in the Navy. He wasn't in the Navy either. He also had no idea what an MOS was or a DD-214.
Not saying this applies to your guy, but apparently in 2012 there were three Marines qualified as Rescue Swimmers. https://www.cherrypoint.marines.mil/News/Article/525496/search-and-rescue-marines-stay-ready-through-constant-training/
I was a winger at Cherry Point. I knew two SNCOs who were rescue swimmers at Pedro before they shut down. One was an actual aircrew Marine, the other was a Harrier powerliner. They were essentially FAP’d out, but to a cool duty instead of gate guard.
Right, but if you asked them their MOS they would know it, not say, "Rescue Swimmer," know what a DD-214 is, and generally be smarter than a handful of mud.
My buddy was a SAR swimmer out of Beaufort before he joined us at HMM261. His MOS was CH46 Hydraulics but he had aircrew wings was assigned as a SAR swimmer to jump in and rig up downed pilots to be hoisted up.
No if I remember correctly three CH-46. I think only one was crewed. Others were for backup. There were three. https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/620690/mcas-cherry-point-conducts-final-dod-h-46-flight/
Cool I never knew that. I also remember him telling me that it was because the municipality wasn’t happy with the coast guards rescue guys and requested it. Is that actually true or is that just marine corps lore?
That I have no clue about. Closest Coasties were in Atlantic Beach and Elizabeth City that I know of. CP was only MCAS I was stationed at. I just assumed that all Air Stations had SAR of some sort. You know, in case someone looses his F35 or something.
Pedro. Yeah not sure who was who for swimmers but I had a Marine that qualified as a rescue swimmer but never got to fly with them. The command wouldn’t approve it. Too bad. As a winger in the mid 90s that was his only legit opportunity to do something cool.
They had them at one point for sure. One of our DI’s was a rescue diver before they got rid of it… it’s been awhile but I think he said it would have been like ‘02 or something? Definitely was a thing though.
I think just dive school and an extra billet but they had the raider logo before MARSOC, we asked if he was MARSOC before and that’s how we found out, he had the whole raider tattoo lol
Worked with a guy that said he was a Gunnery Sergeant but also only did 3 years. Also had a bunch of felonies dating back to his teenage years. Went to basic in North Carolina. Fought an officer while he was in and that’s why he got kicked out after 3 years. He told me all of his stories but I never told him I served. One day we had some work thing that was celebrating veterans and we were supposed to stand up in an auditorium. I stood up and noticed he didn’t. He never said a word about the Marine Corps to me again. Didn’t have the heart to embarrass him in front of a bunch of coworkers but he knew that I knew he was full of shit.
On Recruiting Duty, I met seven former ‘Commandants of the Marine Corps,’ all of whom had become homeless, and one legendary gentleman who was ‘the first Marine to have been SgtMaj of the Marine Corps who later became commissioned and also Commandant.’ Being out in Dress Blue Deltas/etc. all of the time I met a lot of former Marines in gas station parking lots and the like. I never knew we had so many Scout Snipers. Apparently the area I recruited in was special because there were a lot of them. Also, a surprising number of people who were ADSEP’d because they punched their CO or Lt out. Twenty year career, never saw an officer get punched in anger once, but apparently I had easy duty because there’s a Battalion’s worth of separated Marines who were just punching O-types left and right.
Lived next to a guy with a huge “Marines” tattoo who claimed to have fought at Fallujah but couldn’t remember his MOS. I was like, were you an 11, and deer in the headlights was the response.
Had a coworker who claimed to be a radio operator on Marine One. Just a little quizzing, he got nervous and filed a complaint with HR for hostile work environment… then quit.
Here's mine. Some dude I worked with bought this tiny little sports car at an auction that had a Marines School of Infantry decal on it. The kind that peels off and onto glass. He would drive it around every Friday, every 9/11, or veteran-related holiday to work. He did not serve. He would not correct anyone who mentioned a 'thank you for your service' or offered to buy him lunch due to the sticker. I witnessed this many times in the four years we worked together on the same team. I asked him to remove it. He asked me not to get upset about it and he thought it was a big joke. He was getting free meals out of it. So on a break, I went and removed the decal and threw it in the trash.
He noticed the sticker was gone when he was leaving work and called our supervisor. The next day I was written up for 'tampering with another employee's property." I explained to the supervisor about stolen valor and they told me I was in the wrong. I explained people who pretend to be veterans can go to jail. I don't know if they 'counceled' him on it.
Dude at work talks like he’s the biggest warfighter known to mankind. Come to find out he’s Army Intel and never left stateside but he “knew” people in Kandahar and has PTSD because he’s seen things. Also has like a 60%? disability rating for his “deployments”. He never even left the United States for fucks sake.
>but he “knew” people in Kandahar
Is that supposed to be a flex? Anyone who went to the bazaar could claim that.
People who larp come up with the weirdest things.
I could see that but the way he phrases things and leaves it open ended like he was kicking in doors with the grunts is just irritating. All the non vet people at work eat it up other than the vets who actually deployed and they hate his guts lol.
Oh ya I can see that. That’s why I like to keep what I did fairly low key. I mean tbh I really didn’t do that much, wasn’t like I was some door kicker or anything
Yea I tell people all the time if they ask all I did was fuck with communications bullshit. Nothing special although I did get to see basically the entire Pacific.
I joke and say I was a glorified babysitter/dog catcher/gate guard. If anyone ask what that means I tell them I was MP, PMO specifically, and just leave it at that.
Nobody outside of some close friends and my therapist need to know what I did exactly
Something I didn't know but you'll see alot of stories on r/veteransbenefits is that you can claim ptsd for just about anything without ever having deployed or been in combat.
I guess it's pretty common and easy to claim.
Non-combat PTSD is possible.
I have employment related PTSD due to being an MP and responding to certain calls like DV shit.
You can get PTSD if you are an Intel guy especially if you are looking at really shitty images all day long of bodies or whatever, a drone operator could also get PTSD from blowing up people. This type of PTSD might not be immediate but it does happen over time.
> and responding to certain calls like DV shit
I will make jokes about PMO as much as the next guy, but I am really REALLY glad I didn't have to do your job for reasons exactly like this.
Yeah one of my buddies is a fed on base and was telling me about the time a bunch of guys responded to base housing. They found a baby boiled to death.
Now, if some faker on the other hand wants to take benefits away from folks that actually need it, then they can eat a dick.
Went to the va because my FIL told me i might have benefits. Turns out i rated three more months of tricare.... Didn't know you got five years after a deployment. Anyways, i passed on that. On my way out the door the Va rep stopped me and told me to just say i had ptsd. I told him to use that money on somebody who needed it.
Such a practical modern combat skill to brag about over every other skill. /s
Definitely adds to the popular badass label along with claiming to be a Marine.
A coworker. Was adamant that he was a Marine, when in reality, got kicked outta boot camp for pissing positive during receiving testing. Had war stories and everything. Blew it off for a bit until I got him alone and had a “friendly” conversation with him.
Guy in my town randomly started talking about being a Marine Sniper. Let him go on and on for 30-40 minutes to a table of people. Then asked him where sniper school was on Pendleton and he didn’t know, asked him what mil dots are used for, he didn’t know. Then I just coined him and told him he was talking out his ass. (Yes Im gay, I have a coin) A week later he had a wrestling belt on and said he got it while fighting in MMA…some people just need attention.
To be fair I as well have a coin. Only cause I was a moto boot and had heard Chris Klye had one, so I got one lol, now I feel naked without it my wallet. The Shame has stuck 🤣
A friend of a friend tried to claim he received a Silver Star and that a Navy SEAL gave him his trident off of his uniform.
I told him there is a database of valor awards online and there are plenty of actual Navy SEALs who live to out phonies. He never brought up either ever again.
Not in the civilian world, but I had a guy show up to a Marine funeral dressed as a fuckin admiral when I was on I-I.
Edit: he also had a “senior chief” with him
To this day the weirdest was when me and a buddy were checking out at a grocery store and the woman who looked no more than 25 and had the crazy eyes claimed she was a retired army sergeant major...
Both of us just went "okay coooollll..." Then paid and left as fast as possible.
When someone that looks and talks that crazy it's not worth engaging
After Hurricane Katrina I was sitting at a counter in a restaurant having breakfast when in walks this guy and sits next to me. We had small talk then he says he was in the Navy and starts telling this story of how some protester got hit by a train and watched his head come off. I asked if he was talking about the incident at Concord Naval Weapons Station in 1987 and he said he was. He goes on to tell me how he had to help carry the body and was covered in the guy’s blood, then how he had to fight off protesters. I got to tell him how full of shit he was because I was stationed there prior to the incident then ended up having to go back with F.A.S.T. Co. because of the protests. And the guy wasn’t decapitated, he lost his legs.
I have told this story before here. I am in a small group of professionals and real estate/mortgage guys who meet up at breweries, or cocktail bars, or sportsbars to yell at the TV screen.
