Posted on 04/02/2003 7:46:57 AM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
Yesterday morning I was grabbing myself a morning cup of coffee and a bagel at one of my favorite morning stomping holes and while standing in line I witness a stomach turning scene.
Small coffee shop in Burbank,
One person behind the counter, myself two uniform cops and another guy with a small child standing waiting our turn at the counter. In the background was a TV tuned to CNN showing footage of our troops clearing houses and moving among tanks in the streets of an Iraqi town.
The guy with the child was well-dressed, American flag lapel pin, clean shave and short hair, small guy wiry build but by the look of his neck definitely someone I would not want to go a round or two with.
Two cops, uniformed, typical LAPD types. Big built, high-n-tight hair with wrap around gargoyles worn indoors.
One of the cops says to the other out loud
“Man we use to get the biggest rush doing that shit when I was in the teams”.
“I’ve been on so many missions doing stuff like that man it was a rush”!
Then he went on to detail some “black op” he and several other guys had gone on just after Somalia, he was rattling on and on about doing this and doing that and how he was with a group that went back into Mogadishu with some Delta types after Task Force Ranger pulled out of there on some snatch and grab mission.
I was looking at the guy the whole time out of the corner of my eye actually more interested in the CNN feed and making sure the young lad behind the counter prepared my order correctly and didn’t torch my bagel in the oven he had just placed on HIGH when the small guy finally spoke up.
He asked the cop who was spouting off…
“So you were in the SEALS?”
Cop: “Yea that’s right”
Guy: “When?”
Cop begins to shift a bit and said “late 80’s to the mid 90’s”
Guy: “Really, what team?”
Cop: “Well I actually spent time with three different teams, why do you ask?”
Well, the guy at that point called his bluff, asked him which team he served last in, the cop said four, guy asked him who was the senior enlist man at four during 92-94 and the cop shot back at him,
“Oh, your one of those types!”
And the guy responded, “Yes sir, I am one of those because you are one of them”
By this time I’m looking on, coffee in hand while the cops partner was giving me a really nice WTF are you looking at stare, the conversation ended when the counter guy placed everyone’s order on the counter and the cops left.
I just smiled at the guy, shook my head and asked him if he was a vet, he said he was. I didn’t ask him any more than that I just thanked him, shook his hand and bought him breakfast over his objections.
I don’t have any idea if the guy was a SEAL, but I’ve bumped into several SEALS, both officer and enlisted in uniform around Southern Cal so it would not surprise me one bit if the guy was one and sniffed out the lying POS.
TMMT
It would be frustrating to be a Navy SEAL I'd guess. You secure this platform, or detonate that bridge, and your leader says ... "back to base". And you go .... "Well, we thought we'd go up the road and help those other guys ..." They never seem to get to join the fray with the land lubbers.
When the SEALS assaulted and secured those Oil Terminal platforms in the first days of the War, one of the jibba jabba boys asked a Marine Colonel about the what the SEALS do and he said "The harder thing is to find anything they DON'T want to do."
Gee, imagine..
I guess the biased press is supressing all the "poodle killings" going on under our noses..
Don't care what their shoes are like. It's a job and they aren't conscripts. If they can't manage to behave like civilized adults, then they shouldn't be running around with taxpayer financed cars and weapons. Get another job, but don't whine to me that your current one somehow justifies gross arrogance.
I am not buying.
Bad cops and irresponsible pit bull owners bring these things down on their own heads.
If you are going to posess something as deadly as police power or a pit bull in our society then you should be responsible for it.
I got a dog and I am responsible for it. It's a pet, not a penis extention and should be treated as such.
Yeah, that's right. Morgan Fairchild.
"... whom I've seen naked!"
Yeah, that's the ticket!
Navy vets say officer isn't SEAL as claimed Police lieutenant says he's not listed because he was in classified unitBY STEPHEN DYER
Beacon Journal staff writerLAWRENCE TWP.: Become a U.S. Navy SEAL and you join one of the military's tightest fraternities.
Some classes of SEAL trainees have had a dropout rate as high as 90 percent during the 17 weeks of rigorous training. Since 1962, fewer than 10,000 men have completed the course that even has claimed some lives.
For the graduates, being a member of one of the world's elite fighting forces becomes their essence.
That's why when people falsely claim to be SEALs -- as some allege a Lawrence Township police officer is doing -- former SEALs like Ron Relf take it personally.
``A lot of our teammates have given their lives to serve with honor and integrity,'' said Relf, 49, a retired Denver police officer now living near Philadelphia. ``These (fakes) are trading in on the good reputation of the guys we knew.''
False claims have become an epidemic of sorts, according to SEALs and their devoted followers. So much so that a group has formed a ``SEAL fraud squad'' at on the Internet.
The organization meticulously maintains a database of SEALs dating back to the group's earliest days. The mission -- catching fakes -- lacks the danger of a classified incursion, but members attack with the same signature SEAL ferocity.
``Ever since the Roman Empire, we've had fake veterans,'' said Steven Waterman, a former Navy photographer who administers the Web site. ``But with the Internet, it's easier to catch them.''
