After almost two decades I still cannot bring myself to speak to the one person -- close friend and former Marine who was best man at my wedding after finding out that we fought back-to-back in hand combat in Vietnam. This revelation was disclosed when his companion's adolescent son related the story to the guests. Needless to say I was embarrassed but didn't want to refute this in public. What made this relationship even more untenable when his companion was puzzled when two former Marine Corps pilot neighbors suddenly stopped visiting and avoiding them. As it turned out she learned the pilots discovered numerous inconsistencies in my friend's claim to be a MarCorp aviator.
The next nail in the wannabe column involved a clinical psychologist's Army husband who was having difficulty obtaining VA benefits. He was part of the forward recon team in Argentina. Because of his "spook" ops, he could not apply for VA benefits until President George W. was out of office. That should have been the alarm. Stranger than fiction. This wannabe's downfall came at the Marine Corps birthday ball when he told the story of having been rescued by a single Seal team member and being carried 20 clicks to safety. Pinned on his -- the wannabe's chest was a Silver Star along with other fruit salad.
"Stolen Valor," could not be truer. And I had the unfortunate chance to experience it.
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