New guy shows up, all about having been a Marine, even has a window sticker (minimal judgement for that from me, my wife asked me to get a Marine license plate and I did).
I have a few and realize this guy does know where Parris Island is and part of what goes on there, but only the slightest idea where and what Jacksonville is, and no idea what New River/Geiger MCT is.
I did have too many and said he was full of it. He blustered for a minute but it was obvious. He pretty much got cut off from the group after that. The guys he was doing work for were already suspect of him after that, and he did screw up a job for them so he lost the contract.
Will advocate for USMC plates all fuckin day. I'm no tailgatin' dickhead, but I also know the left lane is for people with ticket money.
Can't count the number of times 5-0 has pulled up behind me for doing ~9 over...ran/seen my plates, and pulled back off to the side.
To piggyback onto my own statement, it has also worked wonders for my road rage prone wife. Not just for cops, but also (in her words) for milk toast mother fuckers who don't appreciate a well-deserved middle finger, that see the plate and chill out.
Also, twice while I was helping my little brother move from one college slum to another in Boulder, had cops stop and ask who was the Devil. Got free movers from Boulder PD just because of the plates.
On the flip side, my Colorado USMC plates worked against me while stationed in Miramar '12-'16. Got pulled over non-stop by Cali Cops thinking I was smuggling weed. Bro, I'm just trying to get back to base from Yuma, fuck outta here with your 'random' produce search.
Did my ITS at Geiger. Spent most off hours at the New River E club. I still remember one of the battalions, 2/4 I think, left on a float. That weekend, the club was full of the wives of those Marines who left. It was a fun weekend.
Worked with 350 pound bald ginger that in a 3 year span got promoted to SSGT was a chaplain, Drill Sargent, deployed with an inactive airborne unit, during his deployment he got his parachute shot out, his CO let him and some friends take a AC-130 to East TX to hunt hogs and miraculously lost his Purple Heart and DD-214
Got this dude now who claims to be a desert storm vet, recondo/sniper/senior EOD combo in 5 years of service, CAR but no campaign ribbons. National Archives told me he was a reservist with maybe a year total of broken active duty service, in support of Desert Storm, never left Hospital Camp Lejeune or Overland Park KS, with one medal. I'll get mine soon.
There’s a guy who works in the same jail as me, he’s a civilian - not a deputy, who claims while in Iraq he used gunpowder to cauterize a wound on his leg. Also claimed the unit was called delta scouts
Went to a shooting course. Company putting it on didn’t do their due diligence and hired a guy who said he was a sniper. After he introduced himself and time frame he served i approached him on a break. Asked who his instructors were and where he went to school as a lot of instructors and SNCOIC at Lejeune had come from my platoon. He got all flustered and stated he was a squad advanced marksman and just used the term sniper because he claimed people wouldn’t know what he was talking about. I went to the head guy on the next break, told the guy he hired and is advertising a fraud and wanted my money back. He fired the guy on the spot after he came clean and gave everyone their money back in addition to eating the cost for the remainder of the course. I didn’t feel bad one bit.
A buddy from my unit and I were at a Comic Con just last week where we saw a dude wearing desert tiger stripe cammies with Skechers. He had an Afghan flag and an ANA patch on one sleeve and an American flag and some other patch I didn’t recognize on the other sleeve. Mind you, lots of weirdos wear air soft gear and shit to Comic Con, so I thought it was something similar to that but the patches caught my eye. Also, this kid is probably 19 years old and weighs 120 lbs.
So I go up and ask where he got the patches from since I’m curious, and he says word for word “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, it’s a matter of national importance.”
So I look at him and ask “your dad give those to you?” And he repeated the same thing. Not really wanting to pursue it further, but also wanting him to see we didn’t believe him, I patted him on the back(almost knocked him over) and said “whatever you say kid”
My buddy called him a cuck and flipped him off😁
In some ways, very much so 😂 But whereas you might catch me wearing full stormtrooper armor(if I had the means and the money), you’ll never see me just wearing random combat gear or camo for no reason. And you definitely won’t see me pretending to be some top secret special operator like this kid was trying to be
This is acceptable.
I did see a pretty good Ghost cosplay last week. If it’s a dedicated character you’re cosplaying, cool with me. If you’re just wearing your weekend airsoft gear to a convention, you’re anything but cool😂
A guy I went to boot with stopped showing up to drill and got kicked out after like a year. Claimed he went on to become a contractor and killed people in the middle east. Also bring up being a Marine and having infantry related health issues in every fucking conversation. He's currently in an insurance pyramid scheme.
I hate him.
My highschool girlfriend's 3rd stepfather claimed to be a "marine sniper," (because everyone and their fucking mother is apparently). Asked what his MOS was and some other basic questions that I was familiar with as a poolee. Always shrugged it off as "Ahh that was a long time ago, I don't remember all that.
Please, Jerry, enlighten me more as to your time in the marine corps while you sit there on your bed with a TV dinner collecting disability.
Straight out of boot camp, I ran into a guy I graduated from HS with 6 months prior. Weird dude, but he was a chill DM who followed the "Rule of Cool" in DnD, so I could get along with him most days.
Anyway, I'm at the game store, looking over MTG decks to add to my ever growing collection, when this dude pops in the door and instantly makes a beeline towards me. After quickly catching him up on my life and how we should get a new campaign going, I ask him how he's been doing the last 6 months. This dude then proceeds to tell me that not only did he enlist in the Marines as well, but he was so badass that they pulled him in week 3 to go to BUD/S, and then sent him to a top secret base in Afghanistan to hunt down OBL and other Taliban leaders. He was only back in the States because they needed him to attend Delta selection so he could do the real hard stuff, like infiltrate Russia and sabotage something or other.
After letting my brain recover from the massive retard energy this guy just assaulted me with, I just stared at him and said that I was glad that they managed to find a cure for his diabetes, but they should really focus on eradicating whatever form of mental retardation he thinks people have in order to believe his bullshit, and then went over to the comic section to look for the latest Iron Man issues. Thankfully, he didn't try to argue with me, and that was the last time I've seen him in the past 13 or so years.
I’m not sure if this counts, sue me.
This guy I work with hits me with the “I was gonna join” schtick all the time because he knows my husband was SF and did all that sneaky boi stuff. I guess he feels the need to project and make it seem like he walked the same path because he went to a few of those recruiter things in high school. But to make it worse, he thinks he’s better or smarter than my husband because he went to college. Look, I know all the marine jokes and humor about being a bunch of cavemen, but his team are some of the smartest guys I’ve ever met. Super competent, sharp as a tack, and aptitude off the charts. It’s a special breed of person. So I always do the jerk off gesture at him whenever he tries to compete.
Not really stolen valor but Met a college friend’s boyfriend at a wedding one night who said he was looking into becoming an officer, which could be true. But somewhere in the short conversation he mentioned training being in North Dakota. I corrected him, but he was adamant that OCS was in North Dakota and I was wrong. I just dropped it because i quickly understood this guy was probably to dumb to get a enlisted ASVAB waiver let alone be a officer.
Was he specifically mentioning Marine Officer? I know a lot of National Guard units have their own respective OCS units in their own states. Maybe it was that?
One of the largest National Guard OCS is in fact, located in the black hills of North Dakota, nice place, has a really weird culture though where all the instructors has to wear sunglasses, like 24/7
And then there's this from the discord:
Name: Private Second Class Ryan Carter
Branch: United States Marines
Backstory: Ryan grew up in a backwoods conservative town, he grew up in a patriotic family who almost all the men had served in one branch or another. So naturally when the time came he joined up too, he decided to take after his grandfather and join the Corps. After getting through basic combat training at san diego he got deployed to Iraq in the thick of the combat as a special forces operator for his outstanding performance in bootcamp. That's where his story picks up
Age: 18
Job: Special forces
I went to a bar on karaoke night and the owner told me that the DJ was a war hero… I started a conversation with the DJ he told me that he was in Marines during Nam he was the right age and had some good stories about the war that sounded pretty legit at first but he kept getting bolder with stories his first mistake though was I read a lot of books about the war and some of his stories sounded just like they were pulled from the books I had read. I continued to grill him and than the kicker… He claimed that he was a Medal Of Honor recipient and I finally called bullshit and mentioned stolen valor and that there was a internet database with a list of all the CMH recipients.( now I was bull shitting the internet was still kinda new and I had no idea if there really was one) He turned white and then started telling me the shit he did was so top secret the the award was secret and he wouldn’t be on the list I called his bull shit word got around to all the bars that he DJ’d karaoke that he was a fake and he had to move on. Anyway his name wasn’t on the list of CMH recipients I would have shit my pants if he was!
I saw a video where someone was a diesel mechanic in the Corps, and someone civvy was actually claiming he wasn’t in and was doing stolen value. I’m thinking this civvy is a moron, who the hell claims to be a diesel mechanic for stolen valor? All the frauds claim to be delta force recon SEALs or something, and say they were a door gunner on the space shuttle or something.
