Thief13x on 12/10/2009 at 19:07
Wow, this even has me in shock (and a little nervous:p)
(
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/12/fake.veteran/index.html)
Quote:
Richard Strandlof said he survived the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon. He said he survived again when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq, killing four fellow Marines. He'd point to his head and tell people he had a metal plate, collateral damage from the explosion.
None of it was true. On Friday, the FBI arrested him on the rare charge of "stolen valor."
"The penalty for his crime is up to one year incarceration and a $100,000 fine," it said.
I used to get my ass whooped for lying, but this is a little extreme, no? I mean, even from a law point of view, what restitution is being made by this punishment?
What's also interesting to me is how he spoke at the Capitol, and did all these other things and had all this attention as a veteran and HE TURNED HIMSELF IN (no one checked??). Pretty crazy how these things work out.
june gloom on 12/10/2009 at 19:10
You lie about your military service, you lie about getting medals (when other guys are giving up limbs and sometimes their mental health and sometimes their lives to actually earn those medals) you deserve what you get.
Thief13x on 12/10/2009 at 19:12
very true but I'm just kinda in awe that it's against the law. I mean, it's not like he signed anything or was under oath or anything, much less imposed objective damage on anyone. In fact, all he did was GOOD things!
SubJeff on 12/10/2009 at 19:23
Worried someone will find out the truth about your "degree", eh?
It always amazes me that people get away with stuff like these. You've got to have some balls to go through with it all the while knowing there is no record of you in the military and no-one to back up your story.
This guy is guilty of waste, waste of luck. He clearly was blessed with a higher than average amount of it and has abused that.
Respect your luck people, if it's mismanaged it will run out and then the next time you hit some ice on the motorway its game over.
Queue on 12/10/2009 at 19:31
Quote Posted by Thief13x
very true but I'm just kinda in awe that it's
against the law. I mean, it's not like he signed anything or was under oath or anything, much less imposed objective damage on anyone. In fact, all he did was GOOD things!
...except for that lying bit about his "heroic-character".
His claims, whether intentionally malicious or not, devalue and diminish the accomplishments and tragedies of those that really deserve accolades in the line of duty. Shits like this, no matter what they do for a living, should be paraded around with large signs hanging around there necks saying, "I'm a pathetic shit that needs to feel important. Please love me."
But this goes back to problem of everyone suddenly wanting (feeling the need) to be famous and will do anything for their fifteen-minutes.
theBlackman on 12/10/2009 at 20:33
As a non-heroic veteran, I think he got less than he deserved, and the insult to those who died or came back maimed was treated too lightly.
Aerothorn on 12/10/2009 at 20:38
Man, fucked up as things can be here, I'm glad I don't live in Queue's Land of Enforced Public Humiliation....
Does it count as a violation of Godwin's Law if we talk about the actions of the Allies rather than Nazis?
Anyway, frankly, I fail to see how the law is constitutional. First Amendment is pretty heavy from a legal standpoint (at least in theory), and is there to protect unpopular speech. The classic "yelling fire in a crowded theatre" example directly threatens the physical safety of others. This just upsets people, or is emotionally wounding, which (from what I've learned in my 1.5 classes involving freedom of expression) isn't really enough to override the absolutist "Congress shall make no law" language of the First Amendment. And I don't think it would fall under "fighting words" (which is a pretty rickety construction in and of itself).
Of course, I'm not a lawyer. Paging RBJ!
Also, "stolen valor" is a hilarious name for this law. I mean, I'm familiar with "stolen heart" metaphor, but in more practical language, can something as insubstantial as valor be stolen?
Ostriig on 12/10/2009 at 21:43
What the fuck? Yeah, he's a pathetic piece of shit, and I'd definitely see him deserving a good mother of a beating from actual military dudes, but a 100K fine and incarceration? Did he reap any tangible benefits from this shit? And if that were the case, wouldn't it be categorised as fraud? "Stolen valor", that's just fucking ridiculous.
SubJeff on 12/10/2009 at 23:07
"stolen valor" more like dishonoured ze fazerland
