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Stolen Valor Sheriff

Ahareht

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
42
Location
Kentucky
This Asshat is running for office in Kleberg County. He said in a debate he was a "Desert Storm Veteran, Desert Shield, Liberation of Kuwait. Purple Heart Recipient. Honorably Discharged Veteran" He even handed out cards saying he was a "Desert Storm Veteran". Turns out he never deployed in support of any of those operations and the "purple heart" came from the Police Department, not the military (But he never felt the need to clarify that). Claims the card was a "typo" and should have said "Gulf War Era" veteran, but if you knew it was a typo why would you still give them out. Also, I want to clear something up. Just cause you served in the military during a time of war doesn't give you the right to claim to be a veteran of said war. If you never put boots in Vietnam, you are not a Vietnam Veteran. Same goes for Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq/Afghanistan.

You can read more here: http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=68536#comments

And if you want, send Deputy Gonzalez your feelings on his embellishments: jgonzalez111@klebergcoso.org
 

Ahareht

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
42
Location
Kentucky
Nice segway, voicing opposition against a sheriff to belittling military veterans...well done.

I'm not belittling anyone. I'm a retired Army Veteran myself of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. I gladly stand with anyone who had the intestinal fortitude to raised their hand and took an oath to defend this nation. Be proud of what you did, is all I'm saying. Being a Desert Storm Veteran or being a Gulf War Era veteran are both honorable in their own right. Both have their place, but its a slap in the face to those who did deploy when someone who was stateside tries to claim they were a part of your operation. There is a reason campaign medals are given only to those who actually deploy to said conflict and not to every veteran serving.
 

stealthyeliminator

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
3,100
Location
Texas
Uh, since Ahareht is former military member, I don't think he belittled veterans in his prior post (or blog entry).

I'm pretty sure OC for ME meant certain veterans - in particular, those that didn't deploy overseas. I can easily see where OC for ME was coming from.

(Ahareht being a veteran himself certainly doesn't preclude him from belittling veterans.)

It is clear that Ahareht takes significant offense to someone claiming to be a veteran of a conflict when they were never deployed to that conflict, and that seems very understandable to me. I think his presentation could have been more clear, though, to avoid any possible disparagement of veterans that never deployed.
 

Maverick9

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
1,404
Location
Mid-atlantic
Lots of AF pilots, Huey pilots in Vietnam, vets, all. Doubt any of them had boots on the ground unless they fell out of the bomb bay.

Just sayin'...
 

Ahareht

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
42
Location
Kentucky
Lots of AF pilots, Huey pilots in Vietnam, vets, all. Doubt any of them had boots on the ground unless they fell out of the bomb bay.

Just sayin'...

"Boots on the ground" is just a saying. You realize that, right? Said Pilots would have the campaign ribbon and can call themselves Vietnam Vets, but a cook stationed in Germany for 3 years who never made it any farther cannot. Now there is nothing wrong with being a cook in Germany but you belittle the experiences and sacrifices of those who did deploy when you call yourself a Vietnam veteran knowing full well the public is going to take that as meaning you actually served in Vietnam.

Its like a Mall Security Officer telling others he's a Law Enforcement Officer, knowing full well people will think that means Police. Its deception and shameful.
 

HeroHog

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
628
Location
Shreveport, LA
Lots of AF pilots, Huey pilots in Vietnam, vets, all. Doubt any of them had boots on the ground unless they fell out of the bomb bay.

Just sayin'...

They were DEPLOYED in the hot zone so it makes them participants and they get the ribbon on their dress uniforms and can rightfully claim to be veterans of that campaign. If you are enlisted during wartime but are never deployed to a hot zone, while you may still get a ribbon for wartime enlistment, bragging about being a vet of that campaign is stretching it and might get you the stink-eye from those who "fought" or were even providing support in a hot zone but those behind the lines providing support or just "at the ready" ARE serving during a war time and are on call to put their life on the line 24/7/365 just like every other time including "peacetime" but claiming war vet status might be a stretch for them.

It's like me, I'm a disabled vet. I was disabled while on active military duty. However I will not intimate that I was in Nam or a Nam era vet, I missed that by a matter of months. I enlisted as we were pulling out of Nam so no Nam ribbon for me. I'm not going to try to tell anyone I'm more than I am. I am no war vet but I did enlist when it was very unpopular to do so. I didn't get injured in conflict, I tripped on an air filter and dislocated my knee while on active duty. I take NOTHING from those who give their all for their country. Just know that I was there to do the same if called.