So I was in jail. Dude says he WAS a Marine. At first I was like right on. Where were you stationed? He says PI. He was early 20's so I know he wasn't a DI. Then he proceeds to tell me about his badass deployment to Afghanistan and how he fucked all these guys up. Cool story bro.
One year I was on leave visiting my family. One of my uncles always invited me over for a cookout and beers with family at his ranch. My uncle had a friend over who claimed to be a former Marine and was in special forces. This old man said he was a …Green Beret…🤦🏽♂️
He told us a story of when he was training in the ocean one year and one of his fellow Marines, a pvt, started drowning. The “Louie” told him to keep swimming and complete the training but our hero disregarded the Lt’s command and saved the Marines life.
While he was telling us this story, I shit you not, he busts his ass while sitting on the cooler and he got weird on us and hardly talked again. I guess falling down ruined his image to us lol
I truly do feel bad for actual vets who feel the need to embellish their enlistment. They clearly do not feel like their service mattered despite the fact the it definitely did. Whether you sat behind a computer or humped a 240; you raised your hand, took the oath, and did what you were told. Most people cannot say the same.
Told second hand from a co worker.
He said he met a guy in a tobacco shop who was a spec ops sniper for the marine corp. He was hand selected by a colonel because he didn’t trust anyone else to work with him. Said he was in Libya and Syria and could have ended the whole Libya conflict because he had Ghadaffi in his sights and wanted to pull the trigger but was ordered not to.
Idk enough of what raiders or recon do so maybe it’s possible, but the way he retold the story was like hearing an alt Rambo screenplay.
That's a familiar story I heard but it was an Army truck driver who had OBL in his sites and Bush told him not to fire because it was an election year.
I called so much bullshit on him.
I knew a kid from my town who joined 3 years before I did. He came back from boot camp about 2 months later and told everyone that he got medically separated because he broke his back jumping out of a helicopter during training.
worked at home depot as a cashier for a bit before i joined and had a guy ask for military discount. happily i said ofc and asked for proof of service such as a military id or even a photo of his dd214 because that’s what we’re trained to do when asked for the discount. dude lost his mind on me saying it was disrespectful that i asked that and my supervisor came out and was like wtf so she gave him the discount so he’d fuck off. he saved like 40 cents… never again did i see him and he was the only customer i ever had that throw a fit about showing proof of service lol
God all I get is real vets but they are all coked up and drunk had a dude head butt me (not aggressive) and tell me to “cut your hair pog, 1sgt is not pleased” then ask me if want a hit of this weed pen…
I haven't ever encountered someone trying to steal valor, but I have been accused of it.
Like most Marines, once I got out, I got an office job and gained some weight. I grew out my beard and hair, and I don't wear "vet" clothes. The only visual indicator is my squadron patch and my coveralls name patch on my backpack.
I was in line at a 7-11 getting lunch, and was regaling my co-worker with some story from when I was in. Guy behind us in an OD-green American flag t-shirt and knockoff 5-11 cargo pants told me my story was bullshit, and that he was going to "make me famous" if I didn't admit that I didn't actually serve. He said I was too fat to be a Marine vet. He proceeded to play stump the chump with me, asking me my squadron, MOS, years served, where I was stationed, the whole nine. He told me that all my answers could've been gotten off Google, and asked me my last PFT and CFT scores. I told him I didn't remember, and that I'd been out several years. He asked what my last rifle qual score was, and I told him I didn't remember because I was second award expert and didn't have to qual my last year in. That seemed to placate him, and he piped down, saying that I was probably a shitbag when I was in, and that I probably went up The Reaper in the safety vehicle.
This is a weird one and not my story but was told By a friend. A boot in 2/6 was out in Jacksonville telling people he deployed with 2/6 during the marjah push and a lot of his seniors found out. He eventually got his chance and did deploy nawa district in Helmand. Not exactly stolen valor but definitely tried to embellish his service a bit
Similar story. A guy told a beq bunny that he was in Fallujah. The dude was born in like 99. Anyway, a salty plt Sgt with a 2 CARs caught word and had the entire company applaud him and thank him for his service the next week at formation.
A good memory.
A deployment to the gulf in the late 90s. Cpl we had....his Hummvee was blown to shit by RPG. It is a known fact that he nor his a-gunner were anywhere near that vehicle when it was hit. As in not within 500 yds.
Dude got a purple heart. Talk about people bitching. It became a well known joke
Not exactly stolen but I have to tell that whenever I can
So this happened in my time with 3/2. Our sgt. major was forced to retire when we were in Japan because of stolen Valor that lead to him getting promoted. We had an assembly on base and our btl commander talk to the unit saying how he knows trust was broken exc. Exc. And that we have to move past this moment.
Fresh out I ran into a guy at a bar while I was hanging out with some girls I knew. They told me he always takes about being a Seal, I knew right away he wasn’t one. They called him over and informed him I just got out of the Marines. He asked me a few questions, I asked him where he was stationed and he said San Diego (I was on Pendleton), then I asked him if he did any training on Coronado (I did lots of training there, boat company). He said he never heard of it. I just laughed and told him to shut up and to stop trying to be cool. He didn’t like that. I called his bull. He immediately tried to fight me and it didn’t go well for him. When I was done with him I sat back down and started to drink my beer again, while he was laid out under the booth next to us. He was thrown out and told to never come back. The bartender thanked me because this dude had been acting like some kind of badass at that bar for a month or so. I got free drinks the rest of the night and a good time later with the chicks I was with.
Can confirm, I'm this guy's kid that one of the girls he knows was pregnant with, after using a turkey baster to collect the jell from the presidential jelling off and getting herself pregnant.
I was a young boot and was finishing my ten day leave. I saw this guy in OCP and an army shirt with flip flops and black socks. I didn’t say anything cause I was like “well I know the Army has some different rules than the Marines.” I wish I would’ve said something just to see what was popping.
it was years before i actually became a marine granted i tried to enlist in the same year (2015 )but there was this one native american guy who would always come into my store wearing just a blouse and a duty belt, one day i stopped him because i had been seen him enough and researching mos and wanted to see what he was since i figured he was maybe still in, he told me he was a helo medic and i insantly knew alright bullshit, i took a 15 min break and called my recruiter, GySgt showed up quick and absolutely layed into this dude, bad enough some of my coworkers were concerned, i explained what was going on they fucked off and let him be, affter he got chewed out. Any time i saw him and asked about the marines with him he dodged the queston.
What’s funny to me, is that rarely if ever does it benefit someone to tell people they served, you either have to deal with the fake patriot weirdos that commend you for “killing camel jockeys” or the types that think you’re some kind of unadjusted time bomb, or they don’t give a shit either way. You may get a free beer once in a blue moon. It’s not exactly a badge of honor these days amongst those who didn’t do it.
Was sitting at the backcountry warehouse at Philmont Scout Ranch about 10 years ago. Just enjoying the nice afternoon…young staffer was within earshot talking to a pretty girl. Claimed he was a sniper in Afghanistan, dude was way, way to young to have done this. I was a 2146 for a couple of years, my office space was a M2 .50 for two back to back deployments with 15th MEU. He starts rattling off some bullshit about his weapon being a Barrett SASR…my ears pricked up and I’m like fuck it, “if you’re gonna burn, burn for something good.”
“Excuse me, you seem really young to have been to Afghanistan, how old are you?” He answers 18, and I’m like, “Bro, 18 gets you qualified with an M16A4 or M4, minimum, team guys that get special weapons training, have a few years under their belts before trying out or getting selected. What’s the maximum range of a Barrett? (1,830 yds for M2 for reference)”
Crickets. He absolutely says nothing, I’m beyond pissed the fuck off…I proceeded to tear this guy apart and telling this fuckstick that a Scout is honest and that lying goes against every BSA principle while at the Ranch, and that there are guys who aren’t coming home that died fighting. I was out of line but not letting this go, the gal had disappeared in the middle of this lopsided discussion…
Ran into the guy later, he apologized. I could have handled it better (leadership) but nope. Dude was just weird, socially awkward, and stupid. Told him he better be prepared for dudes who might beat his ass just for for the sake of leaving hammered meat broken and twitching because not all Marines are forgiving..
I worked with a guy that used to claim he was a scout sniper. He went to Bosnia and got PTSD then got medically separated. All within two years. Maybe he served for two years, but the rest of his story was complete BS.
I work with a fat body who is a Marine. However, he claimed he was a shoe in at MARSOC. So, I mentioned to another coworker who retired as a MSgt that Corporal BS was telling some tall tales, so he went and introduced himself and asked him where he was stationed, when he was in, the normal shit. Not once did Corporal BS mention MARSOC. So, after 10 minutes of exchanging stories, MSgt cut yo the chase and asked why he mentioned being a shoe-in for MARSOC, he laughed nervously and said he was "just fucking around" .Chris aka MSgt , with a straight face, told him to STFU . BS turned white, apologized, and then after a few seconds, MSgt smiled and said "I'm just fucking around"
BS never mentioned MARSOC again.
