Posted on 04/01/2015 9:46:53 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
A newly released video shows a military veteran chasing down a Florida panhandler who thought he could get away with pretending to be a veteran.
According to Tampa Bay ABC affiliate WFTS:
“Garrett Goodwin, a military veteran, said he was driving to MacDill Air force Base on Sunday when he saw the panhandler and decided to confront him.”
In the video, Goodwin follows the panhandler, who is trying to walk away from him when he demands to see the panhandler’s military ID card. When the man admits he doesn’t have one, Goodwin tells him:
“You take my uniform off!”
While following the fraudulent veteran, Garrett Goodwin sums up the issue near the end of the video:
“That’s my uniform. My brothers died for that uniform.”
IJReview spoke with U.S. Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who’s a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve, served in Iraq 2005-2006 as a combat surgeon, and is a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services Committee and Chairman of VA’s Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
Speaking of the Massachusetts “Stolen Valor” bill, which would go further than federal law, Wenstrup said:
“That we even have to take such actions is sad. I co-sponsored a similar bill in 2013, but it had to be something criminal and fraudulent. I think the [Mass. Bill] would hold up. Obviously, there needs to be harm to someone [for a stolen valor bill to hold up in court]. If they’re lying for financial gain.
We’re a country that tries to help those in need, but to misrepresent is something else entirely. Lying is always ugly, but there’s a free speech component. However, profiteering may be subject to criminal prosecution.”
It’s unfortunate that homeless persons are reduced to panhandling for money, but that doesn’t give someone an excuse for disrespecting the brave men and women in uniform who sacrificed for this country.
Not that I’m defending the panhandler, but I’m a vet and I don’t have a “veteran’s ID card.” Only those who have retired have retired ID. I was in for four years and all I have is my DD214.
He doesn’t even need to say he thinks he’s a veteran ... all he needs to do is say that he is showing his support for Veterans by dressing that way. He is exercising his free speech rights in support of Veterans. Actually, I think those free speech rights could be used that way in opposition to Veterans, too.
I would say that “dressing up” that way is going to be impossible to say “no” to doing so ... unless someone is doing something else and gaining access to services or getting a discount for something by saying and/or pretending to actually “be” a real veteran. Wearing an outfit is not going to do it, but getting financial gain from the pretense of being a veteran will be a legal problem for the guy!
That made my day. God bless our troops and veterans.
I’m ex-military, two tours. I am disabled and have a VA card which I use for ID when asked. It is issued by a recognized Federal Agency and considered to be either a Federal ID or Military ID (inactive), Federal because of the issuing agency, and military because if you were not military you can not be issued one. When I first applied to the VA they asked several questions including branch of service and dates served, plus I had to present a copy of My DD-214 for verification.
I don’t have an ID card, but I do have a VA card. If you sing up for benefits at the VA you can get a card. Also the card the DOD issues to retirees is different than the one issued by the VA.
NOTE: I’m not disabled or technically retired for the military, but I do have a VA card.
These impersonators should be shot on site. Panhandlers too.
You probably don’t put on your uniform with easily identifiable fraudulent patches and panhandle representing yourself as a veteran either.
It is a disgrace that people do this
and I am proud for that REAL veteran who called this fraud out.
The fraud was able bodied so he needs to get a job, not pretend to have served our country
I still have my red ID card from 1977...................
In the 1970s, that issue card was SOP.
panhandler’s military ID card....EXACTLY what I was thinking. When I got out the Doctor gave me a finger up my butt, a smile and personnel gave me a DD214 and a sniff.
Seriously? Shot? Killed.
***Not that I’m defending the panhandler, but I’m a vet and I don’t have a “veteran’s ID card.” Only those who have retired have retired ID. I was in for four years and all I have is my DD214.***
That.
I will give a brother/sister a hand. But it is incumbent on them to convince me that they indeed served.
What was your MOS? Where did you do basic/boot camp? Who was your Drill Sergeant? What was your rank? As soon as they flail I know they are lying. Just one question answered incorrectly will disqualify them from receiving my generosity. (And we all know if they are wrong.)
Things like I don’t remember my Drill Sergeants name. (DS Fizer and Nole. B/19/4, Fort Knox. This was in 1985 people!)
I don’t remember my TI’s name...that was 32 years ago, and really, wasn’t all that important to me.
I can give you tail numbers of aircraft I worked on, AFSC’s, jet engine types and the aircraft they’re in...things like that.
But my TI’s name? Nope.
Exactly.
For me, DS Peggins and Reynolds @ Ft. Jackson, SC in 1983.
Many get tripped up when you ask them where they were assigned. A red flag is “I don’t remember” or “It’s classified”.
Same here.....From what I heard from a fellow vet who uses the VA in Detroit for medical care, I guess we can get one but I have to go downtown to get get it.......
I don't really need or want one that bad........
If he was truly homeless he would probably wear whatever someone gives him. If he were telling people he was a vet when he wasn’t, that would be the problem.
You can buy cammo anywhere. There is no law that says non-vets cannot wear cammo.
“Not that I’m defending the panhandler, but I’m a vet and I don’t have a “veteran’s ID card.” Only those who have retired have retired ID. I was in for four years and all I have is my DD214.”
I was wondering about that when I read it, thinking, “oh hell I lost something.” Good to know.
I also don’t know my MOS/career branch number, as the system changed when I was in and I also went from enlisted to officer (CBNs are MOS for officers).
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