"fake" Marine busted for guarding CA school...

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ClydeFrog

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Hey TFLers...
Just read a media item about a nutcase in CA who was "guarding" a school in his USMC camo uniform.
The young man claimed to be a USMC E-5 & a combat veteran of Afganistan(OEF).
The US Marine Corps reported the man was a real Marine but left after 12mo, never served overseas or in combat & was a Pvt/E-2 when he was seperated.

These nutbars will pop up all over now. Keep a sharp eye out for the posers/fakers/liars. They might have real guns or knives on them, too.

About 6 years ago, I contacted a group called VeriSEAL, who helped me expose a fake Navy SEAL who did a media interview at a veterans event. The creep never went to BUD/S or served in any SpecWar units.

Clyde
 
Well that's a scary thought. God forbid some nut case dressed like a GI enters somewhere...well you can guess the rest.
 
I saw a news story about his guarding the school. Who'd a thunk he was a fake?

Do the Marines have 12-month enlistments? Why/how was he discharged after only 12 months in service? Sounds like there's a story there, somewhere.
 
dress, behavior...

The problem isn't dress or appearance as much as conduct/behavior.

You can stroll around in Mossy Oak or digital camo all day long, but when you TELL people you are a security guard or LE officer or active duty service member etc then you have big problems.

If you are going into a school or a public bldg looking like a Ninja, you may wind up in jail.
I'd add here that behavior & conduct are sometimes difficult to deal with.
As a uniformed security officer, I once had a strange guy hide behind a large sign on the hotel property. I kept a watch on him & called the local PD.
We later found out the nutbar(a older man with no weapons) wanted to "scare" his daughter into going into rehab for drugs.
These events occur because some people do not consider their actions or behavior strange until they get caught.

CF
 
I've never understood what people get out of lying about their military history. Being a shooting enthusiast, I get asked a lot by antis or fence-sitters if I was in the service. Usually followed up by "if you want to shoot that kind of rifle, join the military" sort of idiocy.

I always answer no, because I did not serve in the military. What would be gained by lying? Inside, you would know you were a phony even if nobody else caught on.

And to pretend to be a SEAL? How stupid can someone be? It's not like there are millions of SEALS wandering around. It's a small group by comparison to other branches of the services. I'd imagine there are all sorts of shared experiences that only a fellow SEAL would know about.
 
I saw the story as well . They way it was reported here was . He was standing gaurd as a promise to his son that went to the school . His son did not want to go to school so this guy said he would stand gaurd to make sure nothing happen to him . Thats my understanding of it . The whole thing could have been made up . Does any body know if he had a son that went to that school ?
 
There are many people that want to feel important, their reasons are personal. That they may lie about what they want to feel important about...does not make them automatically dangerous...but it does make them less than trustworthy.

The absolutely worst thing for them is to be ignored. Most just keep it to the lie stage. Don't think so? Go to a bar and just listen to some of the stories that come out>

Ya, ok...but I don't go to bars...
 
posers

A lot of the "soldiers" that you see at the Viet Nam memorial, wearing their old uniforms and medals were either never in vietnam or if they were, they never saw combat. Most combat vets never spoke of their time there. I lived next to a guy for over 10 years, even played golf with him and never knew he had been in country, until I saw a small picture frame in his house one day. Captain in the Marines. Purple Heart, Silver Star. I don't want to put down the people that did serve their country in Viet Nam, Iraq or Afganistan. Those are not nices places to be. But the truth is that no more than 10% of in country troops ever see combat. According to Col. David Hackworth the "tooth to Tail" ratio is 10%. It takes 9 very important people to keep the actual warfighter in action. Everybody wants to be Seal Team Six.
 
I never saw combat; only occupation duty. I've always thought of myself as an "ex-GI". "Veterans" are guys who were on the line and were shot at.
 
I was a combat infantryman, and did my job when I was deployed. I usedto really hate telling people that, but now if I'm in the company of folks (like yourselves) where I feel it is kinda appreciated I'm a little proud to say it. But most of the time I say I was a coffee maker. I don't understand the fakes either. You really get into them with the young guys at the VA. Theyve bamboozled so many doctors they think they can get one over on their peers.What saddens me is (at my VA office at least) it seems like a lot of Vietnam guys don't have much respect for us OIF, OEF guys. When I hear stories like that it doesn't suprise me why. I know not all of the older guys are like that. I've had some of the most meaningful conversations of my life with a few of them. But ya..rambling...it just sickens me because stories like this make me, as an OIF/OEF veteran afraid to try to even talk about what it was like.
 