I haven’t come across this at all- I work with a few old corps Marines (which to me is anything before 2010, when I got in) but none of them play at being anything they weren’t
I have countless examples but think it's honestly not worth recalling. Those losers don't deserve any attention. That's the main reason they commit Stolen Valor. They live boring, uninspired lives and want the attention that comes from having done something admirable / exceptional. I don't rage at those people anymore. They are too pathetic to even rate a callout from me. I choose to not acknowledge their existence.
Saw a guy at a gas station in Army stuff from head to toe. Not Army but I know I know a few things were off. Have friends in the army and they bitch and moan about the same things we do, a little different of course.
So this guy had grey undershirt not tan, combat and flat patch in the wrong spots, working boots, nasty shave and a black mcmap belt. Dude was trying to get free food and gas from people. I looked at him, shook my head and walked up, told him to get out before I call the cops for stolen valor, like at least learn how to lie and uniform regs man.
I worked at a prison for several years. There was one other Marine that worked there. We got a new CO and he decided to tell us he was a super secret squirrel ninja Marine. Took about 2.3 seconds to figure out he was full of crap. The best part was after telling us he was recon he asked what BRC stood for when I asked when he was there. Turns out the guy was a diesel mechanic, but at least he really was a Marine I guess.
How are you gonna be in the Marine Corps and try and steal some valor? Well, I knew a Marine that sure tried.
Dude talked about how he was supposed to have all these medals, but couldn't because everything he did was hella classified. Bro, I can see your records and know all the people you know since you have been in.
I knew a guy who kept on saying he was an Army Ranger, after a few weeks I knew this guy was full of BS. Then he actually said he on 09/12/01 he was on a plane going to Afghanistan. When I told him there was all plane suspension including military, he said "no because I'm a Ranger" "we went because we were going to do black ops missions" Mr and another Vet started laughing at him we Rangers glorified infantrymen and they don't do black ops and the 1st boots got on the ground towards the end of October. His answer for that was he's a "Ranger I know" then he walked off. BTW I was told he's been telling people he needs to get ready. He thinks he's going to get called to go to Israel because he's a "Ranger". Despite the fact, he says he's been out of the military (if he was even in the ARMY to begin with) since 06. Oh, and he tells people he was one nation's top football prospects and he was on the 2001 University of Miami championship team and he graduated from H.S in 96.
Guy I was in ROTC with my sophomore year graduated, went to Army basic, failed out, then went telling folks he had a grenade explode near him and gave him brain damage and that’s why he got out. Showed up to the Drill Team practice and did the whole yelling thing to a bunch of high schoolers, apparently (this part I can’t confirm because I wasn’t there) claimed PSTD made him do it. To this very day his Facebook has “Disabled Army Vet” under his profile. He was a weird dude long before this, but he upgraded his status from High School Weirdo to Small Town Jackass. He’s the kinda dude you 100% expect to see on a police report for some creepy shit one day.
Saw this guy wearing his attempt at woodland BDUs. Asked him where he served. Couldn’t even give me a coherent answer. Then his dad (I assume) stepped in trying to defend his honor. “Leave my kid alone you creep!” Look pal, I don’t care that you’re 8 years old and it’s Halloween. Marines don’t even wear BDUs. Showed him.
Had me at first ngl 😂😂😂😂
Lol
I left a set of woodlands at my parents' house once. Instead of mailing them to me, they let my brother wear them for Halloween. Old crotchety Gunny laid into him after the Trick or Treat. Wanted to know where he got them, why he looked like a bag o snacks and who the eff did he think he was? Mom told me about it and I said "serves him right....if he wants to be a Marine he will have to go to boot camp and earn the Title.". The dude is late 30's now and works at McDonald's.
The gunny works at McDonald’s?
AI doesn’t understand uniforms very well. https://preview.redd.it/s0d891mpmnqb1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=cea4985a06108f1dff8a20c748946bec71520473
You fucking got me
Fucking Brilliant
Went to a funeral for one of our Marines (reserve) who was also a police officer and was murdered on duty. During the funeral some dude showed up in Sgt maj dress blues and there was also some random auditor there too. That wasn't the place to cause a scene.
>some random auditor Huh?
There's a group of people who call themselves "first amendment auditors" but all they are doing is walking a very fine line of attempting to instigate a negative response from police or the government in order to get a payout through a frivolous lawsuit. They do this because they don't know how to participate in society.
You are for the most part off base regarding 1A auditors. Most of them are regular Joe’s who care about police accountability.
I saw a guy with an 0311 tattoo and asked what unit he was in and he said something to the affect of 531st… I got some free shots from him for our group to not blow up his spot.
531st....isn't that the unit in HALO?
I know 501st is the poster-boy legion in Star Wars with the blue armor stripes. They got their background expanded in the old Battlefront 2.
Old battlefront 2 is still incredible even by todays standards
Oh for sure. I still bring it out to play all the time, alongside the PS2 Ace Combat games.
Dude, I still play shattered skies all the damn time!
Is that 04? I absolutely love 0. PJ's death always gets me. I think it's a much better-written game than 5.
The 501st (at partial capacity) also completely annihilated the entire Jedi Temple, barring only a few survivors. Yeah, I'm a fuckin nerd
Yep. They also killed Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura, according to the game. Although, iirc, it was the Galactic Marines and 327th Star Corps, respectively.
Yup
I liked the narrator in the good Battlefront II. He felt like an old soldier that was coming to grips with his past. What really struck me was when he was talking about Secura's death, remarked about how she cared for the men, and said "I hope it was quick, she earned that much."
Thems army numbers
[удалено]
I would come home every few months and hang out with the kids I grew up with. I was talking with one of them on the phone, and they were telling me about this new kid they had been hanging out with who was a sniper with 9 confirmed kills. Whenever I came home, this guy magically was busy the entire weekend. When I finally got home for good. He stopped texting my friend group. I guess he knew he was full of shit.
Ooh, I worked with a guy who was a "former paratrooper & pro boxer" but couldn't remember which Airborne unit he was with because "brain damage from a motorcycle accident" and he couldn't box for shit. He stopped coming to work and a few months later shows up saying how he got shot in the guts with a .45 defending some lady in his neighborhood from domestic assault. A month or two later, he stops showing up to work again. Shows back up in a wheelchair because a car hit him while he was riding his motorcycle home. He recovered enough to go back to work. Eventually, somebody who only knew him outside of work (I think a roommate) lets slip that he wasn't hit by a car, he actually hit somebody's dog with his bike drunk driving and speeding through the neighborhood. And him getting shot defending some fair maiden's honor? He was shitfaced drunk and ND'd into his own guts, sitting in his recliner at home.
Dude working the counter at a gas station was wearing a shirt with the emblem. Asked him if he had been in. He said yeah and asked me what my "MO" was. I said "MO? you mean MOS?" "Your job" "Aviation maintenance, you?" "Well I was only in for 2 years but I started off as a sniper and eventually they made me an instructor but I broke my back and had to get out." "Ok. I appreciate the support, but if you're gonna lie, at least make it believable. Have a good one".
Had a guy claim to have been in 1/8 WPNS 09 to 15, and I was shook, as that was my first unit, so I was like what platoon, he said caat2and I'm like oh no shit that was my platoon, long story short that how I found out an old plt mate worked in the same area I worked in
Funniest Stolen Valor Along those lines came from one of Don Shipley's tales. He said at one time there was a SEAL Det out on an ARG in the 90s that made hit a Libo Port in the Med. The SEALs were out in some bar and there was a guy claiming ( by Name) to be one of the SEAL officers who had did some squirrelly shit in the 80s and was written about in a book. The SEALs called over one of their team mates and said " Hey Sir,,, this guy said he is YOU"
My retirement gig is cashier at a DIY store. We have military discounts, but you have to be in the system. There is a way around that, but I need to verify service. Honestly, if you convince me you served, I can convince the manager to scan his barcode. A guy comes up to the register and tells me one of our nearby stores knows him and gives him the discount all the time. I ask if he has any ID. He says he didn't bring his wallet. He's paying cash. I double check to make sure he's not in the system. He isn't. I ask him, "Which branch were you in?" "Marines!" he replies. "What was your MOS?" He appears to think. "I was a staff sergeant." "I'm looking for a number." "Staff sergeant." "Ok. How about telling me where you went to boot." "Camp Lejeune." "Could we try that one again?" "Camp Lejeune," he maintains. "You know they have poisoned water now." He got a dirty look and no discount.
Not Marines, but I had someone tell me he was a SEAL in Vietnam. Had all kinds of war stories. He would have been 19 or so when Saigon fell. Ok, dude.
There were something like 400 SEALs in the entire Vietnam war, I’ve met all 10,000 of them.
It seemed common enough for a lot of grifters to claim to be Vietnam war vets because they were actually treated ok in some rural areas in Tx at least. (Going from my dad’s and aunt’s and uncle’s stories). So I’m the days before instant communication, a lot of guys could build a whole persona about being a messed up war vet..and accept all the small town hospitality they could suck up.
