"punk rockers" Lol

Mike

Still that way . Same for Navy.

The uniforms are for sale every where in surplus and thrift stores, anyone with $1.50 can buy them. Not stolen, ANG wears BDU all the time every where they go, ain't like when we couldn't leave base/ship in our dungarees.

Valor is some thing that can only be recognized, it is a part of the soul, it can not be given, awarded taken nor stolen.

Fraud is 'nother matter altogether, but til the guy or gal makes the statement that they were there or asks for a Veteran benefit, I don't see any fraud.

Is there snow out there?

Multicam is pretty cool.....

As said stolen valor as fraud is pretending to have served in order to obtain material benefit.

So running around pretending to have served just so people will think you are cool falls short of that threshold, but is definitely worthy of public ridicule.

Anybody still in who is fraudulently wearing ribbons, medals or rank is violating military law. That is different than a civilian doing the same for a fashion statement, which is still inappropriate IMO.

As far as veterans wearing old uniform pieces...even if nobody else is looking....I don't like it, would never do it. Part of the pride in uniform and of the respective service, is to hang it up properly once DD214 is in hand.

Marines are not allowed to wear their cammies off base. I don't know where other services draw the line but I wince every time I see somebody on active duty in the community in their cammies.

You mean a guy is supposed to keep an entire issue after he gets out? Theres a bunch! Why would you keep them? To remind yourself of the old days? No thanks, my life wasnt over when I turned 50. Ive got new adventures / challenges very day still. Ill maybe tell washed up haz been stories when I stop making new ones.

Well when we create situations where we want to consistently have our veterans in uniform so we can honor them we run the risk of greatly increasing the number of those that will scam the system. That is one thing we sure did not have to worry about when over a million of us came back in the late 60s and earlly 70s. If we did not take our uniforms off somebody was ready to rip them off you.

Bryce

I agree bblwi. Quit the military worship. They are a necessary evil. I oppoze the 'veterans day' free lunch circuit when I heard they let police and firefighters in too.

I have to admit that I am guilty of some of this. I have a few pairs of worn out BDU's, DCU's, ACU's and Multi Cams that I have cut off into cargo shorts and wear almost daily. I also use my assault pack with my Name, Rank and Blood Type still stuck on as a carry on or for when I take a couple day trip on my bike. I also wore combat boots for 5 years after I retired because everything else made my feet ache. I have probably a full ton of TA-50 and gear and uniforms in my basement that I will never use again, but I can't bring myself to get rid of. When asking for a discount I always have my Blue ID in my hand and ready. My class A's (too cheap for Blues) are hanging pressed and ready for when I die, and won't be worn again until I do.
But I don't consider any of that stolen valor, nor would I consider anyone else wearing boots parts of BDU's (without insignia) or part of a PT outfit as stolen valor. The issue is someone claiming to have served as anything they have not. I have called out more prior service guys on stolen valor than those who have never served. After I was retired, it seemed like every Marine I met was force recon, every Soldier an Airborne Ranger, every Sailor a Navy Seal and every Airman was a PJ. I pity those guys because they are so ashamed of their service that they embellish everything. I'm proud of what I did, where I've been and what I accomplished.
One example was a guy I met at a couples odyssey with WWP. The guy seemed cool my wife and his fiancé got along, he claimed to have been an Infantry Staff Sergeant, that he jumped into Iraq with the 173rd, that he had been shot 9 times, that he was Ranger tabbed, Pathfinder, HALO qualified. He seemed to know what he was talking about. We kept in contact and hung out for a little while after, but some things just seemed off. He ended up threatening to kill his fiancé's 4 year old kid and started pretending he was an under cover DEA agent, she left him and mentioned to my wife that some things didn't make sense and mentioned she had a copy of his DD-214. I took a look and realized he was Airborne, was Infantry and did jump in with 173th but was only in the military for 16 months total before he was chaptered out for drugs. He had no awards, no other schools, his DD-214 was almost blank. almost everything he told me was B.S. I took out a public announcement on pennswoods and blasted him for stolen valor and fraud for almost 6 months. I was more mad at myself for believing his stories than I was with him. If he would have said yeah I was in and yeah I was a D-bag I would have respected him more than I do now.