Those who steal the valor of others deserve the derision of us all, vets in particular. Vets who embellish their service are almost as bad depending on the degree of it. There's bending the truth and there's pure BS. Pure BS needs to be shoveled on the s*** pile. As to exaggerating your service "accomplishments," come on man, that ain't right. Be a man and a service man and act like one! :mad:
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
My goodness, fellas. Lots of arguing.

So, the fellow who wrote dispatches for Grant during the Civil War but never got shot at, does he count as a veteran of that conflict? What about that lowly Virginia soldier who was only a clerk at a recruiting office in Richmond? Is he a veteran?

A childhood friend of mine was killed in a military plane crash, a flight gathering signals or something, in Turkey during peacetime. Does he count as a veteran?

What about the guy who serves in peacetime for a full hitch, no negative entries in his personnel folder. Its not his fault the Russians, and even the American government, had the good sense not to start something during his hitch. All he contributed was his presence. Does he count as a veteran?

Who gets to define veteran? Why bother arguing over a single word? It is practically guaranteed to start a fight. One fella says a veteran is this, another fella defines it differently. Why not just everybody recognize that a fella who says he is a veteran of such-and-such conflict is also saying, "If I had earned my combat infantry badge, I would have said so." No, that's not quite right. The point I'm trying to make is that its what he doesn't say that says even more.

I've the good luck to know people who've been shot at. There is something I've noticed. They don't brag about it or use it for self-promotion. As a counter-point, the guy who implies he got shot at and uses that by way of self-promotion is probably lying. Why not just let it go at that. Why get into a big argument over who is or isn't a veteran? Why not just recognize the braggarts for what they are?
 
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HeroHog

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
628
Location
Shreveport, LA
If you served, you are a vet. Period. If you served during wartime, you are a wartime vet. Period. If you claim you are a veteran of a certain war, that intimates you were actually THERE, not stateside in your rack and not to clarify that statement is a bit dishonest in the eyes of those who actually fought.
 

solus

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
9,315
Location
here nc
whoa there on your pronouncements of your perception(s) of armed force member's right to claim bragging rights during the service to our country...

numerous military & civilian individuals serve huge distances to provide support to those in combat areas and you folks do not have a clue of the role they played since they fall under the auspices of classified operations.

now the cook stationed in forward support sites in europe could be preparing meals for those evacuated from battle fronts due to injuries.

do me a favor, all of you...drop your testosterone filled bravado bs of "my time in the military was more important than your time!!". as it belittles yourself and the effort you expended in your service to our country.

ipse

members who served during conflict periods whether in or out of the conflict zone are afforded bragging right since you have no idea how they supported the conflict!
 
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HeroHog

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
628
Location
Shreveport, LA
2018 is the Fiftieth Anniversary of the sinking of the USS Scorpion, K-129, INS Dakar and French Minerve. Maybe then that silence will be broken.

I have questioned that for YEARS now and I don't know squat about it. I did serve on a submarine rescue & salvage ship and out of the Groton, CT sub base while in service in the last half of the 70s so there's scuttlebutt about things but who knows what to believe as far as that stuff goes.

My family and friends who were in combat in Nam and in recent conflicts in the sandbox, they may talk about general life during combat deployment but they don't talk about actual combat. The shooting, the killing, you don't go there. Combat vets who have been in actual harms way share a camaraderie with each other that is private, not public from what I have seen and known.
 

WalkingWolf

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
11,930
Location
North Carolina
"Boots on the ground" is just a saying. You realize that, right? Said Pilots would have the campaign ribbon and can call themselves Vietnam Vets, but a cook stationed in Germany for 3 years who never made it any farther cannot. Now there is nothing wrong with being a cook in Germany but you belittle the experiences and sacrifices of those who did deploy when you call yourself a Vietnam veteran knowing full well the public is going to take that as meaning you actually served in Vietnam.

Its like a Mall Security Officer telling others he's a Law Enforcement Officer, knowing full well people will think that means Police. Its deception and shameful.

While I myself have made mall police jokes, some actually are LEO's. While I understand where you are coming from you seem to have a problem with the differences in law enforcement.

