Good day to you all. Veteran Veritas has been on sabbatical for a few weeks. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy! Glad to be back amongst you at TC.com’s new look.
The item that jumps out of the National news into my blog is the decision of Colorado’s U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburns dismissal of the case against Rick Glenn Strandlof for violating the Stolen Valor Act.
The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime punishable by up to one year in jail for the fabrication of earning military medals.
After a lengthy muse, I support Judge Blackburn’s decision in deeming the charges unconstitutional, at least for now. I believe the Judge is up to something. And I believe that he knows his decision will be challenged on appeal, which explains a premeditated notion of giving the Stolen Valor act more teeth in the end.
In the interim, I do believe that one who is under oath and lies is in real hot water. To just lie for the sake of personal gain..is not necessarily criminal. It is a sin with its own consequences and a feeback loop that is likely to be much more painful then any prosecutorial process.
I have been advocating for veterans most all of my adult life. Since 1972 I have heard virtually every confabulated story you can imagine about military service. I have been in the presence of hundreds of wanna-be’s who telegraph their lame stories right from the get-go. From the, “I can’t tell you what I did, it was clandestine.” to the soldier who swore he was exposed to Agent Orange who never left the corn fields of Iowa, to the hombre who I helped with a claim for two years, only to discover he never had an honorable discharge.
Their is an old quote that came out of VFW’s years ago. “By the time a man is 70, he becomes an Audie Murphy.”
It is unfortunate,but there is something about the vacancy in a mans soul that causes him to lie about his military feats or lack thereof. A lie in itself is not a criminal act. Were it so, the halls of Congress would be empty.
As one who has a handful of awards for combat service, I do indeed find Rick Strandlof’s behavior to be despicable, but not criminal. He is not under oath. He is under the Ten Commandments. Different law.
What these men are exhibiting is a cluster of symptomatically low self esteem, and our more in need of a Psychiatrist then a lawyer. I do not feel so much disgust as pity. Something beneath that drive to grandiosity is a desire to be observed. And embodied in that desire for recognition is some queer form of respect for the achievements of the real combatants–otherwise they would not so badly want to be one.
I say, get the man some clinical help, and let him clean latrines at Camp Pendleton Marine Base for a year.
Well said and sad but true.
I hope rick strandlof comes down with painful boils over his entire body. This is going to also let off that nut job in San Diego that was running around as a USMC Sergeant Major for years. Also I’m willing to bet up to 1/3 of the blowhards in the VFW and A. Legion are phonies. I’m retired with 22 years of active duty, I know of what I speak. Great quote though about Audie Murphy!
Mike:
Great article! We should be reminded about these people from time to time! I have a son in Iraq on his third tour. People dont know that sometimes these guys turn down Purple Hearts. My son had an IED go off next to his Humvee (155 mm Russian artillery round) He was wounded in the face from the flying rocks and sharpnel skipping off of his helmet and armor behind him. He could not hear for a while too. They bandaged him and he was a RTD Return to Duty the next day. When he Sgt. wanted to put him in for a Purple Heart he turned it down.
The saying over there is that “They save the Purple Hearts for the guys in Walter Reed.)!!!
Just think about how many Purple Hearts we are not handing out. (Hear that Sen John Kerry!)
Thank you for your blog Mike.
Agreed on all points. You and I both have heard the fanciful and the ridiculous in our time with veterans. You are right on target that it is a matter of ” a cluster of symptomatically low self esteem, and our more in need of a Psychiatrist then a lawyer.”
God Bless you for the often unrewarding , frustrating, and heartbreaking work you do. In the end it is worth it.
I have never known a seasoned combat veteran, who has a few ribbons as I know you do Mike, that feels anything but pity and a some somberness for those who feel the need to confabulate and elevate a fictional self. We have listened to their tales for easily 40 years. “Forgive them, they know not what they do.”
I have rtecently been introduced to a copule of people that claim to have awards that based on dates thay have nentioned just don’t seem to be possible. Is there any way that I can try to check these out?
Jim