[gasmitty]

Some dirtbags guilty of stolen valor even serve in the US Senate: Richard Blumenthal’s Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History (Published 2010)

 

[Bad Bob]

There seems to be a huge ego thing involved. Most of the people I see doing this have low self esteem.

 

[Bad Bob]

I'm the same way, I was in-country but I was an Aircraft Electrician repairing airplanes and not dragging a rifle through the jungles and rice paddys like the Marines and Army.

I worked with a couple guys in El Paso, one was a cook in Vietnam with the Marines and the other Was in the Navy, shoveled coal in a hospital ship for 3 tours of Vietnam.

 

[demanic]

Most people that I have known who have been involved in anything serious don't tend to talk about it, much less blow their own horns.

 

[nj709]

Most people that I have known who have been involved in anything serious don't tend to talk about it, much less blow their own horns.

My Dad got shot up pretty bad in WWll & spent a couple of years in and out of hospitals. He didn't talk about it so I didn't ask. When he was in his eighties I took him for an appointment at the VA Hospital. There was an elderly French doctor there who struck up a conversation with him and asked if he had ever been to France. Dad replied that he had but didn't stay for long - just a quick in & out. The doctor inquired as to just where in France Dad had visited. The reply, "Omaha Beach". I had never heard that from him and neither he or the doctor spoke of it further. I was a proud son at that moment. Valor Pretenders - not my cup of tea.

 

[OldVet]

My dad, a WWII Seabee, didn't really say much about his time other than he'd been on Saipan and Tinian. He'd tell a tale on occasion, one that would explain why he detested standing in a line for anything or how they lived on the islands. It was only when I mentioned I was writing a novel that began with a crew loading an atomic bomb on a B-29 on Tinian days before the Enola Gay mission that he said, "I made the pits used to load those atomic bombs." He explained that as a surveyor he did all the surveying work for laying out the ramp and pits, not that he dug the holes.

Dad took a few more steps up the respect ladder that day.

 

[BlackJack]

I checked out his web site and, among other things, I find it interesting that while he lists Black Belt in several disciplines, including a 9th Dan Black Belt in Karate, he only wears a Red Belt in his official picture on the web site.

I am certainly not trying to question his credentials, but my daughter just recently obtained her 2nd Dan in Tae Kwon Do and will actually be receiving her certificate from the Kukkiwon in Korea at a ceremony tonight at the studio she trains at here in the Denver area. Anyway, I know that having her 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, she would never go back to wearing a belt that is 3 levels below her current ranking.

 

[eb2007]

So I am a moderator on our local community website. Someone posted asking for advice about self-defense training. A couple of people jumped in and recommended a school that I had researched in the past. That research led me to this stolen valor site page regarding the instructor there:

Robert Keith English – US Marine Corps Force Recon, Silver Star, Purple Heart, 70 confirmed kills, POSer, Blog of Shame

Visit the post for more.

militaryphony.com

I posted that link on the thread and was careful to say I do not endorse the information on that site, but it is something I think any prospective student might like to be aware of. Now I'm getting blowback from his students and his wife, saying it is all "rumors, half-truths, images taken out of context and/or bold faced lies" and that has nothing to do with his martial arts instruction. FWIW, there is another stolen valor site where a poster claiming to be that guy himself came on and apologized for posting military background stuff on his site and saying he would remove it, which he did. Although the apology sounded more like "I'm sorry I got caught" than "I'm really sorry."

My thoughts are:

• I hate stolen valor. When I was an LT in the Navy, I confronted a reserve CDR in uniform who was wearing wings I knew he didn't earn. I told him I would put him on report with the admiral if I ever saw it again. He complied.
• I think an instructor doing something like that should impact someone's decision to study martial arts under him. How can you respect someone like that enough to entrust your safety to? And if he falsified his background about something like being a "special forces" veteran, what else has he falsified? Martial arts credentials are not as easy to check.
• I think it's relevant because he did use his "supposed" military background in advertising to promote his martial arts school.
• I can't see a motive for that valor site to attack him unjustly. And their documentation seems extraordinary to me. Letters from DoD, notarized testimony of former students, etc.
• I can't believe anyone is sticking up for him.