Navy spokesman Lt. Douglas Spencer said ``something pops up every day'' about falsified military records.
The SEAL group has caught university professors, school superintendents, police officers, customs agents and medical doctors lying about their past.
Officer targeted
Their latest target is one of northern Stark County's most respected police officers: retired Lawrence Township Lt. William Chevrier, who since 1982 has told people he was a SEAL. He has worn the SEAL trident insignia pin on his police uniform. His SEAL claim was so well known, it was one of those things people around town just knew about him. ``It's just understood,'' explained Northwest Schools Superintendent Dennis Lambes.
Chevrier, 58, is a resource officer in the district and is working to obtain a grant so that an officer can be stationed permanently at the buildings.
But Waterman says he has no record of Chevrier ever being a SEAL. Neither do naval special forces officials.
``He's not in our database,'' said Chief Petty Officer Todd Willebrand. ``We've got a list of everyone who's ever gone through SEAL training. We've never had the database be wrong.''
Chevrier counters that when he was in SEAL Team 1 between 1962 and 1966, it was a deeply classified outfit.
``I didn't exist,'' he said.
He said that's why he left the Navy in 1966 -- he couldn't be promoted because of his classified status.
Willebrand said whether a person is a SEAL is not classified.
Chevrier said he has heard questions about his military record for about six months.
``So I didn't turn up in a database,'' he said. ``I know what I know. That's all I can say.''
As for the ``fraud squad,'' it's not always right, Chevrier said.
``They're out to get people running around saying things,'' he said. ``I've run into two or three (legitimate SEALs) who said it happened to them.''
Chevrier declined to produce a copy of his military discharge papers to the Akron Beacon Journal. He said it won't say on the records that he was a SEAL because of his classified status.
Spencer said it could take as long as two weeks to confirm Chevrier's military service.
Willebrand said most fake SEALs claim they were part of a secret, classified class that doesn't appear on any records.
``This `secret class' had about 20,000 graduates,'' he said. ``That's a pretty big class.''
Reason for claims
Willebrand said people who falsely claim to be SEALs use it to advance themselves. Some even use it to threaten people.
For example, they warn, ``I'm a SEAL and can kill you with one finger,'' he said.
``It's an epidemic,'' Willebrand said. ``A lot of them use it to pick up girls or get promoted in jobs.''
One admitted fake SEAL -- William T. McCabe, 45, of Mount Vernon -- said he started bragging over a couple of beers with friends, though he said he hasn't made the claim for more than a year. He said he had worked with some SEALs while he was stationed near their training base at Coronado, Calif.
``I felt awful about'' telling the story, he said yesterday. ``I want to correct everything I did. I felt horrible about it. I just admired what they did so much. I hang my head in shame.''
Waterman said McCabe's apology was admirable.
``Now he can get on with his life,'' he said.
Those who work with Chevrier in Stark County said whether he is a SEAL doesn't really affect his job performance.
``He's a great cop. If your child is missing, he's the first guy I'd go to,'' said Massillon Municipal Judge Edward J. Elum, himself a Navy veteran. ``We'd share war stories together. He never told me he was a SEAL.''
Elum said Chevrier also never claimed it on the witness stand.
Lawrence Township recently rehired Chevrier to conduct part-time investigative work. Trustee Marvin Hardgrove expressed concern when he learned about the discrepancy between Chevrier's claim and the Navy's records.
``I'll take a look at it,'' he said.
Chevrier's supervisor, Police Chief Charles ``Chip'' McCullough, however, said the SEAL claim doesn't matter.
``Whether he was or wasn't a SEAL is immaterial,'' he said. ``It's not a job requirement.''
Former SEAL Steve Nash, 61, of California, said there's another problem with fakers: They can cost taxpayers money.
``There are a lot of phonies taking advantage of the (Veterans Administration) system,'' he said. ``A lot of taxpayer money is being spent on people who don't deserve it. If the rest of the military had the system we do, we could save taxpayers a bunch of money and get treatment for guys who deserve it.''
Relf said some fakers go to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., and pass themselves off as SEALs. Some even adopt the names of dead SEAL team members.
He has a simple response.
``At some point, we'll have contact with those guys,'' Relf said calmly. ``And it won't be a good day for them.''
"REMF", if I recall correctly, is an acromym for Rear Echelon Mother F***er. I'm not sure this is entirely a fair term. Military personnel go where they're ordered to go, do what they're told to do. If they get sent to the front and have a chance to be heroes, so be it -- but if they get assigned behind the lines and do their duty without ever hearing a single shot fired in anger, they're still serving honorably.
I recall reading that, of those who served in WW 2, only about 1/3 actually saw combat. There were twice as many supply, support, technical specialists, etc, as there were actual fighting men. Which reminds me of the old adage, "Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk supply!"
No real agent or assassin would ever be so foolish as to talk about it. People who make such claims can be a priori dismissed as fakes.
Then again, maybe you can. And heaven help you if you do -- it's not hard to imagine how REAL intelligence personnel could make life utter hell for a poser. This concept is humorously explored in the otherwise-ridiculous movie, "True Lies".
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