Fake Veterans and fake stories; how to avoid an asswhoopin’

This is what brought this piece to mind today; an article about a former soldier who posed as a former Marine captain;

For pretending that he was a decorated U.S. military veteran, 59-year-old Reggie L. Buddle of Puyallup must tend to the graves of those who really were.

U.S. Magistrate Kelly Arnold in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Monday sentenced the counterfeit Vietnam vet to two years’ probation and 500 hours laboring at Tahoma National Cemetery for posing as a decorated U.S. Marine captain and military chaplain in 2005 and 2006.

Buddle, who never was in the Marine Corps, pleaded guilty in April to unlawful wearing of U.S. military medals and decorations. That followed an investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

After the hearing, Buddle, who served two years as an Army enlisted man but never in combat and never earning any of the medals he wore, apologized in court Monday and said he was ashamed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.

Now, that’s just silly – this fellow had apparently served in the Army, yet he wanted to pose as a Marine. Why didn’t he join the Marines, then? The judge probably thinks he dealt out an appropriate punishment, but I disagree – Buddle shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near our honored dead – because he tainted every veteran with his BS stories.

There was a book by BK Burkett called “Stolen Valor” that was published a few years back that chronicled some of the more heinous veteran impersonators and their eventual “outing”. There are websites that specialize (or at least partly specialize) in busting fake veterans. SOCNET, ArmyRanger, and VeriSEAL are just a few (it seems that no one poses as an Army cook or a Navy postal clerk).

The gamut of fake stories range from John Kerry’s secret squirrel mission into Cambodia with a CIA spook who had too many hats, apparently, to Jesse MacBeth (fake Ranger) who claims to have committed atrocities because George Bush told him to do it. Most recently, of course, we have Scott Thomas Beauchamps, who appears to have written at least parts of his war stories before he even arrived in theater.

By the way, if John Kerry is reading this, you still haven’t signed your Form 180.

Of course the media is willing to believe almost anything they’re told because most journalists haven’t served, many politicians haven’t served, and only a few bloggers have served (outside of the milblog community).

But, see, what torques my chain is that many of these fake veterans actually did serve in the military – but they’re disappointed that they didn’t do anything they consider worthy of their potential. That’s just horseshit. Anyone who serves in the military is a better person than those chickenshit little turds who call us “chickenhawks”. The military can’t make everyone in uniform a Ranger or a SEAL or a Force Recon Marine – there aren’t enough slots. But all of those guys have to eat, they need new equipment in the field, they need water, they need medical care – that’s what the rest of us are for, ya see.

Be proud of your military service, even if you did only “shovel shit in Louisiana” (to borrow a Patton quote) – you contributed at a time when the country needed someone to step up. If you feel guilty that you didn’t feel you contributed enough, go volunteer at the local VA facility and associate with and help this country’s heroes – listen to real war stories, and pass them on. Be a hero today to yesterday’s heroes.

And keep the BS to a minimum – then I won’t have to take a baseball bat to your monkey ass.

Category: Society, Support the troops