Fake Marine busted!

If you look at the medals on his chest, each one of those signifies an act of courage, leadership and dedication. Without turning this into a huge P/R thread, it's different than impersonating a broker or CEO.

 

Just curious. Were/are you in the military?

 

If you're gonna steal steal big. Very impressive chest full of medals. Jail is way to good for this guy. I say hand him over to the Marines, photos and all.

 

They are trying to punish him not give him a vacation.

 

I don't view it as any different than impersonating a police officer. Besides, fraudulently representing yourself is a crime in a lot of cases.

But the law is picky about what you can and can't do. In this case, I believe WEARING the uniform and medals is the specific action that defines the crime. If he'd had the uniform hanging in a dry-cleaning bag in the back seat of his car, and just made sure people saw it and asked him about it, he'd still be a douchebag, but he'd be a douchebag who isn't breaking any laws.

the same logic applies to police gear. You can put a hat that says "police" on it in the back window of your car to deter thieves, but you can't WEAR the hat, or you're impersonating an officer.

You can deck out your crown vic with a black and white paint job, and even a full blue and red light bar, but the car can't say "police" on it anywhere, and you can't ACTIVATE the blue and red lights.

again - it's not illegal to be a lying douche; it's illegal to impersonate someone with an official rank.

I think this guy's sentence should be to wear a t-shirt that says "i impersonated a military officer," and they just let the Navy and Marines sort it out at the bar.

 

People that earned those medals take pride in what they did for their country to earn them and they wear them with honor. By wearing them this guy shows a complete lack of respect for those that earned that privilege. Not just the medals, but the rank. I don't expect anyone who's never served to fully understand that and so I don't fault you for not being as disgusted as some of us are, but you have to at least see why it angers us.

 

What a Dickhead.... I say make him sweep mines for a year...

 

I don't understand while people have to lie about their accomplishments while in uniform. I worked four years as a security contractor overseas. Most guys I worked with were great. Everyone had various backgrounds from a kid who did 4 years as an MP to guys who were Seals and actual Delta operators to guys who were never in the military but qualified for the job because of extensive law enforcement SWAT training and exprience. No one gave a shit about what you did, you were judged on how you performed right then and there day to day.

 

I completely 100% understand why this really enrages those who actually served. I don't get why it's a crime that includes jail time. If the guy used the fakery to rip people off, or get benefits, or somehow commit a crime, etc. then that would be the crime I'd think.

Wearing a cop uniform would be much worse IMO, because people in the general public have a reasonable expectation regarding police and how they relate to civilians (arresting criminals, intervening in a crime, protecting people from harm, etc.) We have no such expectation from a military person unless we're in a war zone, or if the Guard has been deployed I guess. But just prancing around like a moron at a reunion seems harmless.

Very outrageous to those who serve, but harmless nonetheless. Does the guy deserve a good beating? Sure. Jail? Seems a bit much.

 

I remember seeing a news story about how easy it is to impersonate a cop. Something about a guy dressing up as a cop and forcing girls to have sex with him so that he wouldn't arrest them or write a ticket. Real Scumbag.

99% of the stuff can be purchased by anyone off the street and it's completely legal to buy. At the time, the laws for impersonating a cop varied from state to state, some states is wasn't even a felony.

As far as military medals, I have all of the grandfathers ribbons and metals. I've also been to flea markets where guys where selling military ribbons up to first gulf war, so the stuff is very easy to buy. Some guys or family members just don't want the stuff and end up giving it away. My dad gave me his Vietnam metals and ribbons when I was 6, which I lost a few months later. He didn't care, probably just wanted to forget about it. Different time I guess.

 

You be surprise. Some biggest scams associated with impersonating or lying about military service is to gain trust.


I recall some guys on the news last year that was claiming to be Ex-Military, always on covert operations, marrying a few ladies around the US and taking them to the cleaners with fake investment options.

 

What a tool!

 

I served for 8 1/2 conflict ridden years (Honduras, Panama, Persian Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Croatia and Ziare to name a few). I have medals somewhere. The medals I can recall off the top of my head are the Naval Achievement Medal (2x), Navy Good Conduct Medal (2x) & National Defense Service Medal. I know I have at least 3-5 more, but don't recall what they were.

While I think this guy is an idiot, it just doesn't burn me up. Sorry...

 

No.

 

Maybe he was dressing up earlier for Halloween?



I'm kidding.

 

The OP is doing the Marines a disservice by even associating them with the fraudster.

 

Jeff, no disrepect intended but nam's, good conducts and, national def. are what most people who are in get, granted they don't get in trouble. Those awards aren't even close to what this guy pretended to have received. He attemped to wear a navy cross, a bronze star and, a purple heart, along with others. Less than 7,000 have been awarded the navy cross, many posthumously. A lot of the people who attempt passing themselfs off as war hero's try to fraudulently claim benefits through the VA, and in other ways. It's shameful and a CRIME. Most of the reasons why many of us are burned up over this is because of the pride we have in the uniform, and what those awards represent.

 

I had a friend when I was in...and he didn't deploy, but everyone had at least one combat tour in our unit and we would give him hell about it...so anytime we interfaced with civilians and they would ask about wartime service...he would pull out the..." I was special ranger forces...in Panama one time I had to kill four guys with a spoon" OF COURSE they would go, "WOW" and he would then finish it off, "Well it was chow time, and I didn't want my desert to get cold..."


Some people would actually believe it!

 

None taken, and I understand the frivolity of my medals and many others. However, I also know 2 people who sport the Purple Heart for injuries sustained while playing football for fun during wartime (and I'm sure there are countless more).

Make no mistake, I think this guy is an asshole, but I'm just not outraged over it.

If the people who have these medals and are proud of them are outraged, I don't take that away from them at all. I'm just saying that Bernie Madoff is a far bigger villain and impostor than this clown is.

 

Jeff, totally true what you said, tons of awards have been handed out to folks who didn't at all rate them. Here's an interesting article for you to read about the handing out of medals
http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceFileView?file=Hackworth_093003.htm
Also because of the fact that the Marine corps, hands out the least amount of medals could be why this loser was eventually outed as a fake. Also, on a criminal level i totally agree, he's barely a blip on the radar screen.