Are the protesters claiming to GULF War I vets really combat vets -- or even veterans?

3/23/03 | SandRat

[SandRat]

I'm tired of seeing these "peace protesters" claiming to be GULF WAR I veterans or even veterans.

Can all the Freepers out the please keep track of the "Veterans speaking out for peace" names as the LIBERAL MEDIA, especially CSPAN 1 & 2 put them on the screen and find out if these guys are really combat vets?

Who knows maybe FNC will even take the lead from FR and discredit what I suspect is a bunch of phonies?

[SandRat]

Wouldn't it be great if we could dicredit the lot and have FR get the credit for the byline on FNC?

Let's keep this as a running tally on them. Verified facts only please.

[bigfootbob]

Great Idea BUMP

[KineticKitty]

Something tells me if you just ask what company or unit they served with along with what their M.O.S. was, you'll find out that some may become thuroughly stumped if lying.

And asking their rank, and time in service and grade might reveal alot in itself as well.

Uhhhh, two years in ......and uhhh, I was a Sergeant Major.

[templar]

I was in Viet Nam. I find an awful lot of supposed VN vets that don't seem to know certain basic things that anyone who was incountry should know. Is there any simple question any GW I vet should know to prove or disporve his claim to be such?

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Going by past experience, I would be willing to bet money that probably 75% of these folks have never set foot on a military installation- and most of the rest were discharged under less-than-honorable conditions, or thrown out of basic training.
The press has ZERO interest in debunking these stories, though- just as they had no interest in exposing the phony myths perpetuated by the lying scum drug addicts and petty criminals who all claimed to be Vietnam vets (and do so to this day).
I have given up arguing with bums who hang around the street corners with cardboard signs saying things like "Give a Vet a hand". I know they're full of crap, but no-one else cares (especially the morons who encourage them by giving them money).
Ten years from now, every bum and grifter in the country will claim to have been have been a "Gulf War II Veteran"- mark my words.

[stands2reason]

Can you ping other military and ex-military that you know of on FR?

[KineticKitty]

"Ten years from now, every bum and grifter in the country will claim to have been have been a "Gulf War II Veteran"- mark my words"

Unfortunately there is truth in that statement of yours.

[SandRat]

Since most of can only see them on TV and are not among the media elite we can't get close enough to ask the kind of questions that true vets know to ask. Best we al can do is take donw their name when it appears and add it to the psting list. Maybe FNC (Bill ORiley or Shawn Hannity) will take it and run with it?

[bucephalus]

Don't know about GW, but I'd ask stuff like "What was your MOS? What was your unit? When You ETSed what were you an E ___?" Go for idiosyncratic, non-obvious army jargon. It is, after all, a lingo unto itself.

[rdwtic]

Yeah, we've been getting calls from self-decribed Vietnam vets on- air for a couple of weeks now. Bear in mind, the fabled Bagdad duo of Bonior and McDermott both also claimed to be Vietnam vets after the furor broke out upon their return from Iraq. It turns out, while both served during Vietnam, neither actually was "in country". Bonior was, I believe, a cook stationed on the west coast, and McDermott was, by virtue of his medical degree, posted to a medical unit here in the states. Not all vets have seen combat, and I suspect this would be the case with some vets we're hearing from.

[Salvation]

My son was in Gulf War - Navy. He considers himself to be a veteran and has accessed home loan, classes, etc. through benefits.

[RISU]

I am proud of President George Bush, who in the highest traditions of American Independence, has refused to accept blatant "thugism" that threatens everyone, within America, and without.

The protesters remind me of the young soldier who doesn’t fire his weapon in combat, hoping that the enemy will not shoot him. He only insures that his number will soon be up. This is not "theory", and anyone who has been there will tell you this is true.

It is cowardly not to confront blatant evil when it is so amply demonstrated, as has been the case in IRAQ for so many years. Saddam was an evil monster, willing to kill anyone who had a different view. Even so, America tolerated the mess until it became apparent that it was flashing back upon America itself, and then it became time to act.

I think the "protectors" around the world, and no less those in the United States at this juncture, are inured with "insured socialism", the life of "perfect safety" and "no possible harm" etc. They think because of the education that Liberals have provided children for two generations now that as long as they "follow the rules’ no harm can ever come to them.

This attitude, which is cowardly as well as stupid, creates the very environment in which the Saddam’s of the world, like Stalin, Mao, and Hitler before them, can capture resources and command people in a despotic rule by fear and death.

Let me tell you something. Just because you refuse to shoot your own weapon, gives you no assurance that another will not shoot you!

God bless the President, a President of whom every single American can be proud. President Bush has demonstrated that at least some Americans, the majority of them, can still be counted upon to stand for something.

POSTED BY: RISU Free Republic 3/23.03

[Great Wombat]

This post confused me as well (post 1). When I first read it, I thought he was questioning if Gulf War I Vets were veterans. He isn't. He is referring to a specific group of people on TV.
We Gulf War I veterans certainly ARE veterans, regardless of our assignments during the war. I tell people I am a veteran, but not a GW I Vet; since I was not in theater during the war, I was stationed elsewhere.
I apologise if I am addressing an issue you were not bringing up; it sounded like you were reading the same question into the post I was.

[Salvation]

I understand the slant of the posters. Just thought they needed to come back into the room.

BTW, my son did get a notice that he could be called up if needed. Has two little ones at home under the age of 2.

[Salvation]

**discredit what I suspect is a bunch of phonies?**

And how should the true veterans be treated by the media?

[SandRat]

Good for your son.

Those afloat that supported the effort were just as important as the infantryman on the ground. Any disagreement over this small point is just service rivallry and is best done at the VFW, Legion Hall, or at a Veteran's Day Social Call in the NCO Club at the nearest military installation.

Be Proud of your son you and he earned it.

[SandRat]

With repect!

But the elite LIBERAL media would rather choke first.

[tiki]

I know one thing, if any part of a division served in the Gulf War the whole division got the designation. I know because my niece's husband did not serve in the Gulf War but still received the designation.

BTW He did serve in Afghanistan and is now serving in this war.

[Interesting Times]

Many of the "anti-war" vet protestors turn out not to be vets. There are lots of screwed up street people who claim a military background when being interviewed by an uncritical media, and lots of them aren't genuine either.

The best resource on this issue I'm aware of is Stolen Valor. I recommend this book to everyone interested in the truth about Vietnam veterans.

[Mark17]

I was in Viet Nam. I find an awful lot of supposed VN vets that don't seem to know certain basic things that anyone who was incountry should know. Is there any simple question any GW I vet should know to prove or disporve his claim to be such?

I was in Nam too, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why there are dirt bags out there claiming to be Vietnam vets, when they are not. I would have gladly let them go in my place. I hated every minute I was in Nam, and counted the days till I could leave.