Warbird Information Exchange

It was a slow day at work and I came across this website. If you get some time you should scroll through the names of all the phonies, cons, and war hero wannabies out there that have been uncovered as frauds. There's everything in here from fake Medal of Honor winners, to guys wearing fake medals of valor, bragging about being Seal Team members, Green Berets, being POW's, fighting in Nam, etc. These clowns with their "Walter Mitty Syndrome" just make me want to puke! Hopefully now with the Stolen Valor Act in place these low-lifes will start facing some serious charges.

When I was working as an Army Field Recruiter back in the mid 90's I was amazed at how many posers I would run into while doing my job. The guys that went around bragging about how many guys they killed in Nam and all the other crap they did that was "top secret" and couldn't talk about was usuallly a did giveaway they were full of you know what.

John

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies.htm

So I guess I shouldn't mention that I was a triple ace in 'Nam flying Hellcats then...

No sir, I just play a FAC on TV.

These guys really cheese me off. I never served, and out of respect I refuse to wear any military insignia, and certainly no awards. I had a replica leather flight jacket, and thought about putting an 8th AF patch on it or something, but it just didn't feel right.

I get annoyed when I see yuppies running around in faux military jackets covered with various unit badges, etc. In many cases I don't think they're trying to pass themselves off as vets..they just want to look cool, or possibly make a misguided attempt to honor the vets.

As for those who deliberately try to impersonate veterans, they should be tossed in a military prison for a few years..or at least spend a few weeks cleaning latrines!


SN

Sailors, You ever noticed you never meet anyone that was a Aviation Bostwain mate ? "Aviation Boatswain mate is the bottom of the barrel!" I think Every Aviation Anchor Clanker that failed out of A School never had the guts to admit they were an AB! I have meet a couple of hundred Seals though. So I tend to belive otherwise untill they can prove they were a seal.

http://veriseal.org/about.html is an organization dedicated to sniffing out those who falsely claim to have been Navy SEAL's. Some good information there, some bluster about those they've outed as fakes (which they don't really need to do. They'd seem more professional if they didn't. But then, the guys they're snagging deserve what they get.).

Either way, it's nice to know that are some folks dedicated to giving the liars a bit of a smack down.

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Phil K.
Yankee Air Museum
Systems Admin / Ramp Crew / Professional Photo Ruiner

Steve, I feel like you do. I don't wear a uniform either, cept a nomex suit when I fly. It just doesn't feel legit. I was in the service, but I'd never say what I did was serving. I am a CAF life member, and their uniform is not genuine miltary, but I just don't feel it is anythng I earned.Someone like Ryan that wears period dress to fit in with an aircraft display or reenactors are of course are a different story. It's just a matter of personal style, but I've always get a laugh out of the professional acro guys who still have their tailored flight suit on a 10 pm in the hotel bar. Sometimes the real guys like Tex Hill are the ones that do the least bragging.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Hear here! I have volunteered as a docent at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, and one of the things that always struck me about the real vets (especially those from WWII) is thier humility. Most of them don't see what they did as anything special or heroic, just something that needed to be done. Those are the guys (and gals) I really respect and admire.

SN

my dad was ww 2 infantry, i wear major's insignias on my a-2. dad takes exception to this because i'm not a vet, nor attained the rank, but i have them on my jacket as a tribute to him, & what he accomplished. right / wrong?? nobody has ever questioned my vet status, but alot of people have asked if my jacket was the real m'coy!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

My dad was a door gunner in the UH-1, and has never told me any stories about it. THe real vets have alot of feelings that go with thise memories. If you are trying to pretend that you are one, the should take you out to the tallest oak tree with a little bit of rope and......

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

With my size I could never claim to be a seal, a walrus maybe but never a seal.

Norm

Wearing a replica A2 flight jacket or major's gold oakleaves is not a problem in my book. It's the clowns that wear this stuff and actually live the lie that they are some John Wayne war hero. It's hard to try and figure some of these guys out. I hate to say it but many of these types have been failures their whole lives...in some twisted, strange way this is one way they can garner some respect from people.

John

my sentiments exactly

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

When I was younger (and fitter) I used to wear the whole uniform as more of a living history display to go along with the aircraft or military vehicles that I was involved with. I really don't have any issues with that type of thing although I did stop wearing rank insignias and ribbons on my class A's due to a conversation that I had with one of the Doolittle Raiders. He really didn't specifically tell me that he was offended, but he did make some comments that made me think long and hard about wearing them. From that point on I haven't worn any sort of rank.

Regarding SEAL imposters:

It happens all the time. Most are the guys trying to pick-up and impress chicks at the bar, but then there are those whose lives have been less interesting but want others to think better of them and tell people they were a SEAL. They even make up stories of fictitious battles in countries that don't exist and come up with body counts. They tell people they a super secret SEAL with no social security number and new identitiy and could called away on a mission at a moments notice. Over on Military.com message board a girl made a post about some guy she was dating who gave her a story about being a SEAL and after awhile she wasn't buying it. Some real Frogs on the board told her what to do and ask him. Of course he couldn't answer correctly or gave a bullshit answer and then got all pissed off aqbout her questioning him.

A year or 2 ago while up in Detroit for a car show I ran into some muscle bound dude at the swap meet. He was wearing a T-shirt with a big "Trident"on it. So I went over to talk to him. I said " You a french?" He gave me a blank look. So thinking maybe I mispoke or he didn't hear quite right I said " You a SEAL? He say" Oh, yeah". I said "Cool...what coast were you on?(East or West). He replied with "Vietnam". At that point a flag went off in my head. I then told him I was in the Navy stationed at Littlecreek. He drew a blank, "where the SEAL teams are" I told him. At that point here turned a different shade of red and made every excuse to get back to the swap meet.

Most real SEALs aren't gonna go around and advertise that they are a french. They don't need to. Watch out for the ones who do.

I think the main reason why some vets get a little chapped about people wearing insignias, badges and uniforms that they shouldn't is because these are things that had to be earned. And by Joe Schmoe wearing it because he thinks it looks cool just cheapens it.

How cool does it look when it has bullet holes and it soaked in blood?

Shay
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Semper Fortis