Analysis of Stolen Valor
Yet another article on Sarah Cavanaugh. There have been a lot of them coming out. This article, however, gave some good analysis of Stolen Valor by a psychiatrist and a doctoral thesis.
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — The fabricated story of military service, illness and other claims by a former commander of the North Kingstown VFW Post 152 ranks among the growing number of “stolen valor” allegations in the country, said national experts on the matter.
“We see an awful lot of stolen valor cases in all shapes and sizes,” Jason J. Metrick, U.S. assistant inspector general for investigations with the National Archives and Records Administration, told The Independent.
Two years ago, investigators at the National Archives took steps to make their research resources more available to federal and local law enforcement to deal with what they suspect is an increase in stolen valor cases to obtain benefits or loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glenna Whitley, co-author of the 1998 book, “Stolen Valor,” told The Independent she agreed that cases are mounting as social media entices people to engage in more of this kind of fraud.
The trend was felt locally last week when the commander of North Kingstown’s VFW Post 152 resigned over stolen valor accusations.
That was the opening and background. Here is some of the information about Stolen Valor…
If the pretending just occurs in their house or comes out during Halloween, the fantasy has no real harm, experts said. It is when those doing venture into the real world they get themselves in trouble by actually living their new identity, they added.
In the sense of military impersonations, it can lead to focused efforts to convince people these military exploits are real, such as Cavanaugh did when giving speeches about service she never performed or battles in which she was never engaged, they said.
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Dr. Anthony Gallo, a psychiatrist in North Kingstown, said that people often invent identities to get attention.
“The military is an exalted status. Who wouldn’t want to be a hero?” he said, adding that there also are mental illnesses that can lead to these impersonations.
Elishewah Rosa Weisz in her 2016 doctoral study, “Stolen Valor: The People Who Commit Military Impersonation,” found several psychological explanations for military impersonation.
“Admiration and respect which accompany high ranks and the excitement of combat positions are a considerable influence. Being admired and respected by people who listen to what you have to say, such as war stories, can be addictive. Besides admiration and respect there is the idea of uniqueness,” she wrote.
People feel the need to be special and different from one another and since fairly few people in U.S. society enlist in the military and even fewer serve in combat positions, serving in the military makes a person special and unique. Impersonation may be a way for an impersonator to feel unique without having to go through the dangers and tribulations of military service, Weisz maintained.
There are also various psychiatric disorders, she said, including some that contain symptoms of grandiose thinking — thinking one is a hero for example — of manipulation, and of lying.
“All these manifestations may be visible and possibly necessary for someone to impersonate another, in some cases for decades. Psychiatric disorders may also benefit a person if the disorder is a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognized disorder, which means there is a financial and therapeutic benefit to be gained,” she said.
So, the experts are saying if you restrict your faking to just Halloween, there is no real harm. Seriously, some of this analysis is pretty good.
So much more in the article.
Category: Stolen Valor, Stolen Valor Act
It doesn’t address the problem with embellishers. Fakers are easy to spot, embellishers are slightly harder to unmask and they befuddled the civilians who have no idea of what to look for.
Slow Joe:
From the article:
“Stolen valor involves falsely claiming military service, a certain rank which was not earned, war time or service duties that never occurred, claims of military decorations never actually awarded and other embellishments.”
“Either impostors make the claims or those with military service are making their resume more distinguished than the facts support.”
Based on the Sarah Cavanaugh story, where it looks as if she NEVER served, the Author of the article chose to discuss those who never were in the Military and the physicological explanation as to why they choose to lie.
IMHO, Embellishers who did serve are WORSE than those who NEVER serve. They ARE easier to unmask, especially those who claim POW status, self awarding medals and badges they never earned or embellishing “There I was” war stories.
We have seen too many of these embellishers on TAH. So sad that they are or were not proud of their Military service.
Ok, reading comprehension.
Got it.
I will work on it.
Another reason for Stolen Valor is to excuse their bad behavior. Drug abuse, domestic violence, failure to provide for themselves and their family. It is all the fault of Uncle Sam who shipped them off to Viet Of The Nam or Fuckistan, and they destroyed his records because he refused to light up an orphanage of blind nuns with a flamethrower.
:wpds_wink:
Hack:
Don’t forget those unfortunate souls who were press-ganged into service and then forcibly shipped off to the Cam of the Bodia, the Bei of the Rut, and the Bos of the Nia, among others.
Oh; the HORROR.