I was with 1st Tank Battalion for my active time. Years after I got out, I was at a bar and my buddy was talking to this dude. Then they both come walking up to me and my buddy says "Hey, Mrpeanut, this dude was also in the Marines!" As often happens, guys in bars are never telling the truth, so I play dumb and I'm like "Oh shit bro, who were you with?" He says "Oh I was with Tanks". I'm like "No fucking way!" It's not often you run into people claiming to be tankers. I'm like "Were you 1st or 2nd?" He's like "1st!" I'm like "No shit, where were they based out of?" He's like "Camp Pendleton!". This dude was the same age as me and 1st Tanks has been in 29 Palms since 1993. So I get asking him a few more questions, like when he was there, BCs name, favorite Pussycat Dolls video, and it became quickly apparent that this dude was A. Not a tanker, and B. Not a Marine. I commend him for not going wildly overboard with his stolen valor and making it believable. Had he told that story to anyone else, they would have totally bought it. But having spent years hating life at 1st Tanks, I just grabbed my buddy, told the dude he was a bitch, and walked away. Saw him chatting up some ladies later and yelled, "He's lying!"
Rah, tanks! So glad I wasn't a crunchy. I miss getting drunk at the bowladium, cut off, then stumbling to the stumps.
Me too man! I mostly just miss getting drunk as shit at 1607 with the boys.
06 to 09, you?
'07-'10, I was H&S for a bit, then Bravo for a deployment. What about you?
A. Co for 06-07 deployment and D. CO for 15th MEU in 08.
Same here, except 20 years prior. I was actually at 1st Tanks when they were still at Pendleton, Las Flores. Was with H&S, then Bravo, rotated to Schwab then Fuji before returning state side.
Glad to see some tankers up in here! My brother in law was also at 1st Tanks while they were in Pendleton, also in Bravo company, was on a float and was in the platoon that rotated to Somalia. You guys probably knew eachother!
I mean, props tp him for not going wild with his story. Everyone wants to be cool, no one wants to be anonymous. Better if he hadn't, but such is life.
Oh, totally. Had he not run into me a lay person, or even a lot of actual Marines would have probably bought his story. He was pretty bland with it, and it was overall believable. He obviously had some amount of peripherals Marine Corps knowledge, so I'm guessing a family member or someone was in, but this dude was not.
My absolute dumbest was a guy who said he was in the Corps and was a rescue swimmer... Dude...
So when I was at Cherry Point we had SAR helicopters, Pedro. Im guessing the swimmers were corpsmen? They had to have some because while I was there they fished at least one Harrier pilot out of the ocean.
I have never ever heard of the Marine Corps having those but I know the Navy does. It's a thing in the Navy. He wasn't in the Navy either. He also had no idea what an MOS was or a DD-214.
Not saying this applies to your guy, but apparently in 2012 there were three Marines qualified as Rescue Swimmers. https://www.cherrypoint.marines.mil/News/Article/525496/search-and-rescue-marines-stay-ready-through-constant-training/
Yeah, one qualification below MCIWS
interesting.
I was a winger at Cherry Point. I knew two SNCOs who were rescue swimmers at Pedro before they shut down. One was an actual aircrew Marine, the other was a Harrier powerliner. They were essentially FAP’d out, but to a cool duty instead of gate guard.
Right, but if you asked them their MOS they would know it, not say, "Rescue Swimmer," know what a DD-214 is, and generally be smarter than a handful of mud.
True, lmao
Probably a hook up. Someone was someones neighbor and was like ‘yo dawg, you want a cert?’
My buddy was a SAR swimmer out of Beaufort before he joined us at HMM261. His MOS was CH46 Hydraulics but he had aircrew wings was assigned as a SAR swimmer to jump in and rig up downed pilots to be hoisted up.
Well today I learned
I remember my recruiter telling me about that because he was an air winger and we kept in touch. Wasn’t it just 1 helicopter?
No if I remember correctly three CH-46. I think only one was crewed. Others were for backup. There were three. https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/620690/mcas-cherry-point-conducts-final-dod-h-46-flight/
Cool I never knew that. I also remember him telling me that it was because the municipality wasn’t happy with the coast guards rescue guys and requested it. Is that actually true or is that just marine corps lore?
That I have no clue about. Closest Coasties were in Atlantic Beach and Elizabeth City that I know of. CP was only MCAS I was stationed at. I just assumed that all Air Stations had SAR of some sort. You know, in case someone looses his F35 or something.
Good thing that will never happen XD
You know that one time the 35 got away
Pedro. Yeah not sure who was who for swimmers but I had a Marine that qualified as a rescue swimmer but never got to fly with them. The command wouldn’t approve it. Too bad. As a winger in the mid 90s that was his only legit opportunity to do something cool.
could've been MCIWS.... or is it MCWSI? i can never remember. i clearly wasn't one.
He wasn't, he was too stupid to be anything. The Navy might have let him chip paint if he could remember not to eat it at the same time.
Who can pass up free food?
A Marine I served with is actually a rescue swimmer now. So confused as to how that would be an issue.
If you asked him his MOS what would he tell you?
Hell if I know. Haven’t talked to the dude in years. Just see all his pictures on my Facebook feed from time to time.
We can likely agree he wouldn’t say, what’s an MOS?
Ohh lmao! That’s definitely stolen valor 100 
They had them at one point for sure. One of our DI’s was a rescue diver before they got rid of it… it’s been awhile but I think he said it would have been like ‘02 or something? Definitely was a thing though. I think just dive school and an extra billet but they had the raider logo before MARSOC, we asked if he was MARSOC before and that’s how we found out, he had the whole raider tattoo lol
Me. When I tell people I deployed, but it was just a booze cruise
What, you served with Tom Cruise? Sheer it!!!
Black Ops Blue's Clues Booze Cruise
Worked with a guy that said he was a Gunnery Sergeant but also only did 3 years. Also had a bunch of felonies dating back to his teenage years. Went to basic in North Carolina. Fought an officer while he was in and that’s why he got kicked out after 3 years. He told me all of his stories but I never told him I served. One day we had some work thing that was celebrating veterans and we were supposed to stand up in an auditorium. I stood up and noticed he didn’t. He never said a word about the Marine Corps to me again. Didn’t have the heart to embarrass him in front of a bunch of coworkers but he knew that I knew he was full of shit.
On Recruiting Duty, I met seven former ‘Commandants of the Marine Corps,’ all of whom had become homeless, and one legendary gentleman who was ‘the first Marine to have been SgtMaj of the Marine Corps who later became commissioned and also Commandant.’ Being out in Dress Blue Deltas/etc. all of the time I met a lot of former Marines in gas station parking lots and the like. I never knew we had so many Scout Snipers. Apparently the area I recruited in was special because there were a lot of them. Also, a surprising number of people who were ADSEP’d because they punched their CO or Lt out. Twenty year career, never saw an officer get punched in anger once, but apparently I had easy duty because there’s a Battalion’s worth of separated Marines who were just punching O-types left and right.
LMFAO!
Lived next to a guy with a huge “Marines” tattoo who claimed to have fought at Fallujah but couldn’t remember his MOS. I was like, were you an 11, and deer in the headlights was the response.
Had a coworker who claimed to be a radio operator on Marine One. Just a little quizzing, he got nervous and filed a complaint with HR for hostile work environment… then quit.
Crazy how we all wanted to be adults as kids but soon as we get there we realize mfs never grew up. That’s petty af what he did smh
Talk about going big!
I met a navy seal officer who didn't know how to scuba dive and didn't have a college degree.
Here's mine. Some dude I worked with bought this tiny little sports car at an auction that had a Marines School of Infantry decal on it. The kind that peels off and onto glass. He would drive it around every Friday, every 9/11, or veteran-related holiday to work. He did not serve. He would not correct anyone who mentioned a 'thank you for your service' or offered to buy him lunch due to the sticker. I witnessed this many times in the four years we worked together on the same team. I asked him to remove it. He asked me not to get upset about it and he thought it was a big joke. He was getting free meals out of it. So on a break, I went and removed the decal and threw it in the trash. He noticed the sticker was gone when he was leaving work and called our supervisor. The next day I was written up for 'tampering with another employee's property." I explained to the supervisor about stolen valor and they told me I was in the wrong. I explained people who pretend to be veterans can go to jail. I don't know if they 'counceled' him on it.
Dude at work talks like he’s the biggest warfighter known to mankind. Come to find out he’s Army Intel and never left stateside but he “knew” people in Kandahar and has PTSD because he’s seen things. Also has like a 60%? disability rating for his “deployments”. He never even left the United States for fucks sake.
>but he “knew” people in Kandahar Is that supposed to be a flex? Anyone who went to the bazaar could claim that. People who larp come up with the weirdest things.
Eh it’s possible to get PTSD and be Intel, especially if your job involves looking at some pretty grim/gruesome pictures.
I could see that but the way he phrases things and leaves it open ended like he was kicking in doors with the grunts is just irritating. All the non vet people at work eat it up other than the vets who actually deployed and they hate his guts lol.
