can anyone without ego explain stolen valor
Posted on
I don't have really any hero's, there are people I respect but I always felt I could do anything anyone else could do I could do so it never occurred to me to really have any.
But about a decade ago I attended a basic survival skills day course (start fire with sticks) and there were a couple of instructors that were really nice guys, respectful and good teachers I really didn't think much of them actually until I went to go get a bottle of water from my car.
On my way back to the group a woman in dark sun glasses appeared from like nowhere and asked me who the group was and what they were doing, that was odd and I told the head teacher and he kind of moved us a little farther back in the park and I really didnt pick up what was going on.
Later in the day it started to become clear who my instructors were, not because they were telling everyone but because they were apparently there not only to hang out and help the head instructor but to recruit in some form or another.
I did get some sense after one of them showed me where a bamboo spike had gone through his boot and foot while doing things in asia but our sections instructor, not so much - by the end of the day I simply knew he had taken part in something important in the military and I kind of could take a guess what that might be.
5 years later I saw a picture of him and realized personally I couldn't have met at that time anyone more heroic, maybe if I tried really hard to think about it I guess - but there is no doubt in my mind that this person had a long and storied military career to be respected.
To contrast that I met someone famous from another branch that was a loud mouth drunken asshole. He had also done heroic things and everyone had to know about it.
While in the market just now I heard two guys talking about this guy that they met and how he was lying about his service and they were going on and on about stolen valor and I dont think they even served themselves.
To me valor is something you do without recognition that goes above and beyond, a selfless act that on occasion gets witnessed and in the military gets rewarded with metals and promotions but those aren't the reason for the actions and what separates IMO the heroes from the heroic is who has to get the notoriety and who could care less beyond a modest level of pride in their actions and the benefits of being respected for them among peers.
I cant imagine the guys in the park spending more than 6 seconds worrying about some cosplayer or poser or some guy trying to get chicks online or getting there police officer discount at Dennys - I can see them talking maybe a little trash, calling them a jerkoff and moving on.
The drunken asshole I can see him completely losing his shit, snatching off the fake metals and making threats of violence and on and on - Don Shipley is funny as hell but I can't imagine trying to make a life out of tearing down posers - might as well go after the kids on youtube who rent there Ferraris too, its the same kind of front to me.
If someone I meet says they were in the Battle of this or that, it doesnt mean anything to me - I wasnt there, I dont know what happened - I will respect this person as I do any other but there BS isnt doing anything for them or me - I dont care. No matter how hard they try to claim something they didnt do its not going to make them any better, its not going to get respect among there peers and there is no actual sense of accomplishment or reward, they may get date with some girl, who cares - if they aren't smart or are buying that good bye, it will become evident later I guess.
A friend of mine who did serve got all upset one time when I tried to explain that you cant steal and intangible like valor, thats nonsense and he was pissed - why? He served on a ship, packed parachutes and did his thing - there were officers on his ship he claimed that lied there way to the top or whatever but that didn't bother him it was about some guy he saw on youtube. I asked him why he didn't spend his time focusing on the successful people who had really done things and never really got an answer.
I see and have spoken to endless people who are on this stolen valor cancel culture and it seems really lame, pathetic to me - like a bunch of people with low self esteem.
Personally I would like to believe that military veterans are the pillars of our community, the everyday heros but I have a really hard time respecting people who obsess over stolen valor, which is to say they obsess over the lies told by other people that frankly don't seem to affect there value or the value of there actions.
But maybe I am completely wrong, so I am wondering if anyone can explain rationally and without there ego why anyone should care about what people claim to have done?
[link] [comments]
Subscribe to our newsletter
Promotions, new products and sales. Directly to your inbox.