You have to include those steely eyed warriors of Macho Grande, Mick. NOBODY ever got over Macho Grande. But EVERYBODY wants to be the Commander of Meal Team 6 and lead the assault on the buffet bar at the Golden Corral…or be the FIRST in line at Applebees on War Heros Day.
It all boils down to proper home training. You don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Most of us had learned those lessons before we were 5 years old.
There also seems to be a pattern of over-compensating for a lack-luster military career. Deserter-brig time = hero-Silver Star. Maybe it didn’t happen in real life so they lived out a military career in their imagination. I’ve seen draft dodgers that later emerge as a hero of Vietnam.
“I’ve seen draft dodgers that later emerge as a hero of Vietnam.”
Shack.
There’s one of those shitheads back in my hometown. Still rockin’ the lie; still fooling gullible women.
“light up an orphanage of blind nuns with a flamethrower.”
Smoke em if you got em. 😜
Well, my personal favorite is that guy who conned 12 women into believing that he was a disabled vet or an AD Navy officer so that he could scam their life savings out of them. Don’t remember his name but I believe he went to jail for it. It was a while back.
I think you are referring to Derek Alldred, the valor thief and career con man. Derek is now famous cuz “Dateline” did a two-hour special on him and the women he scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He is currently in a federal lockup, and he should spend the next twenty years there. But we shall see (if you and I make it to our late 90’s), since progs like to release these predators they say are non-violent.
Yeah, the discovery that one is nothing special after believing for their entire childhood and early adult life thinking they were the shit leads a lot of these turds to invent a life that was better than the real thing….instead of actually trying to do something interesting or make an actual difference.
There was less of this during the 70s when the American public mostly looked askance at the men and women who had served in the military…as the public became more aware that, regardless of their political thoughts on American foreign policy, the young men and women on the ugly end of that foreign policy were not the bad guys and deserved consideration the status of veteran became desirable to scam artists and liars around the nation…
Less perhaps, VOV – but even back in the 1970s this kind of crap had to be occurring.
See BS and Dan “Don’t Let the Truth Interfere With Our Preordained Conclusions” Rather’s bogus 1988 documentary The Wall Within featured a number of outright liars who claimed to have come back “messed up by what they did or saw” in Vietnam. Their claims were thoroughly debunked by B. G. Burkette and Glenna Whitley in their book Stolen Valor. And they did it using FOIA requests – something available to See BS that the network simply chose not to use to verify their “sources'” claims.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2004/09/first-rathergate-anne-morse/
Yes, that so-called “documentary” was done in the late 1980s. But the featured a-holes had to have been lying through their teeth for well over a decade before Rather and See BS got wind of them.
Don’t overlook the “Winter Soldier” BS promoted by Jon Skerry. One of the lying POSers was an Air Force fake captain who was actually an E-6, not a C-130 pilot and had never served in Vietnam, IIRC. Many others who actually made the trip to the Viet of the Nam and claimed to have witnessed “war crimes,” rapes and murders, on combat missions, in fact were REMF’s who never went outside the wire of a major base camp.
I seriously doubt there was less in the 70s. I heard all kinds of crazy stories from people in the 70s that were found false post mortem. People just get caught more easily today. William Lundy didn’t get caught till he was dead 5 years. SV is as old as the Legions, if not older.
I wonder if they reached out to the False Commander “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) for comment?
Reference those who embellish their Military service:
“Imposters who have never served are one thing but genuine veterans who talk up and embellish their service career are seen to be the most disappointing and frustrating.”
“Recently retired Colonel Justin Holt who served for more than 30 years with the Royal Marines told me: “I’ve never met a veteran who isn’t modest, to the point of humility, about his or her service.”
“He added: “Those who embellish their stories are immediately suspect and do a
disservice to themselves as everyone has a part to play in success, no matter how small. The eccentric impostors who have never served are a different matter, they deserve our pity rather than opprobrium.”
https://theconversation.com/the-men-who-impersonate-military-personnel-for-stolen-glory-62233
From 2005:
“Documented Combat Exposure Of US Veterans Seeking Treatment For Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15928355/
“Background: There are concerns regarding the validity of combat exposure reports of veterans seeking treatment for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within US Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.”
“Aims: To verify combat exposure history for a relevant sample through objective
historical data.”
“Method: Archival records were reviewed from the US National Military Personnel Records Center for 100 consecutive veterans reporting Vietnam combat in a Veterans Affairs PTSD clinic. Cross-sectional clinical assessment and 12-month service use data were also examined.”
“Results: Although 93% had documentation of Vietnam war-zone service, only 41% of the total sample had objective evidence of combat exposure documented in their military record. There was virtually no difference between the Vietnam ‘combat’ and ‘no combat’ groups on relevant clinical variables.”
