...then switched to flying F-16’s...
;)
Posted on 06/04/2015 7:55:33 PM PDT by Dallas59
An Army soldier attending Artsfest on Memorial Day thought something was fishy with the Marine uniform worn by 75-year-old Robert Ford, who was strolling along Front Street.
Ford's hat bore some wrinkles, according to the soldier's assessment, and his belt buckle looked too ornate for his rank.
The soldier enlisted the help of a Harrisburg police officer working at the event, who was a Marine, and together, they accused Ford of being a fraud.
"He's not a real Marine!" the officer shouted to the crowd gathered for the PennLive/Patriot-News Artsfest of Greater Harrisburg. "Stolen valor!"
"I was humiliated," said Ford, of Marysville.
(Excerpt) Read more at pennlive.com ...
Please see Post 60.
This deserves a Post of the Decade award!!!
Mrs. AV
Interesting, thanks—and I still don’t think it ought to be against the law unless part of a larger fraud that is already illegal.
I don't know if the Stolen Valor Act only intended to go after the Admiral Boorda types who wear a Combat 'V' they didn't earn, but the public seems to think it gives license to some legitimate USMC Gunnery Sergeant serving on active duty as a mighty Water Purification Technician to confront and start knife-handing kids dressed up on Hallowe'en night for dressing up in utility uniforms and pretending they're SEALs and then post the withering dressing down on YouTube for everyone's enjoyment.
ping
He DID answer questions. He was followed and harassed even AFTER he answered questions. At a point it was no longer "asking questions" but an attack on him.
Also, I see an angry, hostile black man using his position of authority to threaten and intimidate an older and weaker white man.
Said policeman should be punished severely.
I saw this. Overzealous cop ping....
Right, because Marine Officers have never heard of Weapons Company, LOL.
As a vet I see “stolen valor” as mostly hype in the same light as hate crimes and political correctness and those super sensitive hypocrites who try to convince us the use of simple harmless words is vile bigotry. There are very few cases where stolen valor is used for financial advantage...except by an overpaid Hollywood.
The intent of the political elite is to set us up as a divided hyper sensitive multi-national country. The open borders are pushed as icing on the cake where the intent is to further divide the nation. They want a country where our buttons can be pushed on these type issues to keep us from understanding how we are being screwed. They know how to manipulate us.
I can’t believe a cop would go up to an older man in a USMC(or any other) uniform and accuse him of stolen valor, when they’d never go up to Mexican looking non-English speaking immigrant and question him about STOLEN IDENTITY. They won’t arrest them even when they know they are here llegally and stole identities. We need police that serve us instead of agendas.
Just a hair split but the USAF once had 2 F-14s. Don’t know how long the program lasted or where it was based. My guess was somewhere like China Lake or PAX River. They weren’t at Edwards. You’ll probably never meet those pilots.
Very well said.
In the middle decades of the 20th century, the idea of being a vet was somewhat expected of males in our society. And there were females too. Most just did their thing without any glory and without any public worship and rarely getting a thanks from a public that served too.
I personally believe that it served us well and democratized and unified the nation. The military and Americans in it did everything from direct combat to KP to logistics and transportation. For many it was 2 and out and that brought in new blood. Those who liked it and were competent, stayed for their 20 or so.
Then in the late 1900s political elites came up the idea of using only a tiny segment of America to actually serve in the military and who could be sent repeatedly back into combat. The military now represents less than 1/2%, and instead of many citizens participating they create a new class of Americans...the warrior class.
Our military has become a hybrid of volunteers and high paid contractors working for highly profitable corporate donors who do the other stuff. The officer class and especially General Officers are becoming more numerous than ever in a military of declining headcount.
Are we seeing a new warrior class of Americans being created dedicated to serving in military and police? Is it good for our country, or is it reminiscent of the Roman legions.
You just hit the nail squarely on the head, and your Roman analogy is more apt than most Americans might realize. As Rome's empire declined along with its citizenry, it filled the ranks of its dwindling legions with mercenary barbarians recruited from the frontier -- with the promise of citizenship in the collapsing empire. Today there is serious talk of granting United States citizenship to illegal aliens in exchange for military service.
I was an 0311 (riflemen) but got attached to 3rd LAR as a scout (Light Armoured Recon)
My point was that for decades now, most people in the service have some pride left over at the end of their initial training, but not us. The Army has all kinds of initial training programs to fit the various MOSs. I’m proud to have finished it, but the kind of personal pride that existed before the 13 weeks of initial training (called one-station unit training) was completely dogged out of us. We liked crawling and pushing the ground as much as walking...yeah, like dogs.
Those of us who are veterans and even combat veterans are no better than anyone else. It might be appropriate to respect one's honorable service, but an occasional, sincere "Thank you" and a humble "You're welcome" square the account. Anything more is undeserved and just embarrassing.
I agree.
...then switched to flying F-16’s...
;)
Agreed that the prior Army individual had no business bothering the old man, who made no extravagant claims about his service. Neither did the police, though they were or had been Marines according to the article. There have also been quite a few changes in Army uniforms since the 1950s. Same with Marine uniforms? My dad was in the Army infantry in the early ‘50s.
I was 31, when I went through initial training, by the way (referred to as “old man” and many other more interesting names). Felt that I owed something to my slightly older peers who’d gone to Vietnam.
There were a couple of twins in the same platoon because of the “buddy program” recruiting effort of that time—my platoon. A drill sergeant slapped one of them, and the other one yelled, “Ow!” [Yeah, it was probably pre-arranged.]
Temps went over 100 degrees many days. During that three months, we only wished they’d make us swim. ;-)
Well put.
Semper Fi.
L
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