Who knew there were so many Navy SEALs posers? I'd never even heard about it until today. Sure, I knew there were posers of all kinds, I just didn't realize that so many were posing as a SEAL.
However, today there were articles all over the net. The AP, Grand Folks Harold, ABC News, theblaze.com, navytimes.com, etc., about this very issue. Here are just a few things I read...
Steve Waterman, a former underwater photographer was quoted as saying, "Dead giveaways are loose tongues and bravado: SEALs are discreet. "There were about 500 SEALs that operated in Vietnam, and I've met all 20,000 of them," joked Steve Waterman, a retired Navy diver from South Thomaston.
"The more outrageous a story is, in a lot of cases, the more it's believed. These guys do a terrible amount of damage," said Ret. Navy Seal, Don Shipley, of Chesapeake, Va.
Don Shipley is one of few former Navy SEALs authorized with a database of actual graduates of the SEAL training.
Shipley said "SEALs don't talk about their exploits", ... "It makes us uncomfortable," he said. "We don't like talking about it. But these (phonies), that's what they crave. They like talking about cutting people's throats."
And Larry Bailey, a retired SEAL from Chocowinity, N.C., and several others including Steve Waterman are exposing phonies through a website, http://www.stolenvalor.com/ .
According to Lt. Cate Wallace, spokeswoman for the command in California; the public can inquire about supposed SEALs at 'The Naval Special Warfare Command, which receives regular inquiries, most of which are proven phonies.
I guess it is easier to pretend you have achieved great feats, than to actually do it. But to pretend you are a hero is (in my opinion) the lowest you can get!
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