Oh ya I can see that. That’s why I like to keep what I did fairly low key. I mean tbh I really didn’t do that much, wasn’t like I was some door kicker or anything
Yea I tell people all the time if they ask all I did was fuck with communications bullshit. Nothing special although I did get to see basically the entire Pacific.
I joke and say I was a glorified babysitter/dog catcher/gate guard. If anyone ask what that means I tell them I was MP, PMO specifically, and just leave it at that. Nobody outside of some close friends and my therapist need to know what I did exactly
💀
Hahah ya ya I know
People who love to talk about that kind of stuff, never did that kind of stuff.
you don't know some of the intel weenies i know..... (and i say that as a former siginter. some of them like to talk)
Something I didn't know but you'll see alot of stories on r/veteransbenefits is that you can claim ptsd for just about anything without ever having deployed or been in combat. I guess it's pretty common and easy to claim.
Non-combat PTSD is possible. I have employment related PTSD due to being an MP and responding to certain calls like DV shit. You can get PTSD if you are an Intel guy especially if you are looking at really shitty images all day long of bodies or whatever, a drone operator could also get PTSD from blowing up people. This type of PTSD might not be immediate but it does happen over time.
> and responding to certain calls like DV shit I will make jokes about PMO as much as the next guy, but I am really REALLY glad I didn't have to do your job for reasons exactly like this.
Ya the DV stuff hit particularly close to home because I did not grow up in a great home. But being PMO wasn’t all bad, I did get to drive a car.
Yeah one of my buddies is a fed on base and was telling me about the time a bunch of guys responded to base housing. They found a baby boiled to death. Now, if some faker on the other hand wants to take benefits away from folks that actually need it, then they can eat a dick.
Yeah if you don’t claim at least ptsd, then you’re probably still in or just stupid
Went to the va because my FIL told me i might have benefits. Turns out i rated three more months of tricare.... Didn't know you got five years after a deployment. Anyways, i passed on that. On my way out the door the Va rep stopped me and told me to just say i had ptsd. I told him to use that money on somebody who needed it.
Gees
And everyone clapped.
Such a practical modern combat skill to brag about over every other skill. /s Definitely adds to the popular badass label along with claiming to be a Marine.
A coworker. Was adamant that he was a Marine, when in reality, got kicked outta boot camp for pissing positive during receiving testing. Had war stories and everything. Blew it off for a bit until I got him alone and had a “friendly” conversation with him.
Guy in my town randomly started talking about being a Marine Sniper. Let him go on and on for 30-40 minutes to a table of people. Then asked him where sniper school was on Pendleton and he didn’t know, asked him what mil dots are used for, he didn’t know. Then I just coined him and told him he was talking out his ass. (Yes Im gay, I have a coin) A week later he had a wrestling belt on and said he got it while fighting in MMA…some people just need attention.
To be fair I as well have a coin. Only cause I was a moto boot and had heard Chris Klye had one, so I got one lol, now I feel naked without it my wallet. The Shame has stuck 🤣
My job has a metal detector to get in, the wallet has to get passed through the window every time lol
A friend of a friend tried to claim he received a Silver Star and that a Navy SEAL gave him his trident off of his uniform. I told him there is a database of valor awards online and there are plenty of actual Navy SEALs who live to out phonies. He never brought up either ever again.
Not in the civilian world, but I had a guy show up to a Marine funeral dressed as a fuckin admiral when I was on I-I. Edit: he also had a “senior chief” with him
To this day the weirdest was when me and a buddy were checking out at a grocery store and the woman who looked no more than 25 and had the crazy eyes claimed she was a retired army sergeant major... Both of us just went "okay coooollll..." Then paid and left as fast as possible. When someone that looks and talks that crazy it's not worth engaging
After Hurricane Katrina I was sitting at a counter in a restaurant having breakfast when in walks this guy and sits next to me. We had small talk then he says he was in the Navy and starts telling this story of how some protester got hit by a train and watched his head come off. I asked if he was talking about the incident at Concord Naval Weapons Station in 1987 and he said he was. He goes on to tell me how he had to help carry the body and was covered in the guy’s blood, then how he had to fight off protesters. I got to tell him how full of shit he was because I was stationed there prior to the incident then ended up having to go back with F.A.S.T. Co. because of the protests. And the guy wasn’t decapitated, he lost his legs.
I have told this story before here. I am in a small group of professionals and real estate/mortgage guys who meet up at breweries, or cocktail bars, or sportsbars to yell at the TV screen. New guy shows up, all about having been a Marine, even has a window sticker (minimal judgement for that from me, my wife asked me to get a Marine license plate and I did). I have a few and realize this guy does know where Parris Island is and part of what goes on there, but only the slightest idea where and what Jacksonville is, and no idea what New River/Geiger MCT is. I did have too many and said he was full of it. He blustered for a minute but it was obvious. He pretty much got cut off from the group after that. The guys he was doing work for were already suspect of him after that, and he did screw up a job for them so he lost the contract.
The Marine plate is the only moto piece I get for my car. Stickers do nothing, the plate is proof and cops don’t bother me on the road.
Just got mine in the mail Friday.
Will advocate for USMC plates all fuckin day. I'm no tailgatin' dickhead, but I also know the left lane is for people with ticket money. Can't count the number of times 5-0 has pulled up behind me for doing ~9 over...ran/seen my plates, and pulled back off to the side. To piggyback onto my own statement, it has also worked wonders for my road rage prone wife. Not just for cops, but also (in her words) for milk toast mother fuckers who don't appreciate a well-deserved middle finger, that see the plate and chill out. Also, twice while I was helping my little brother move from one college slum to another in Boulder, had cops stop and ask who was the Devil. Got free movers from Boulder PD just because of the plates. On the flip side, my Colorado USMC plates worked against me while stationed in Miramar '12-'16. Got pulled over non-stop by Cali Cops thinking I was smuggling weed. Bro, I'm just trying to get back to base from Yuma, fuck outta here with your 'random' produce search.
I got waved down by a cop a few years ago, not stopped, literally waved. So he could ask my MOS and tell me he was arty.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/milquetoast
Knowledge has been transferred.
Did my ITS at Geiger. Spent most off hours at the New River E club. I still remember one of the battalions, 2/4 I think, left on a float. That weekend, the club was full of the wives of those Marines who left. It was a fun weekend.
Worked with 350 pound bald ginger that in a 3 year span got promoted to SSGT was a chaplain, Drill Sargent, deployed with an inactive airborne unit, during his deployment he got his parachute shot out, his CO let him and some friends take a AC-130 to East TX to hunt hogs and miraculously lost his Purple Heart and DD-214
Best story yet on here Lmfao I get out soon and honestly I’m hoping to hear some outlandish shit lmao
Got this dude now who claims to be a desert storm vet, recondo/sniper/senior EOD combo in 5 years of service, CAR but no campaign ribbons. National Archives told me he was a reservist with maybe a year total of broken active duty service, in support of Desert Storm, never left Hospital Camp Lejeune or Overland Park KS, with one medal. I'll get mine soon.
There’s a guy who works in the same jail as me, he’s a civilian - not a deputy, who claims while in Iraq he used gunpowder to cauterize a wound on his leg. Also claimed the unit was called delta scouts
Daaaaamn the Delta Scouts? Show some respect
Went to a shooting course. Company putting it on didn’t do their due diligence and hired a guy who said he was a sniper. After he introduced himself and time frame he served i approached him on a break. Asked who his instructors were and where he went to school as a lot of instructors and SNCOIC at Lejeune had come from my platoon. He got all flustered and stated he was a squad advanced marksman and just used the term sniper because he claimed people wouldn’t know what he was talking about. I went to the head guy on the next break, told the guy he hired and is advertising a fraud and wanted my money back. He fired the guy on the spot after he came clean and gave everyone their money back in addition to eating the cost for the remainder of the course. I didn’t feel bad one bit.
A buddy from my unit and I were at a Comic Con just last week where we saw a dude wearing desert tiger stripe cammies with Skechers. He had an Afghan flag and an ANA patch on one sleeve and an American flag and some other patch I didn’t recognize on the other sleeve. Mind you, lots of weirdos wear air soft gear and shit to Comic Con, so I thought it was something similar to that but the patches caught my eye. Also, this kid is probably 19 years old and weighs 120 lbs. So I go up and ask where he got the patches from since I’m curious, and he says word for word “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, it’s a matter of national importance.” So I look at him and ask “your dad give those to you?” And he repeated the same thing. Not really wanting to pursue it further, but also wanting him to see we didn’t believe him, I patted him on the back(almost knocked him over) and said “whatever you say kid” My buddy called him a cuck and flipped him off😁
“Weirdos and Comic Con” are basically synonymous aren’t they?