Do the Marines have 12-month enlistments?
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No... never in the course of history that I know of.

Why/how was he discharged after only 12 months in service?
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He either broke (medical discharge), pretended to be broke (still probably a medical discharge, but Navy docs usually can tell and keep them around so they do crap duty for a couple of years), had a few loose screws (medical, likely) or popped on a **** test (BCD or General: Other than Honorable, depending on how generous the CO is).

I never saw combat; only occupation duty. I've always thought of myself as an "ex-GI". "Veterans" are guys who were on the line and were shot at.
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I have seen it, but I believe anyone who has occupied a foreign country has been exposed to risk and deserves the "Veteran" status. That's my thought process.

I don't understand the fakes either. You really get into them with the young guys at the VA.
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Call these guys out when you know they're fake. You and I both know a couple of leading questions can easily identify a veteran of the same war you were in. I used to believe in just letting it be, but lately I've made a game of making wannabes look stupid. It's not for my personal satisfaction, it's so they don't think it's so easy to be a fake and they make think twice before trying to dupe someone else that they may be seeking charity from. That's just me.
 
I saw a news story about his guarding the school. Who'd a thunk he was a fake?

Do the Marines have 12-month enlistments? Why/how was he discharged after only 12 months in service? Sounds like there's a story there, somewhere.
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short answer, No.

he definitely had a discharge though, whether honorable, dishonorable, other than honorable, etc and so-on.

a soldier(in this case a marine rather than a soldier, sailor, airman, etc) can leave the military Without a discharge. this only happens if it is 179days or less...once you make 180days(inessence 6mths but they go by days), it is much more official. this helps with weeding out guys/girls at bootcamp for failure to train, progress, respond, whatever.

he very well could have had an honorable for various reasons(and maybe not), but he should not have lied about his rank which there is no excuse. I cannot think of a scenario where he was an E5 and demoted to an E2 either....12mths is not enough time for him to become an e5
 
responding to other posts

please correct me if I am wrong(plus bare in mind I get what you were getting at in your posts), but a veteran is officially a veteran by just serving his country even if he is behind a desk during a time of war. as an example: the Veterans Affairs classifies active duty soldiers as serving during a time of war right now, as they did if you served during vietnam "era". They actually have dates to qualify you officially, so even if you started in the last few mths of the vietnam "era" as one example(I believe sometime during 1975), you qualify as a veteran and can wear the hat.

again I would appreciate being corrected if I am mistaken.

another mistake I learned very early from my Drill SGT at my basic combat training(bootcamp for army) which was encompassed by memorial day: is that memorial day is for the fallen soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen&women, coast guard. so as he put it: "Don't you effin forget that this weekend when you're drinking a beer and wolfing down a hotdog+hamburger...." He said memorial day was a day to reflect on the brother he was with last yr that died in a hospital 4mths after an IED burned all of his body.....veterans day is for the guy with the hat, the guy/woman who is still alive or who had the guts to put on the uniform for our beautiful country.

I realize most people know this, but many many people don't know the difference. I am not a youngin, but I remember in highschool one girl couldn't say what century WWII was in or the Civil War. I also served with fellow soldiers who had no concept of history which was very surprising to me. Veterans Day was actually originally Armistice Day: the last day of WWI with the "Lost Generation"(same thing as nostalgia from civil war, shell shock from WWII, PTSD from Enduring freedom...just different names). Later November 11th was named Veteran's day years and years later.
 
yes I saw this dude on Facebook making rounds with thousands of 'shares'. One can't judge a book by its cover. Once a marine always a marine and I am not going to judge his service without knowing his story, but lieing ab rank is inexcusable.
 
I am a desert storm/shield vet myself. I also worked as a civilian contractor for OIF/OEF in Kuwait in 2010 and early 2011. I do believe that there is a federal law out now that makes it a felony to lie about your service, awards or rank.
 
Most combat vets never spoke of their time there.
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This is an often said thing, but it's a blanket statement that doesn't apply. I knew a Vietnam combat veteran who never talked about it and another who did pretty openly. Openly in honest terms, not heroic/graphic terms.

Same of my friends who went to Iraq/Afganistan. Some don't say anything about it, others will talk about it.

"Veterans" are guys who were on the line and were shot at.
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As far as "veteran", anyone who served is a veteran. But not all veterans are combat or war veterans. Thanks for your service Mr Eatman.

I'm a veteran, but not a war/combat veteran and don't feel bad about it! I got lucky!

Glad to have done my small part.

Anyone faking the funk and claiming military service/rank/honor that isn't theirs to claim is insulting those who served honorably.
 
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