Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975.
It was certainly all over after this.
Posted on 12/27/2007 7:44:51 AM PST by SmithL
The new director of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont introduced himself with tales so harrowing, so seemingly courageous, that people took notice.
Fellow board member Dan Horan said Xavier Alvarez told him he saved a U.S. ambassador – and the American flag – while wounded by gunfire during a daring rooftop helicopter rescue in Lebanon.
Horan said he was puzzled when Alvarez, a board member elected in 2006, later changed his story to say it happened in Iran. And he was skeptical when his colleague also bragged of rescuing Marines pinned down by Viet Cong gunfire in Vietnam.
On Sept. 26, authorities charged Alvarez, 49, with violating a 2005 federal "Stolen Valor Act" by standing up at a gathering of water officials in July and announcing he was a wounded veteran, 25-year Marine and a recipient of the fabled Congressional Medal of Honor. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian, who is prosecuting the case, said Alvarez never served in the military.
To state Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, the case represents just one of many – far too many – episodes of people impersonating veterans, embellishing service records or claiming medals they never earned.
Cook, a Marine Corps veteran and a Purple Heart recipient in the Vietnam War, this year pushed through a California version of the Stolen Valor Act.
The law, which takes effect Tuesday, adds another tier of enforcement to the federal act by allowing state and local law enforcement to cite anyone who falsely dons or claims a military medal or decoration the person didn't earn.
Expanding upon an existing state statute allowing misdemeanor citations against people who falsely claim to be active service members or veterans, the law makes it an infraction to lie about military awards...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
“I joined because I was patriotic, and because my father was in the Marines and served in Korea. I didn’t join “for college”, though I’ve now taken advantage of that and have gone to college for 30 years now :) (Thank you US Air Force!)”
A lot of people I went to High School with joined because their dads were in the military, as did I. Of course in 1968 you either enlisted, got drafted or went to college. It’s was kind of a tradition in the South to enlist and the recruitment rates there are still high. I appreciated the GI bill later on as we were to poor for college and I was too hot to enlist anyway.
“I should give back my good conduct ribbon, I wasn’t that good.”
Hey, didn’t I meet you in the NAS Alameda brig one time? There was that big party at the EM’s club and then the Shore Patrol came and....
LOL
Yeah. (I think I got four of those, and some other shiny stuff :))
Hey! I was in Junior ROTC in HS. I ever got SPIT ON at a protest by some brilliant college kids cuz they didn’t know I was a high school kid. LOL
Chest Candy?
It’s legal for you to wear your uniform and medals, if you’re retired.
You are, after all “retired as “ some rank, right? You can even assume the “title of your rank”.
Folks around here call me a lot of names, but a few call me “Master Sergeant” sometimes :) even though I’m in civilian clothing. A lot of the military calls me that.
LOL!
Who would believe it anyway? What could you tell them that they could relate to?
“but the Horse and Cow in SD (near now-defunct NTC) was the source of many a night of interesting entertainment.”
I concur with that.
Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975.
It was certainly all over after this.
My father (now deceased) used to wear my great-uncles WW1 service pin (a small pin the about the size of a rotary pin) in the lapel of his blazer on occassion. I always wondered if that was legal. Opinion?
I think “hate speech” as a crime stinks.
I can’t have it both ways.
Even when that "offensive speech" constitutes perjury?
Sorry, I was responding to post #35 which specifically excluded swearing under oath, civil service applications, etc. I guess I should have stated my position more clearly.
I don't have a problem with prohibiting perjury. Similarly, I am okay with laws against falsely claiming military service to obtain benefits from the government, such as health care or employment preference.
What I am not comfortable with is trying to regulate some buffoon's lying boasts at the bar or a family reunion.
now...is it ok for the state of california to make such law ?
If you’re gonna lie, lie big I guess was his motto.
I think the pins are legal to wear. I’m not honestly sure that there would ever be a question about a pin. I don’t wear any of my stuff, except one item when I’m in a suit. I wear a Presidential Service Badge pin. It’s a lapel pin. The PSB is pretty big, and goes on a dress uniform.
I see it as an unConstitutional law no matter where in the government the law is made...fed-state-local. Speech that doesn’t directly put other people in danger should never be illegal.
Some schmuck lying about his service doesn’t endager ANYone.
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