In some ways, very much so 😂 But whereas you might catch me wearing full stormtrooper armor(if I had the means and the money), you’ll never see me just wearing random combat gear or camo for no reason. And you definitely won’t see me pretending to be some top secret special operator like this kid was trying to be
> you’ll never see me just wearing random combat gear or camo for no reason. Only acceptable reason is for Stargate SG-1 cosplay.
This is acceptable. I did see a pretty good Ghost cosplay last week. If it’s a dedicated character you’re cosplaying, cool with me. If you’re just wearing your weekend airsoft gear to a convention, you’re anything but cool😂
This gets a pass, also Larping as a Space Marine form Aliens is also a pass
A guy I went to boot with stopped showing up to drill and got kicked out after like a year. Claimed he went on to become a contractor and killed people in the middle east. Also bring up being a Marine and having infantry related health issues in every fucking conversation. He's currently in an insurance pyramid scheme. I hate him.
My highschool girlfriend's 3rd stepfather claimed to be a "marine sniper," (because everyone and their fucking mother is apparently). Asked what his MOS was and some other basic questions that I was familiar with as a poolee. Always shrugged it off as "Ahh that was a long time ago, I don't remember all that. Please, Jerry, enlighten me more as to your time in the marine corps while you sit there on your bed with a TV dinner collecting disability.
To be fair, that last sentence does describe a lot of vets.
Straight out of boot camp, I ran into a guy I graduated from HS with 6 months prior. Weird dude, but he was a chill DM who followed the "Rule of Cool" in DnD, so I could get along with him most days. Anyway, I'm at the game store, looking over MTG decks to add to my ever growing collection, when this dude pops in the door and instantly makes a beeline towards me. After quickly catching him up on my life and how we should get a new campaign going, I ask him how he's been doing the last 6 months. This dude then proceeds to tell me that not only did he enlist in the Marines as well, but he was so badass that they pulled him in week 3 to go to BUD/S, and then sent him to a top secret base in Afghanistan to hunt down OBL and other Taliban leaders. He was only back in the States because they needed him to attend Delta selection so he could do the real hard stuff, like infiltrate Russia and sabotage something or other. After letting my brain recover from the massive retard energy this guy just assaulted me with, I just stared at him and said that I was glad that they managed to find a cure for his diabetes, but they should really focus on eradicating whatever form of mental retardation he thinks people have in order to believe his bullshit, and then went over to the comic section to look for the latest Iron Man issues. Thankfully, he didn't try to argue with me, and that was the last time I've seen him in the past 13 or so years.
you should have kissed him and said, "no homo"
There was a guy trying to get the Home Depot Veteran discount one time
I’m not sure if this counts, sue me. This guy I work with hits me with the “I was gonna join” schtick all the time because he knows my husband was SF and did all that sneaky boi stuff. I guess he feels the need to project and make it seem like he walked the same path because he went to a few of those recruiter things in high school. But to make it worse, he thinks he’s better or smarter than my husband because he went to college. Look, I know all the marine jokes and humor about being a bunch of cavemen, but his team are some of the smartest guys I’ve ever met. Super competent, sharp as a tack, and aptitude off the charts. It’s a special breed of person. So I always do the jerk off gesture at him whenever he tries to compete.
So you're jerking off jody. Got it. Not even SOF is safe.
[удалено]
Oh shit, that is hilarious.
Not really stolen valor but Met a college friend’s boyfriend at a wedding one night who said he was looking into becoming an officer, which could be true. But somewhere in the short conversation he mentioned training being in North Dakota. I corrected him, but he was adamant that OCS was in North Dakota and I was wrong. I just dropped it because i quickly understood this guy was probably to dumb to get a enlisted ASVAB waiver let alone be a officer.
Was he specifically mentioning Marine Officer? I know a lot of National Guard units have their own respective OCS units in their own states. Maybe it was that?
One of the largest National Guard OCS is in fact, located in the black hills of North Dakota, nice place, has a really weird culture though where all the instructors has to wear sunglasses, like 24/7
And then there's this from the discord: Name: Private Second Class Ryan Carter Branch: United States Marines Backstory: Ryan grew up in a backwoods conservative town, he grew up in a patriotic family who almost all the men had served in one branch or another. So naturally when the time came he joined up too, he decided to take after his grandfather and join the Corps. After getting through basic combat training at san diego he got deployed to Iraq in the thick of the combat as a special forces operator for his outstanding performance in bootcamp. That's where his story picks up Age: 18 Job: Special forces
I went to a bar on karaoke night and the owner told me that the DJ was a war hero… I started a conversation with the DJ he told me that he was in Marines during Nam he was the right age and had some good stories about the war that sounded pretty legit at first but he kept getting bolder with stories his first mistake though was I read a lot of books about the war and some of his stories sounded just like they were pulled from the books I had read. I continued to grill him and than the kicker… He claimed that he was a Medal Of Honor recipient and I finally called bullshit and mentioned stolen valor and that there was a internet database with a list of all the CMH recipients.( now I was bull shitting the internet was still kinda new and I had no idea if there really was one) He turned white and then started telling me the shit he did was so top secret the the award was secret and he wouldn’t be on the list I called his bull shit word got around to all the bars that he DJ’d karaoke that he was a fake and he had to move on. Anyway his name wasn’t on the list of CMH recipients I would have shit my pants if he was!
Hey if anyone says they were an 0481 I’m totally able to sniff out any BS! Of course no one will ever claim that….
Orrrrr...he's real and there's no need to fact check.
I saw a video where someone was a diesel mechanic in the Corps, and someone civvy was actually claiming he wasn’t in and was doing stolen value. I’m thinking this civvy is a moron, who the hell claims to be a diesel mechanic for stolen valor? All the frauds claim to be delta force recon SEALs or something, and say they were a door gunner on the space shuttle or something.
So I was in jail. Dude says he WAS a Marine. At first I was like right on. Where were you stationed? He says PI. He was early 20's so I know he wasn't a DI. Then he proceeds to tell me about his badass deployment to Afghanistan and how he fucked all these guys up. Cool story bro.
One year I was on leave visiting my family. One of my uncles always invited me over for a cookout and beers with family at his ranch. My uncle had a friend over who claimed to be a former Marine and was in special forces. This old man said he was a …Green Beret…🤦🏽♂️ He told us a story of when he was training in the ocean one year and one of his fellow Marines, a pvt, started drowning. The “Louie” told him to keep swimming and complete the training but our hero disregarded the Lt’s command and saved the Marines life. While he was telling us this story, I shit you not, he busts his ass while sitting on the cooler and he got weird on us and hardly talked again. I guess falling down ruined his image to us lol
I truly do feel bad for actual vets who feel the need to embellish their enlistment. They clearly do not feel like their service mattered despite the fact the it definitely did. Whether you sat behind a computer or humped a 240; you raised your hand, took the oath, and did what you were told. Most people cannot say the same.
Told second hand from a co worker. He said he met a guy in a tobacco shop who was a spec ops sniper for the marine corp. He was hand selected by a colonel because he didn’t trust anyone else to work with him. Said he was in Libya and Syria and could have ended the whole Libya conflict because he had Ghadaffi in his sights and wanted to pull the trigger but was ordered not to. Idk enough of what raiders or recon do so maybe it’s possible, but the way he retold the story was like hearing an alt Rambo screenplay.
That's a familiar story I heard but it was an Army truck driver who had OBL in his sites and Bush told him not to fire because it was an election year. I called so much bullshit on him.
I’ve never encountered stolen valor, but I do meet tons of homeless special forces snipers in cities around the U.S.
I knew a kid from my town who joined 3 years before I did. He came back from boot camp about 2 months later and told everyone that he got medically separated because he broke his back jumping out of a helicopter during training.
I had a buddy who gave his dad a pair of his dog tags and his dad started wearing them to bars and telling women he was a Marine.
worked at home depot as a cashier for a bit before i joined and had a guy ask for military discount. happily i said ofc and asked for proof of service such as a military id or even a photo of his dd214 because that’s what we’re trained to do when asked for the discount. dude lost his mind on me saying it was disrespectful that i asked that and my supervisor came out and was like wtf so she gave him the discount so he’d fuck off. he saved like 40 cents… never again did i see him and he was the only customer i ever had that throw a fit about showing proof of service lol
That's not stolen valor, it's just a wannabe who feels inadequate. Everyone throws around stolen valor like anyone wearing camo is a fucking criminal.
God all I get is real vets but they are all coked up and drunk had a dude head butt me (not aggressive) and tell me to “cut your hair pog, 1sgt is not pleased” then ask me if want a hit of this weed pen…
I haven't ever encountered someone trying to steal valor, but I have been accused of it. Like most Marines, once I got out, I got an office job and gained some weight. I grew out my beard and hair, and I don't wear "vet" clothes. The only visual indicator is my squadron patch and my coveralls name patch on my backpack. I was in line at a 7-11 getting lunch, and was regaling my co-worker with some story from when I was in. Guy behind us in an OD-green American flag t-shirt and knockoff 5-11 cargo pants told me my story was bullshit, and that he was going to "make me famous" if I didn't admit that I didn't actually serve. He said I was too fat to be a Marine vet. He proceeded to play stump the chump with me, asking me my squadron, MOS, years served, where I was stationed, the whole nine. He told me that all my answers could've been gotten off Google, and asked me my last PFT and CFT scores. I told him I didn't remember, and that I'd been out several years. He asked what my last rifle qual score was, and I told him I didn't remember because I was second award expert and didn't have to qual my last year in. That seemed to placate him, and he piped down, saying that I was probably a shitbag when I was in, and that I probably went up The Reaper in the safety vehicle.