I have never been a mall officer, but I have been a conservation, and university officer, and heard the same bovine scatology. Joking is one thing, police officers poke each other themselves. But if you have never been a police officer you are insulting police officers who risk their lives everyday for decades not just a couple campaigns.
 

HeroHog

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
628
Location
Shreveport, LA
While at Louisiana Tech University, a State University, I became friends with the top campus cop and learned that they were "real" cops on par with any other cop in the state and not to be trifled with lest you enjoy jail time.
 

WalkingWolf

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
11,930
Location
North Carolina
From vets signaling virtue to cops, quite a forking.

Part of the problem is with the expected respect/worship based only on military service, civil service. Otherwise some of these people would not even bother with delusions of grandeur.

Military, and LE have about the same percentage of flaws as any other profession/job. It does not mean they will make a good sheriff, or representative(John McCain).

IMO someone who consistently flaunts their heroics are not heroes but braggards. That includes both legitimate, and fake braggards.
 

JamesCanby

Activist Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
1,480
Location
Alexandria, VA at www.NoVA-MDSelfDefense.com
You're missing the point...

My goodness, fellas. Lots of arguing.

So, the fellow who wrote dispatches for Grant during the Civil War but never got shot at, does he count as a veteran of that conflict? What about that lowly Virginia soldier who was only a clerk at a recruiting office in Richmond? Is he a veteran?

A childhood friend of mine was killed in a military plane crash, a flight gathering signals or something, in Turkey during peacetime. Does he count as a veteran?

What about the guy who serves in peacetime for a full hitch, no negative entries in his personnel folder. Its not his fault the Russians, and even the American government, had the good sense not to start something during his hitch. All he contributed was his presence. Does he count as a veteran?

Who gets to define veteran? Why bother arguing over a single word? It is practically guaranteed to start a fight. One fella says a veteran is this, another fella defines it differently. Why not just everybody recognize that a fella who says he is a veteran of such-and-such conflict is also saying, "If I had earned my combat infantry badge, I would have said so." No, that's not quite right. The point I'm trying to make is that its what he doesn't say that says even more.

I've the good luck to know people who've been shot at. There is something I've noticed. They don't brag about it or use it for self-promotion. As a counter-point, the guy who implies he got shot at and uses that by way of self-promotion is probably lying. Why not just let it go at that. Why get into a big argument over who is or isn't a veteran? Why not just recognize the braggarts for what they are?

Anyone who has taken the Oath and served honorably in whatever position the military has assigned him or her to ... is a Veteran.

I am a Veteran, but although I served my country from 1964 to 1968 -- in the Viet Nam Era -- I have never nor will I ever claim that I am a Vietnam Veteran. I served my country well and honorably, but was never deployed to that area of conflict.

Those who claim, falsely, that they "were there" may not be committing "stolen valor," but their exaggeration or outright falsehood demeans their otherwise honorable service.
 

Ahareht

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
42
Location
Kentucky
While I myself have made mall police jokes, some actually are LEO's. While I understand where you are coming from you seem to have a problem with the differences in law enforcement.

I have never been a mall officer, but I have been a conservation, and university officer, and heard the same bovine scatology. Joking is one thing, police officers poke each other themselves. But if you have never been a police officer you are insulting police officers who risk their lives everyday for decades not just a couple campaigns.

I have been a police officer. I understand the differences in law enforcement. I used the "Mall cop" as a example. I'm not talking about the officer working an extra job, I'm talking about the type of person who says they are to an unknowing audience, knowing full well the general public would assume LEO means police officer and then will not correct said misconception unless they are called out on it.
 

Ahareht

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
42
Location
Kentucky
Anyone who has taken the Oath and served honorably in whatever position the military has assigned him or her to ... is a Veteran.

I am a Veteran, but although I served my country from 1964 to 1968 -- in the Viet Nam Era -- I have never nor will I ever claim that I am a Vietnam Veteran. I served my country well and honorably, but was never deployed to that area of conflict.

Those who claim, falsely, that they "were there" may not be committing "stolen valor," but their exaggeration or outright falsehood demeans their otherwise honorable service.

I disagree with the not committing stolen valor part, this guy was trying to garner sympathy for votes, but I couldn't have explained it better myself.
 
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