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Fraudulent Heroes

© Dennis Morehouse

History repeats and I think it's about to do it again.

During the current campaigns against terrorism, the military is, while far from being universally loved, at least generally respected. The kind of scapegoating that took place during and after the Viet Nam war, where the rank and file troops were held responsible for the actions of their political and military leaders, is actually very rare these days. Indeed, the troops are (mostly) admired for the difficult job they are doing and the professional way that they are doing it. The incidents of less than perfect behavior, accidents, or 'friendly fire' have not generally marred the overall impression the public appears to have of the military. Therein lies what will almost certainly become a problem as time goes on.

As the military struggled to overcome its failures and public image problems after Viet Nam, public perception slowly changed from one of overriding criticism to one that was more accepting of the soldiers. The flood of movies and television shows that portrayed returned veterans as dysfunctional losers had the unexpected (and probably unintended) effect of turning veterans into a sort of 'victim class', which tended to draw sympathy from a broad spectrum of the population.

The result of these influences and probably others, was that being a veteran became more attractive, particularly if that veteran had suffered somehow, or survived heroic deeds. Wannabes and frauds began to appear on the scene. These are people who purposefully misrepresent their status in some way (lie). They were never in the military at all but really wish they had been or they were in the military but not in a job or situation appropriate to their fantasies.

Most of us that are around veterans have probably fallen victim to these fakes. I've personally met three (that I'm aware of), and there are many more around than you might think. Check http://www.phonyveterans.com for a listing of nearly 50 unmasked fakes, including judges, politicians and 'just plain folks'. This will give you an idea of the types of people that commit this crime against the honor of our fighting men.

With the current operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and the relatively high esteem our military is held in, I expect that the problem will have another upsurge, swelled by losers who cannot understand the sacrifices made by their betters, but can understand the attention they can get by even a poor impersonation.

These people try to don the mantle of war heroes but they usually just can't get it right. They do manage to smear the good name of honest soldiers, though. In their efforts to elevate their own importance, they rapidly lose track of even the minimal reality they're trying to impersonate. They are so desperate to write a new reality that they make foolish, elementary mistakes. Or, they continue to embellish their stories to the point that only the terminally gullible could believe them.

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