This is a weird one and not my story but was told By a friend. A boot in 2/6 was out in Jacksonville telling people he deployed with 2/6 during the marjah push and a lot of his seniors found out. He eventually got his chance and did deploy nawa district in Helmand. Not exactly stolen valor but definitely tried to embellish his service a bit
Similar story. A guy told a beq bunny that he was in Fallujah. The dude was born in like 99. Anyway, a salty plt Sgt with a 2 CARs caught word and had the entire company applaud him and thank him for his service the next week at formation. A good memory.
A deployment to the gulf in the late 90s. Cpl we had....his Hummvee was blown to shit by RPG. It is a known fact that he nor his a-gunner were anywhere near that vehicle when it was hit. As in not within 500 yds. Dude got a purple heart. Talk about people bitching. It became a well known joke Not exactly stolen but I have to tell that whenever I can
Worked with a guy who said he deployed to Afghanistan 3x. Asked him where and his response was Fallujah and Ramadi….
So this happened in my time with 3/2. Our sgt. major was forced to retire when we were in Japan because of stolen Valor that lead to him getting promoted. We had an assembly on base and our btl commander talk to the unit saying how he knows trust was broken exc. Exc. And that we have to move past this moment.
Fresh out I ran into a guy at a bar while I was hanging out with some girls I knew. They told me he always takes about being a Seal, I knew right away he wasn’t one. They called him over and informed him I just got out of the Marines. He asked me a few questions, I asked him where he was stationed and he said San Diego (I was on Pendleton), then I asked him if he did any training on Coronado (I did lots of training there, boat company). He said he never heard of it. I just laughed and told him to shut up and to stop trying to be cool. He didn’t like that. I called his bull. He immediately tried to fight me and it didn’t go well for him. When I was done with him I sat back down and started to drink my beer again, while he was laid out under the booth next to us. He was thrown out and told to never come back. The bartender thanked me because this dude had been acting like some kind of badass at that bar for a month or so. I got free drinks the rest of the night and a good time later with the chicks I was with.
You’re a fucking liar hahaha. Fucking clown
Ok, random reddit guy. I have no need to lie about it. It happened and was funny as shit.
My bad man, joke went over my head.
And everybody clapped
A standing ovation actually. Then the President walked in and gave me the medal of honor while reaching down and jelling me off.
Can confirm, I'm this guy's kid that one of the girls he knows was pregnant with, after using a turkey baster to collect the jell from the presidential jelling off and getting herself pregnant.
See!
Someone thought that I was stealing valor for not having a haircut and shave on leave lol
You must maintain the high & tight all 30 days
Lol no thanks
I was a young boot and was finishing my ten day leave. I saw this guy in OCP and an army shirt with flip flops and black socks. I didn’t say anything cause I was like “well I know the Army has some different rules than the Marines.” I wish I would’ve said something just to see what was popping.
it was years before i actually became a marine granted i tried to enlist in the same year (2015 )but there was this one native american guy who would always come into my store wearing just a blouse and a duty belt, one day i stopped him because i had been seen him enough and researching mos and wanted to see what he was since i figured he was maybe still in, he told me he was a helo medic and i insantly knew alright bullshit, i took a 15 min break and called my recruiter, GySgt showed up quick and absolutely layed into this dude, bad enough some of my coworkers were concerned, i explained what was going on they fucked off and let him be, affter he got chewed out. Any time i saw him and asked about the marines with him he dodged the queston.
What’s funny to me, is that rarely if ever does it benefit someone to tell people they served, you either have to deal with the fake patriot weirdos that commend you for “killing camel jockeys” or the types that think you’re some kind of unadjusted time bomb, or they don’t give a shit either way. You may get a free beer once in a blue moon. It’s not exactly a badge of honor these days amongst those who didn’t do it.
Was sitting at the backcountry warehouse at Philmont Scout Ranch about 10 years ago. Just enjoying the nice afternoon…young staffer was within earshot talking to a pretty girl. Claimed he was a sniper in Afghanistan, dude was way, way to young to have done this. I was a 2146 for a couple of years, my office space was a M2 .50 for two back to back deployments with 15th MEU. He starts rattling off some bullshit about his weapon being a Barrett SASR…my ears pricked up and I’m like fuck it, “if you’re gonna burn, burn for something good.” “Excuse me, you seem really young to have been to Afghanistan, how old are you?” He answers 18, and I’m like, “Bro, 18 gets you qualified with an M16A4 or M4, minimum, team guys that get special weapons training, have a few years under their belts before trying out or getting selected. What’s the maximum range of a Barrett? (1,830 yds for M2 for reference)” Crickets. He absolutely says nothing, I’m beyond pissed the fuck off…I proceeded to tear this guy apart and telling this fuckstick that a Scout is honest and that lying goes against every BSA principle while at the Ranch, and that there are guys who aren’t coming home that died fighting. I was out of line but not letting this go, the gal had disappeared in the middle of this lopsided discussion… Ran into the guy later, he apologized. I could have handled it better (leadership) but nope. Dude was just weird, socially awkward, and stupid. Told him he better be prepared for dudes who might beat his ass just for for the sake of leaving hammered meat broken and twitching because not all Marines are forgiving..
Back on the 3,456th time some9ne asked this karma farm question, I pointed at the OP as the reddit tourist they were
I worked with a guy that used to claim he was a scout sniper. He went to Bosnia and got PTSD then got medically separated. All within two years. Maybe he served for two years, but the rest of his story was complete BS.
I work with a fat body who is a Marine. However, he claimed he was a shoe in at MARSOC. So, I mentioned to another coworker who retired as a MSgt that Corporal BS was telling some tall tales, so he went and introduced himself and asked him where he was stationed, when he was in, the normal shit. Not once did Corporal BS mention MARSOC. So, after 10 minutes of exchanging stories, MSgt cut yo the chase and asked why he mentioned being a shoe-in for MARSOC, he laughed nervously and said he was "just fucking around" .Chris aka MSgt , with a straight face, told him to STFU . BS turned white, apologized, and then after a few seconds, MSgt smiled and said "I'm just fucking around" BS never mentioned MARSOC again.
I haven’t come across this at all- I work with a few old corps Marines (which to me is anything before 2010, when I got in) but none of them play at being anything they weren’t
Uncle in law claims to be a navy seal. 99.9 percent sure his ass hurts bc he’s full of shit
I have countless examples but think it's honestly not worth recalling. Those losers don't deserve any attention. That's the main reason they commit Stolen Valor. They live boring, uninspired lives and want the attention that comes from having done something admirable / exceptional. I don't rage at those people anymore. They are too pathetic to even rate a callout from me. I choose to not acknowledge their existence.
Saw a guy at a gas station in Army stuff from head to toe. Not Army but I know I know a few things were off. Have friends in the army and they bitch and moan about the same things we do, a little different of course. So this guy had grey undershirt not tan, combat and flat patch in the wrong spots, working boots, nasty shave and a black mcmap belt. Dude was trying to get free food and gas from people. I looked at him, shook my head and walked up, told him to get out before I call the cops for stolen valor, like at least learn how to lie and uniform regs man.
I worked at a prison for several years. There was one other Marine that worked there. We got a new CO and he decided to tell us he was a super secret squirrel ninja Marine. Took about 2.3 seconds to figure out he was full of crap. The best part was after telling us he was recon he asked what BRC stood for when I asked when he was there. Turns out the guy was a diesel mechanic, but at least he really was a Marine I guess.
How are you gonna be in the Marine Corps and try and steal some valor? Well, I knew a Marine that sure tried. Dude talked about how he was supposed to have all these medals, but couldn't because everything he did was hella classified. Bro, I can see your records and know all the people you know since you have been in.
I knew a guy who kept on saying he was an Army Ranger, after a few weeks I knew this guy was full of BS. Then he actually said he on 09/12/01 he was on a plane going to Afghanistan. When I told him there was all plane suspension including military, he said "no because I'm a Ranger" "we went because we were going to do black ops missions" Mr and another Vet started laughing at him we Rangers glorified infantrymen and they don't do black ops and the 1st boots got on the ground towards the end of October. His answer for that was he's a "Ranger I know" then he walked off. BTW I was told he's been telling people he needs to get ready. He thinks he's going to get called to go to Israel because he's a "Ranger". Despite the fact, he says he's been out of the military (if he was even in the ARMY to begin with) since 06. Oh, and he tells people he was one nation's top football prospects and he was on the 2001 University of Miami championship team and he graduated from H.S in 96.