The phonies are not that difficult to spot, if you are a real veteran. They don’t understand that young soldiers have to spend hours learning how to wear their uniform and how to recognize all of the badges and ribbons that belong on it. They also have to learn a dialect of acronyms and slang that must be placed in a very specific context to make sense.
You don’t get all of that spending your days at the county drug rehab center, or working down at the recycling center. So, when later in life, you decide that you want to be a hero, it’s not that easy to fool the real ones. The press, on the other hand, are a piece of cake.