Thoughts? Anyone ever run into something like that?

As a Veteran I 100% support your stance, and after reading the link someone posted feel that guy should be outed daily and have his ass kicked. Anyone who attacks you or defends that POS should be immediately suspect as far as morals and integrity are concerned and consider it a favor that they outed themselves as low lives in your community so you don't have to associate with them.

 

[RedSafety]

I wish I had the time to finish editing this book and get started on my light scifi series. Book 3 has a stolen valor scene in it based off a real incident I saw a video on. He's at a funeral and in a Class A (I think that's the term), with medals and pins. UGH! Never been in, but pretends to be. He gets called out and gets conned into taking an active duty post on a top secret base. He's given a choice between being redeployed to the main character's team or 10-20 in Leavenworth. Meets the genuine alien working with the US Space Force and wetting his pants is the least he does. He gets to be the evil-looking faun's assistant (pointy ears, cat eyes, goat legs stomping the ground, and a cold attitude to anyone not family). Ugh, stolen valor is so stupid.

 

[Huski92]

Hand out on occasion at a bar that is heavy on the veterans. I’m one too. You can tell the ones who prop up their stories. Most are honest with what they did. Great place to hang out. Blue collar and lots of bets. Broken valor pusses me off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jmf552]

I checked out his web site and, among other things, I find it interesting that while he lists Black Belt in several disciplines, including a 9th Dan Black Belt in Karate, he only wears a Red Belt in his official picture on the web site.

I am certainly not trying to question his credentials, but my daughter just recently obtained her 2nd Dan in Tae Kwon Do and will actually be receiving her certificate from the Kukkiwon in Korea at a ceremony tonight at the studio she trains at here in the Denver area. Anyway, I know that having her 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, she would never go back to wearing a belt that is 3 levels below her current ranking.

The Korean system is different. In the Japanese system, red belts are for 9th and 10th dans. 1-5 is black, 6-8 are red and white. There are some variations among styles, but that that is oldest system, which was established for Judo. Most of the Japanese Karate' systems follow that. However, in a normal dojo situation, 6-10th dans generally wear black belts. They may choose to only wear their red/white or red belts for special occasions. My last Karate' instructor was Shogo Kuniba, an 8th dan. He always wore a shredded old black belt that had almost turned white. I saw a picture of him once wearing a red belt.

There are some systems where all dans wear black belts, but they have thin red stripes on one end of the belt, one stripe for each dan level.

 

[airslot]

I had a fellow thank me for my service, after seeing the Georgia Sheriff's Association plate on the front of my Jeep.
I was quick to tell him that I was not with the Sheriff's Dept and the plate was just a way to support their Youth Homes.

 

[Bad Bob]

I had a fellow thank me for my service, after seeing the Georgia Sheriff's Association plate on the front of my Jeep.
I was quick to tell him that I was not with the Sheriff's Dept and the plate was just a way to support their Youth Homes.

This whole thank for service thing..... I will never get used to it. Being in the Army post Vietnam and a city cop.........Never had that many admirers....

 

[BlackJack]

The Korean system is different. In the Japanese system, red belts are for 9th and 10th dans. 1-5 is black, 6-8 are red and white. There are some variations among styles, but that that is oldest system, which was established for Judo. Most of the Japanese Karate' systems follow that. However, in a normal dojo situation, 6-10th dans generally wear black belts. They may choose to only wear their red/white or red belts for special occasions. My last Karate' instructor was Shogo Kuniba, an 8th dan. He always wore a shredded old black belt that had almost turned white. I saw a picture of him once wearing a red belt.

There are some systems where all dans wear black belts, but they have thin red stripes on one end of the belt, one stripe for each dan level.

I didn't know that. In TKD, all dans are black with yellow/gold stripe on one end of the belt to identify what level dan it is. The only differences I have seen is that some schools will not have a single stripe for 1st dan while others will. Also most of the schools will have the individuals name in both their native language and in Korean on the opposite end of the belt.