“Conclusions: A significant number of treatment-seeking Veterans Affairs patients may misrepresent their combat involvement in Vietnam. There are implications for the integrity of the PTSD database and the Veterans Affairs healthcare system.”
We all know of multiple anecdotal incidents of phony PTSD claims. I met a former Marine who was a heavy equipment operator in the Viet of the Nam; he drove a bulldozer. He told me that his VA representative coached him through making a PTSD claim so that he would have an over 50% disability rating so he could get VA medical without have to pay anything for the privilege. He needed it because he is a self-employed contractor and didn’t want to have to pay for private health insurance.
Exhibit A is Wilted Willie’s brother, who is still collecting full VA pension benefits even though he never left Okinawa where he made dentures. Or our own JRM who worked in a nice, likely air conditioned, shop wrenching on radios in a completely secure 101st Division base camp. He freely admits he is getting a VA pension for PTSD. I also know of guys who served in my Ranger company who are getting VA disability for PTSD and think they are entitled to it because they did scary shit on LRRP ops.
Another common denominator on those who lie or embellish on Military service:
Research indicates majority of these folks are hiding/covering up something derogatory in their past, i.e. being kicked out of the Military, denied re-enlistment because of poor performance or inability/failure to adapt to military life, criminal behavior/records, substance abuse, physological issues, etc.etc.
Research also indicates personality disorders for these personnel to include low self-esteem, attention seeking, narcissism and pathological lying. They tend to focus more on themselves with their “Look At Me!” personality trait and lack empathy for others.
Majority of them go to their grave, never admitting their lies. They end up hurting family members/friends who fell for their lies and embellishments either emotionally or financially or both.
Sadly, they cannot see how they come across to others because of their self-centered alternate reality world.
If only there was a way to computer cross reference DD-214’s by “E-3 after 6 years of service”.
So, in sum, all these Stolen Valor sadsacks are mentally ill?
I think we’ve had plenty of proof of that.
At least one who is maintaining -6′ AGL
Next thing you know these dirtbags will be playing for sympathy due to their “handicap” due (naturally) to PTSD after their imaginary friends were killed in an imaginary battle.
Seriously, the best stories aren’t the combat ones; those, for the most part, are wistful and sad. The BEST stories are those outside the actual fighting. For example, one of my best stories is we were in Guam for OEF, and a group of us went to a strip club. There was a giant pirate wheel on the stage. They took one of the guys and used his belt to TIE HIM TO THE WHEEL and then proceeded to beat him like a rented mule. The rest of us laughed and laughed. Good times.
I guess it’s time to beat on this dead horse again:
It’s fairly easy to understand the motivations of military fakers – they lie to get the benefits of that lie. IN that case they’re no different than any other embellisher/faker out there: Fake doctors, fake lawyers, fake actors, etc etc.
IMO what is more problematic is the motivations of the enablers: Organizations like the VFW, AL and other “veteran charities” or organizations have a tendency to encourage, nurture and support stolen valor because it benefits THEM as well.
(continued)
(continued from above) When somebody wants something, or NEEDS something, a skilful con artist will create exactly the “thing” that the needy person desires and present it to them on a plate. Ever wonder why fat, balding middle aged guys’ email inboxes are filled with emails from hawt, sexy women who want to throw themselves at the middle aged guy? Because they believe that’s what the guys want and by presenting it to them, they hope to lower the guy’s natural resistance to what is obviously a scam.
Cavanaugh did exactly this: She presented to her VFW just what they wanted: Someone young, someone who is a veteran of recent conflicts and someone with an enviable war record. And it didn’t hurt that she was female, making her a “diversity hire” that looks good in an environment overwhelmingly populated by “old guys.”
She created EXACTLY the “image” they wanted so of course the gullible morons fell for it hook, line and sinker. (continued)
The question then is, why wasn’t her membership reviewed by a higher authority? How did she work her way to the top job in her post without ANYBODY in a position of authority asking to see her DD-214 and verifying that it was accurate?
Forget Cavanaugh – Fakers gonna fake, liars gonna lie. My anger is directed against the people who run the VFW and I want to know why THEY didn’t discover her fakery.
And by extension, I want to see them “clean house” and purge all of the liars, fakers and embellishers from their ranks.
VFW and AL are flushing any credibility or reputation they ever had by allowing this shit to happen. If they can’t clean house then they might as well lower the flag and close their shop because they will become known to everyone as nothing but a drinking club for liars, embellishers and phonies.