Some: Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, actually served in uniform, but some of those might have slightly inaccurate memories about the nature of their service…
By Egon E. Mosum
Our politicians all serve in uniform.
Not military uniforms, but the blue suit, usually red or blue tie, white shirt and lapel flag pin type of uniform; the colors that often replicate those on our flag in the United States.
Our politicians are all, of course, patriots; real Americans, ready to sacrifice the lives of others in the service of the multi-national corporations that control our country.
That might seem rather cynical, but what is cynical is not necessarily inaccurate.
But of course, all of our politicians, (including those who didn’t dodge the draft when it existed, or forgot to enter military service as part of their curriculum vitae), are gung-ho when it comes to supporting the military.
Some of them, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, actually served in uniform, but some of those might have slightly inaccurate memories about the nature of their service.
That, after reading this article, might be regarded as somewhat of an understatement and certainly not inaccurate…
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For example, a Republican Congressmen from New York who served in the late nineteen seventies got the details of his service in the military wrong. He was a Vietnam draftee who served as an Army Lieutenant. His service must have been so secret that there were no military records regarding his doing his bit.
How could this be? It turns out that our draftee lieutenant lied, and finally Bruce Faulkner Caputo admitted that he had ‘not actually served in the Army and had taken a civilian job in the Defense Department to avoid being drafted.[1]
Then there was the candidate for an Ohio Congressional Seat, Republican J.R. Majewski who claimed he was an Air Force combat veteran. He claimed he served in Afghanistan, and once went without showering for forty days.
Turns out, that it was not only his body that stank, because that story of heroism wound up stinking to high heaven. Our combat veteran, after the press looked at his military records, actually never served in Afghanistan, but loaded planes in an air base in Qatar — safe and showered.[2]
President Ronald Reagan not only acted on film. ‘In 1983, Reagan was allegedly overheard telling the Israeli prime minister that he was in Germany, photographing Nazi concentration camps as they were liberated. In truth, reports indicate Reagan had seen the death camp footage while serving in California.’ Reagan never went overseas during World War II.[3]
When Tim Walz became the 2024 Vice Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, some controversy arose over his military history. In 2018, Walz in a video had claimed he handled assault weapons in war. Unfortunately, the closest Walz got to war was Italy some fifty-eight years after World War II ended. In political speak, he misspoke.[4]
For those readers that don’t understand political speak, ‘misspoke’ is a synonym for lied.
It is amazing how many people served in Vietnam during the war that never did.
For example, Former Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal in 2010 was taken to task for his claims of having served in Vietnam. Perhaps he had a really bad map, or definitely, he lied. For it turned out that he had sought five military deferments and then served in the Marine Reserve. The closest he got to Vietnam was South Carolina, which to be fair can get rather hot at times.
Of course, when caught in his pile of pucky, he said he ‘misspoke.’ (Lied).[5]
Wes Cooley, a former Republican Congressman from Oregon lied about having served in Korea during the Korean war. In 1996 it was reported in the Washington Post ‘[Cooley] claimed to have been a member of the Army Special Forces in Korea during the Korean War. Earlier this year, an Oregon newspaper reported Cooley did not finish training at Fort Bragg, N.C., until Aug. 19, 1953, almost a month after the war ended.’
He was indicted for that.[6]
Vice President Vance, who during the 2024 campaign, poured cold water on the lies about military service by the aforesaid Tim Walz, implied that he, himself, was a combat veteran who served in Iraq. He got the location right, but all he was, was a sort of Public Relations type for the military and was more familiar with bulletins than bullets.[7]
The above are just some examples of how politicians puff up, or downright lie about their military service, or lack thereof.
Lying about military medals for gain is a federal crime. 18 United States Code 704 (b) states ‘Whoever, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds oneself out to be a recipient of a decoration or medal described in subsection (c)(2) or (d) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.’
The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 echoes this.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Many of us, including your author, have served honorably in the active military of the United States of America. Many Americans have lost loved ones in various wars.
When there was a military draft in this country, many Americans did not head north to Canada, did not suddenly develop academic interests, and did not seek employment in a defense plant.
They were summoned to service, and they served. Unfortunately, many (either in whole or in part) did not come back from war.
Those who falsely claim military service, who falsely claim combat experience and/or the awarding of medals and decorations, deliver a slap in the face to those who did serve. It is a slap in the face of the families who lost loved ones who served.
It is morally wrong, and when certain technicalities of the law are met with, it is a crime.
It is doubly detestable when those who seek to serve us as our political representatives lie to us about the sacrifices they never made, the service they never performed.
These are the political parasites that have the power to send your sons and daughters off to war, but they themselves have never worn a military uniform, or never fought in a firefight. However, they do have the courage to send other people’s family off to get killed for whatever the current false reason happens to be.
They do have the stones to lie about what they never did during the war in front of the cameras and their constituency. When they are caught, as they most often are, they merely ‘misspoke’ or conflated their memories.
Maybe we should all push for greater penalties for stolen valor, and expansion of the elements of the crime from claiming certain medals, to claiming service that never took place. Maybe we should use prosecution to assist our representatives in their representations to us, so that they don’t misspeak.
Our politicians wouldn’t like that, but all of us, who are proud veterans, would.
[1] HOW MANY EXAGGERATED POLITICIAN MILITARY RECORDS ARE THERE 9/2/24 Anna Kutz News Nation https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/exaggerated-politician-military-stolen-valor/
[2] OHIO GOP CANDIDATE MISREPRESENTED MILITARY SERVICE Slodysko & Laporta, 9/22/22 AP NEWS https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-afghanistan-ohio-campaigns-e75d2566635f11f49332bd1c46711999
[3] Fabricated valor: 8 people who famously embellished their military service records Clint Davis 2/25/15 WPTV https://www.wptv.com/news/national/fabricated-valor-8-people-who-famously-embellished-their-military-service-records
[4] WALZ MISSPOKE IN SAYING HE HANDLED WEAPONS IN WAR Pellish & Bash 8/10/24 CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/10/politics/walz-national-guard-harris-campaign
[5] BLUMENTHAL SAYS HE MISSPOKE ABOUT VIETNAM SERVICE 5/18/2010 NPR https://www.npr.org/2010/05/18/126913756/blumenthal-says-he-misspoke-about-vietnam-service
[6] COOLEY INDICTED FOR LYING ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE Yang, 12/11/96 WASHINGTON POST https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/12/12/oregon-rep-cooley-indicted-for-lying-about-military-service/9e5eba6e-0f6a-4f17-ab8b-ddf7300f6625/
[7] JD VANCE MELTS DOWN OVER QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS MILITARY RECORD Olmstead, 8/9/24 Yahoo News https://www.yahoo.com/news/j-d-vance-melts-down-131646605.html
*Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
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In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. Mode Mobile has filed a Form C with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its offering, a copy of which may be obtained here: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1748441/000164117225025402/ex99.pdf