When people ask me what I did in the service, I say I was an alcohaulic. Its what I did best.

I don't have to worry about wearing my old cammies...no way Id fit in mine anymore. LOL

but I agree with u

This topic makes me see red. I'm fortunate to have never had the displeasure of meeting any of these fine Americans while on the sidewalk. I do, however, get a kick out of the occasional YouTube video my cult of Lance Coconuts pulls out on occasion.

Don't know where any pf that stuff is anymore ,Don't care 69-71

Where I grew up, there was a military surplus store. Until I was at least 18 I never owned a piece of camo that came from anywhere but there. I wasn't stealing anyone's valor.... I was hunting squirrels. And if someone had came up to me as a 16 year old girl and accused me of that, I'd have laughed at them. I was a girl, war was something for men, which is what I still believe today. I was just looking for dinner.

I have an old set of tiger stripes - am told they're worth a lot of doe-ray-me but keep them. Don't wear 'em but my grandson likes to parade around in 'em.
I still have my class "A" greens and wore them once since I got out at my son's graduation from West Point. Yes - I still fit in 'em. I weigh the same as I did in high school... (eat your heart out!!)

Stolen Valor - I believe that's been ruled by a court that pretending to be a former member of the military is "free speech".
That's the world we live in.

Stolen valor to me is someone lying about past military service and trying to use this as a means to benefit themselves. I like most of you do not care for this at all.

Some of this probably happens more than we think. While the following story isn't the textbook example of stolen valor, it does somewhat fit the category. I have a Navy friend of mine that was working at a local Auto Zone part time a couple of evenings a week. One night he had a DOD civilian flash his ID and try to take advantage of the military discount that Auto Zone gave. My friend called him on it and refused to give him the discount. The civilian in turn got agitated and stated "that he worked with the Navy and therefore was just like them, and should receive the discount." My friend in turn told him that his job was in fact not the same as being active duty military and that he still wouldn't give him the discount. Makes you wonder how many times this guy got away with claiming the discount before he was called on it?

On the other hand I have no issue with someone buying some cammies from an army surplus store and wearing them hunting. I know I have given away command ball caps and command coins to plenty of folks over the years that weren't always military. They make nice souvenirs and are a way to promote military service or a particular command.

Here in KS they will put veteran on your driver license.

My Brother gave me his cammies to use as I see fit. He is gone now. He read here but never posted. He was smart.
I put a lot of miles on them, after he put the hundred miles of bad roads on em.
I always considered them lucky.
Never realized it would offend someone.
Considering turning them into the VFW and wearing my pacman sweatshirt while listening to the Steelers game.

What about all the Army/Navy surplus stores?

Now I probably offended the internet pacman haters.

No problem with surplus or old uniforms being repurposed as long as no pretense of actual past or current service is being implied by the wearer. I grew up wearing Dad's old fatigues and suntan as work wear and hunting clothing. I loved his old jungle boots as a kid and was proud as punch when I was able to wear my own pair in uniform when I served.
As for the jack wipes who feel the need to pretend to be something they're not well it angers me of course but I remind myself I did served just so they could be free to be as much of an idiot as they want to without being bothered. So screw them they are idiots.

Wright Brothers...
Wearing military uniforms for hunting - or any other purpose is, in my book, NOT stolen valor. You go ahead and wear them in honor of your brother. Anyone gives you any grief, tell the a Vietnam vet told you it was ok and they can go take a hike.
Stolen valor is claiming someone did something of valorous service but is lying about their accomplishment.
The wearing of medals for serving when they were not even in the military or did not do what they claim to have done is what I mean.

I have a friend who was part of the SF unit that was overrun at Lang Vei Special Forces Camp in '68.
He won a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during that battle. He told me of another veteran he met that claimed he was also at Lang Vei, but could give no accurate account of what happened there. He did not know the names of any of the commanding officers or NCO's nor could he recount any information about the escape from the NVA. He had no knowledge of SF unit designations or tactics.
He also claimed he won a DSC during the siege at the camp.

THAT is what I consider stolen valor.