Wanna-Be Heroes

Borepatch: Heroes Part II:

When someone says, "Yea, I was in the service. I was a clerk typist.", and tells you funny stories of boot camp and maybe the stuff he and his buddies did in Japan in 1975, you can believe that. We've all heard of Stolen Valor and there are groups of veterans that dedicate a lot of time exposing guys who claim to have been super combat vets, SpecOps operators, Navy SEALs, wearing uniforms with rows of ribbons they bought on-line. What isn't as obvious is the guy who was in the service and just embellishes what he did. Now he can talk the talk, knows the units, lingo and details. Maybe he was on the base in a non-combat role but in a support unit that fixed the boats. It might start out no more than saying, "Yea, I served with the SEALS. No, I don't want to talk about it.", to his ...

And I don't much care, really.

I've read a lot about the "Stolen Valor" movement, lately, and frankly it seems like a tempest in a teapot.  Sure, some guys are envious of people who "get the glory or War" but were unable to acquire the experiences.  And probably, it's because they were unwilling to volunteer because HEY .. a guy could get HURT in a Combat Zone!

So, for their vanity, they *(these wanna-be guys)* portray themselves as war heroes.

And real war heroes resent that, so there is this movement to 'out' the charlatans.   Why?  Because they demean .. they STEAL .. the VALOR of the people who actually served in a combat situation.

Look, these guys are pathetic wanna-be's.

But if you were a warrior, you weren't there for the recognition.  You were there either because (a) you were drafted (as I was), or (b) you were enlisted.

If you were in a combat zone, and if you were involved in combat, you know who and what you are.

 You would probably like it if folks recognized that you chose NOT to move to Canada to avoid the draft.  (For me, it was something I thought about; but I couldn't face the promise of having to spend the rest of my life knowing that I was a LOSER!)

So. I'm uncertain about why some people are so (forgive the expression) so MILITANT about exposing losers?

I remember the story from my home-town, in the 1970's, about an acne-faced 17-year old who was found in the local Greyhound Bus Station wearing a full Class-A uniform.  He had Master Sgt Chevrons on his arm, and gold oak-leaves on his collar.  He claimed to be a "Sergeant Major"!

(Okay, it's an apocryphal story, but it's typical of the desperation these people are for respect .. albeit un-earned.)

Frankly, I was as embarrassed for him (even though I only heard the story 3rd-hand) as if he had been found masturbating in public.

But like the song about "the girl who just couldn't say 'no'", he was more to be pitied than censured.

Look.  If you have been around the world and seen the elephant, you know what you have contributed.  And if you did it so that other people would admire you ... you did it for the wrong reason.  Which you did not.

So why in the world do you care if someone who couldn't get an erection at the urging of the most talented Saigon Hooker decides he wants to get a little imaginary penal twitch?

Please, explain it to me.  Do so without using the words "Stolen" or "valor" or "Wannabe".

And please, don't talk about your 'fallen comrades".  I've got a few of my own, and I don't find these pitiful pop-in-jays to be any threat at all to their memory.  I'm thinking .. they would laugh, and buy the next round.

"STOLEN VALOR"?  You were not there for the accolades.  You were not trying to establish yourself as a "valorous warrior".  You were just there to do a job, one that nobody else would do.

When you treat these wanna-be's with contempt, you're drawing attention to them.  And they like it.

Fuck 'em.  It don't mean nothin'.