According to results from the 2000 census, 80% of those Americans who claimed to be Viet Nam veterans were lying. In my experience that is about right. About 3 our of every four men I meet who claim to have fought in Viet Nam are unable to provide correct answers to a few basic questions I asked them. I quickly conclude that they are not telling the truth. Of those who did serve, nearly all claim to have served in combat. the truth is only about 5 % of those who served saw any combat in Viet Nam. There were 20 men in the rear areas doing support jobs for every trooper who was in the field.
A recent example. Stacey and I were attending an NRA instructors course to renew our certification several months ago. The instructors proudly introduced one of the other participants in the class as a former Navy Seal. On a break I asked this "Seal" what Bud Class (Basic Underwater Demolitions) he had graduated from. He answered "sorry I do not remember." That would be as if I asked you what high school you graduated from and you said I do not remember! At that point he knew that I knew he was never a Seal. He kept quiet after that making no more references to having been a Seal. By the end of the class the instructors who introduced the student as a former Seal confided in me that they no longer believed such to be true. I observed a fellow LAPD instructor and actual Navy Seal, expose two other LAPD officers who claimed to be seals and were not.
When people start talking in cliches I get suspicious. "Yea, I was there but I can not talk about what I did, top secret." I do not like to talk about it, bad memories you know." "I flew F-4 jets." What aircraft did you fly in primary training--*I do not remember." "I was a sniper." Which sniper rifle were you issued--"You know one of them sniping rifles." On and on and on it goes. There was a famous Marine Corps battle in Viet Nam where only two men survived. I have personally met over 50 people who claimed to have been one of those two men.
I have a commercial pilots lic with instrument and multi engine ratings. I took an LAPD officer friend of mine up one afternoon for a local flight. He claimed to have been a fighter pilot in Viet Nam. I offered him the controls. He refused. I insisted. He started to tremble. He was terrified and would not touch the controls. I later asked him some basic questions about aircraft and flying and he could not answer any of them. To this day his friends, wife and grown son believe that he was a Naval Aviator and flew jet fighters (Phantoms) in combat.
The real shame of all of this is the shadow it casts on our real warriors. Our veterans who died, who were wounded and gave precious years of their lives for us. Most people are not combat vets and do not know the right questions to ask those who claim such status. Most people are inclined to give others the benefit of the doubt. How is one to know the truth when statistically 80 % are lying and another 15 % are exaggerating.
I am glad this fake Seal is going to jail for a year. Perhaps others will give a second thought to taking credit for the deeds and sacrifices of our real warriors. I doubt that such lying about ones service was as common 60 years ago. I suspect that this is in part a result of having a more and more secular society.
Lawrence Mudgett
Not only a fake but a crybaby. They should have stood him up in front of a firing squad of SEALs.
Fake SEAL Gets One Year for Stolen Valor
A man who falsely claimed a chestful of military medals was sentenced to a year in prison and was ordered to repay $11,098 in veterans benefits he shouldn't have received.
Thomas Barnhart, 59, had 21 years of legitimate Navy and Coast Guard service, including offshore duty in Vietnam. But starting in 1979, he began inflating his experience in claims for promotions and benefits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Jacobsen told U.S. District Judge James Turk today in Roanoke.
Among Barnhart's lies, according to the prosecutor: he was a Navy Seal, he received elite low-altitude parachute training, he received five Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars and a Vietnamese medal of honor. He also falsely claimed that a downed U.S. helicopter pilot died in his arms and that he saw other U.S. soldiers die around him.
Jacobsen, a veteran of the current Iraq war, called Barnhart's conduct "repugnant."
Barnhart wept in court and said he lied because neither the Navy nor the U.S. public appreciated his real service.
"I just can't punish myself enough," he sobbed. "Every day I ask forgiveness."
Thomas Barnhart, 59, had 21 years of legitimate Navy and Coast Guard service, including offshore duty in Vietnam. But starting in 1979, he began inflating his experience in claims for promotions and benefits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Jacobsen told U.S. District Judge James Turk today in Roanoke.
Among Barnhart's lies, according to the prosecutor: he was a Navy Seal, he received elite low-altitude parachute training, he received five Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars and a Vietnamese medal of honor. He also falsely claimed that a downed U.S. helicopter pilot died in his arms and that he saw other U.S. soldiers die around him.
Jacobsen, a veteran of the current Iraq war, called Barnhart's conduct "repugnant."
Barnhart wept in court and said he lied because neither the Navy nor the U.S. public appreciated his real service.
"I just can't punish myself enough," he sobbed. "Every day I ask forgiveness."
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