Of sheep, sheepdogs and valor thieves

Chockblock sends us a link to Foreign Policy in which guest columnist Army Major Brad Hardy articulates well how valor thieves widen the gap between the sheep and the sheepdogs who protect them.

Hardy uses our old friend Ken Crocheron as an example. Crocheron, you might remember dressed up in some sort of clown suit that barely resembled an Army uniform to entertain a sick child. Of course, when he was finally exposed, the family was embarrassed that he had fooled them for so long. Of course, they weren’t the only people he had fooled. He’d been parading around in his get-up for years.

Here at TAH, we’ve seen the same scenario play out hundreds of times. We’ve even seen valor thieves who were so committed to their false persona that they hired thugs to get it back for them, they’ve even killed themselves because they couldn’t be the ass-clown they once were. But Hardy sees a bigger problem;

[F]or something like this to go on as long as it did says two things about our society. First, it indicates that the Army remains a trusted and admired profession, but almost to a fault. The Army’s manual on the Profession of Arms, Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 1, states that “trust reflects the confidence and faith that the American people have in the Army to effectively and ethically serve the Nation, while resting assured that the Army poses no threat to them.”

A broad assumption is that civilians will tend to defer to the military to do the right thing. Maybe it’s the professed values, generally honorable conduct in war, authoritative tone, uniform, haircuts, or heroic portrayal in movies. But jokers like Crocheron, even if unaffiliated with the Army, erode that earned trust. Society may start to second-guess the confidence and question their faith that ADRP 1 touts. The Crocherons of the world destroy public trust in the Army by exploiting it. He abused it to gain unearned prestige and access to a family’s young child. The next time that family sees a uniformed servicemember, they may not be so supportive.

Sometimes, it’s hard for civilians to accept that the people they trusted aren’t the valor thieves they turn out to be, either. For example, we saw folks come to the defense of Christopher David Duke the other day. We veterans, who smell something wrong with these phonies are questioned on our truthfulness while the phonies, who are really sociopaths, continue to string them along and even use them to combat the truth.

Joe, who was Duke’s initial defender, had his “come to Jesus” moment last night in a phone call with me. But then today another one pops up. That’s just indicative of how people want to believe that they know heroes. If I was in Wilson, North Carolina law enforcement, I’d start paying attention to the doings of Chris Duke around town. I’m fairly convinced that he’s hiding other things that he’s doing wrong.

If you read his “Birth of an Operator (.pdf)” you can’t miss how married he is to that story, and if I ever post the recording of our conversation yesterday, you’ll see how good he is at making himself the victim when he’s called out on his lies. But, he’s just like all of the others we’ve seen. Mostly, it’s because civilians admire them so much and their phony background, that they get the idea that without their lies, they’re nothing.

Hardy ends his thoughts;

As a part of society, the Army must do better at educating the society it serves about its culture so that future scam artists are detected. The Army must continue to share its culture, as it is part of the broader fabric of American heritage.

Braggarts like Duke and Crocheron suck all of the oxygen out of the room, however. The real heroes melt from the spotlight and they’re the quiet professionals, not writing grand faux-biographies or telling war stories in a bar. So, therein lies the problem.

Category: Phony soldiers, Veterans Issues