how do you explain a person (for 4 years of marriage) telling me that the large scar on his foot was due to stepping on a booby trap in vietnam and that the large scar on his side was from being hit by explosives and lying in a riverbed in vietnam? i just found out from his sister that they were both surgical scars from his childhood. i fell in love with a "war hero," who says he drove for pierre salinger and others, but his dd214 says nothing about anything, including ever even having been in vietnam. (he also says he was a seal/frogman) but his dd214 says nothing about any of this. we are separated, and i'm still in shock. i'm having a hard time understanding that someone could actually be such a liar. some people say that vietnam service in 1961-1965 was kept secret and off the dd214s, but that still doesn't excuse the other lies.
2007-12-30 15:27:00 · 12 answers · asked by diamond heart 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
he also said he won purple hearts and bronze stars, etc., but that he threw them all away when he was drunk one time. (none of that is on his dd214 either). btw, he is now 66 years old.
2007-12-30 15:46:18 · update #1
Some people served but did not ever go to Vietnam and then made up fables to act like they were; I have heard and seen worse here a Vietnam vet born in 1977 which is two years after it was over, Marines who don't know who Chesty Puller is or the walking dead (nickname for a unit dating to WW2 nothing to do with the movie) and so on. As a fact Vietnam service prior to 1965 was never left off of the DD214 it would be listed as overseas service since the official start of the war was 1965 and that is where the campaign and service ribbons date from (my uncle was an adviser in 1959 to 1962 and again 1964-1965 until he transferred to an Army unit coming in) and that is on his DD214, Purple Hearts and other medals would be listed on the DD214 so if they aren't there he never got them. All the "covert ops" people claiming this and that isn't on the records because it was classified are hog wash also-they will list any medals given and code it to an operation or just leave the reason blank so no classified info will be on it but the service will be there and any awards. I have one of those but it wasn't really a covert op since it made the papers later but is still just coded to the operation name. If you fell in love with a war hero I am sorry but you got rooked. I can't explain why that some people do that except to get sympathy, feel moe important and just ashamed that they didn't go to war but people do, they have and they will.
2007-12-31 08:51:05 · answer #1 · answered by GunnyC 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't understand. Pierre Salinger left government in early 1964 after the death of John Kennedy. He ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate from California shortly thereafter. No military men drove him around. It would have been a violation of Federal law.
The only troops in 'Nam during the period you cite were a few Green Berets and other advisors. There was nothing secret about that. The Armed Forces TV station on Okinawa even covered Saigon's weather during that time.
If he is still around and spouting those tales, you now have a Federal law which can get him sent to prison. It's called the "Stolen Valor Act" and was passed in the last Congress. Simple math should point out that this guy has to be in his 60s now to have ever served in country during that period of time.
2007-12-30 16:19:56 · answer #2 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry Chickie, he is a RAT! It is unfortunate, but there are a lot of guys like this out there who tell such stories. This one was actually in the military, but there are those who weren't (for a variety of reasons) who claim such honours as Purple Hearts, Medals of Valor and such, a couple even tried to claim to be Medal of Honour recipients. It is called 'stolen valor' and is a large enough problem the FBI has a task force for it. Only those who were actually on classified missions have stuff missing off their DD 214's, and they certainly don't talk about it. Ever. Even now that the missions have been declassified. Those who 'went there and did that' won't talk about it and those who didn't talk a lot to make themselves more impressive. Too bad it is such a crock, they make themselves look like idiots. Sorry you were lied to.
2007-12-30 15:41:14 · answer #3 · answered by Shan 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Older dd214's give very little info they give date of ets, rank at discharge, serial number and terms of discharge, and nothing more.
Therefore it is possible for someone to exaggerate about his service, indeed, a cook can make it sound like he was a highly decorated combat veteran, when in reality he never got closer to Vietnam than Ft Knox, KY.
So, when you ask someone about his military service, do expect him to exaggerate a little. Take it with a grain of salt. "Experienced in hand to hand combat" may be just that, or he was constantly getting into bar room brawls. Hint! Men who have actually been in combat, almost never talk about it.
But to fake medals, decorations and combat wounds, that is a flat out lie.
2007-12-30 16:06:02 · answer #4 · answered by TedEx 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know anything about Vietnam, but I do know a little about deployments. Almost everyone will "exagerate" a bit. My husband does it. I think after you were married he should have told you the truth, but maybe he was embarrassed. I know people say "real" war vets don't talk about it, but I have been there and so has my husband and we talk about it to anyone that will listen. Ya never know.
2007-12-30 16:25:14 · answer #5 · answered by Sam 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
How old is he? At 55, I was in close to the end of Viet Nam. Making false claims to improve your status to a love interest is lame to say the least. This ought to clear up some of the mystery:
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/
Get on with your life, who knows how many other lies he has told? Maybe he's also committed bigamy!
2007-12-30 15:35:43 · answer #6 · answered by Steven D 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Very compassionate. Children always seem to want to help people, too bad that as we age that is lost. I think more of a description of her as a child in the beginning would help to accent the fact that she is a child not a wife or grown up. Other than that I found it deeply moving and very descriptive.
2016-03-16 21:54:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sorry sounds like you fell in love with a drunkin baskerd.
OIF 2003
2007-12-30 15:51:19 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
you will notice alot of real vets wont talk about what happened in war when they were there unless it was to another vet
trust me i would never tell a girl about what happen there it sounds kinda stupid i know but unless she was there i would never bring it up and i have changed the subject many time when talking to people who bring it up
SSG ADA
US.ARMY
2007-12-30 15:48:29 · answer #9 · answered by adasgt1981 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Rush Limbaugh's wives were able to love both him AND his pilonidal cyst. What's wrong with you?
2007-12-30 15:43:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