http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/07/fake-vietnam-ve.html

Quote :

"Fake Vietnam vet ordered to tend to graves of real vets Reggie Buddle admits he pretended to be a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, going so far as to award himself medals and fake religious credentials so he could officiate at military funerals and weddings. For that, a federal magistrate in Washington has sentenced the 59-year-old to two years of probation and 500 hours of community service, which will be spent tending the graves of veterans at Tahoma Military Cemetery. Earlier: Metal thieves make off with hundreds of veterans' grave markers He had faced up to six months in prison. "In this case, we thought it was a good idea to teach him what true service is like," the federal prosecutor tells The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The paper says Buddle pleaded guilty in April and apologized in court yesterday."

I think it serves that punk right.

7/31/2007 3:28:34 PM

i thought this was gonna be about one of the bums around NCSU's campus

7/31/2007 3:31:21 PM

i thought this thread was about charlatan animal doctors overseas

7/31/2007 3:33:57 PM

its fun to quiz the guys who most likely arent vets....i like to do that. start asking them what unit they were with, were they were stationed, gear they carried etc. (in a respectful way of course just in case they are) since my pops was a viet vet i got lots of inside knowledge. now the ones who really are vets know the answers and the ones who aint usually come clean. also i have never met a WWII vet who wasnt for real, and if you have the chance to talk to them do so cause they wont be around much longer. and always show the real vets respect.....but the phony ones its fun to make um look like an ass

7/31/2007 3:34:58 PM

Just be careful not to quiz a wind-bag, he'll talk your ear off if he's authentic. Which I like, but some people don't.

7/31/2007 3:40:06 PM

I fully agree that this guy got what he deserved but what was the crime that he committed? I'm assuming it's illegal to impersonate military personnel?

7/31/2007 3:57:54 PM

I believe so....though I'm not sure


my guess is it's crime in much the same way that it's a crime to impersonate a police officer

7/31/2007 4:02:58 PM

I have always thought it was illegal to impersonate any Federal or State official.

7/31/2007 4:07:59 PM

this dude should be kicked in the balls until effectively castrated

7/31/2007 4:28:23 PM

The Army Times just reported on a medic who claimed to be a corporal, in SF, with three silver stars, three purple hearts, and the Medal of Honor. I mean seriously, if you're going to fake that shit, chose something believable. There have only been four Medals of Honor conferred since 1990 and all four recipients were killed performing the act for which they were recognized.

Quote :

"also i have never met a WWII vet who wasnt for real, and if you have the chance to talk to them do so cause they wont be around much longer. and always show the real vets respect"

Two of the coolest conversations I had in my life involved WWII or Korean veterans.

The first time was when we came back from Iraq in 04 and got held-over for the night in Bangor, Maine because (ironically) their airfield was clear and Pope AFB's was iced over. We spent the night hanging out in the snack shop talking to a B-17 pilot from WWII and an infantryman from Korea. If you wanna meet someone who has been through some shit, talk to a Korean War vet.

The second time was when I got to escort a couple of guys who'd been in my old regiment (377th Field Artillery) back in WWII around Fayetteville for our Battalion Heritage Day. They hadn't seen each other in 20 years and I wound up sitting at a Waffle House at 11pm on a Thursday night, listening to a couple of octogenarians discussing jumping into Normandy on June 6th and who fucked which French broad in 1944. Quality.

[Edited on July 31, 2007 at 4:47 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2007 4:46:20 PM

Agreed, I love learning from these guys. I remember the first discussion I had that got me fascinated in history was when I was walking the dog in my neighborhood and said hello to two little grannies. After a few nights of passing them, I walked with them and we struck up a good conversation about what it was like to be Jewish teenagers in 1930's Germany. The stories they told were so fascinating, I'll never forget the way they talked about Hitler.

Talking with war vets, however, can be so enlightening on so many levels. As a teen I had a morbid fascination with my father's experience as a gunner on a destroyer in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and started talking to others who were there. It's the little things that count, like the fact that the men went without sleep for so many nights due to stress that they sold them whole cartons of cigarettes for a few bucks. My dad had given up smoking and started again because of that, lol. One man worked at a silo that almost melted down - can't remember the name - and he told me his story, every second of it. Time goes really quick when they talk like that, it's so funny returning to our lives as young adults and readjusting.

7/31/2007 8:19:07 PM

my dad just told me the other day that there was a guy who lived in north ridge (n raleigh) who hosted vet's meetings back in the day...they soon found out it was a lie...even claimed to be a POW

7/31/2007 9:04:52 PM

Its Always Sunny did it

7/31/2007 9:06:05 PM

Since this disgraceful incident happened in Washington, the fake veteran was probably punished under that state's law. I'm just guessing that federal charges would not be brought unless the state in question had no applicable law or the claims were made against the federal government. Maybe a T-dub lawyer can clear things up.

http://leg.wa.gov/pub/BillInfo/2003-04/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Law%202004/5861-S.SL.pdf

7/31/2007 10:35:56 PM

Quote :

"Time goes really quick when they talk like that, it's so funny returning to our lives as young adults and readjusting."

that is one of the other things that struck me. you always picture these guys as old men, but when you talk to them and when you hang out with young Soldiers and Marines today, it strikes you how young they were when they did everything they did and how utterly amazing it really was.

7/31/2007 11:32:16 PM

Quote :

"there was a guy who lived in north ridge (n raleigh) who hosted vet's meetings back in the day"

I grew up there, do you know any more specifics?

7/31/2007 11:54:16 PM

Yeah this story really is disturbing and there are apparently quite a few instances of this happening, particularly since the wars in Afghanstan and Iraq began. There are agents with the FBI whose entire job is tracking down these people. What amazes me about this guy in particular is that his bullshit was so convincing that he was invited to give the opening prayer for the washington state legislature last year.

Quote :

"Talking with war vets, however, can be so enlightening on so many levels. As a teen I had a morbid fascination with my father's experience as a gunner on a destroyer in the Cuban Missile Crisis"

When I was in Ukraine a few years ago working, I happened to be in what essentially amounts to a retirement home for vets. I had a long conversation with an old vet that told all kinds of stories from his career as a submariner. It was really cool to get the perspective of the other side straight from the horse´s mouth. It was especially interesting given that I was the first american that he had ever met face to face.

8/1/2007 6:27:08 AM

Yeah it was real hush hush. I was agent orange that was my name agent orange, special agent orange that was me.

8/1/2007 8:53:39 AM

^^ How did you end up doing that?

8/1/2007 10:24:40 AM

Which part? the working in Ukraine or the talking to the old guy?

8/1/2007 10:26:24 AM

Well both. Sounds like an interesting job.

8/1/2007 10:31:33 AM

I want to know who thought of this first:

8/1/2007 10:31:43 AM