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The phrase 'stolen valor' is usually used to criticize two kinds of people.
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People who basically pretend to be veterans when they never served, and people who did serve but massively lie about and exaggerate what they actually did (like pretending you were in some spec ops unit when in reality you were a chef). In instances like this, its almost always that people make books or a public presence or persona of some kind that is dependant on their false or greatly exaggerated acts of military service, though sometimes it can be as petty as some schlub getting an improper uniform and a faked veteran id to get military discounts at fucking IHOP.
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Spouses (almost always wives) of actively serving or veterans of the military who make a huge part of their personality that 'they are the wife of a veteran!' and can often be seen being huge karens on social media, having freakouts any time they feel they are disrespected and claiming that this is unacceptable, because my husband is a soldier!, and then going on FB or TikTok or w/e and writing huge posts where they act as if all of the hardships endured by their husband are actually their own hardships. (This is made all the more ironic by the fact that many of these kinds of wives are also cheating on their military husbands)
It doesn't make any sense whatsoever for JD Vance to claim Walz is doing 'stolen valor'. Walz served, and doesn't seem to have lied about or massively exaggerated any of his activity.
He isn't pretending to be something he isn't, he is not pretending to have done things he has not done.
Stolen (falsely claimed) valor (acts of heroism, suffering for a dutiful purpose, etc.)
We should start calling #2 borrowed valor and include children and other family members of veterans that brag about service despite not serving themselves too.
Edit: added a clarifying line that I am referring to ones that are doing the same thing as the army spouses. "I deserve a discount because my dad served in Vietnam!" people.
Or...
How about just not putting your military personal up on some kind of weird worship pedestal?
You can be thankful to people for being Paramedics, Firefighters, hell even social workers.
There's tons of people that get paid to put their life on the line.
As a disabled us veteran, I would trade the weird obligatory lip service and being used as a prop for politicians who then cut va funding year over year for fully funded veteran services 1000%.
It makes me uncomfortable when someone says "thank you for your service" I get it, they respect it, and don't know what to say, I just don't really know how to respond to it. You're welcome? That seems fucked up on a lot of levels. No problem? Ehhh there's problems. Like, wtf do you say to that? I haven't found a response that I'm comfortable with.
I just go with "thanks for paying your taxes"
Yeah there's a really interesting difference up here in Canada, where when someone says they served we* tend to say we're sorry they went through that, ask how are they doing now, etc. It's not the worship I see done down in the US (that seems to end the moment the VA is mentioned).
(*Does not apply in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba.)
Remind me: what's the term for the GF/spouse back stateside, collecting checks and side pieces while the soldier's deployed?
Tricareatops, Dependapotamous, I’m sure there are a few more
Apparently the current slang is dependa and is focused mostly on the benefits. This one is new to me.
There was a different one I heard as a kid that was focused more on the cheating than the benefits, but I can't remember what that one was.
That one is jodie
Jody is the guy who steals your girl while you're deployed
That’s what I was thinking but I felt more strongly that I was wrong.
Poor decisions were made. lol
That one is not ringing a bell either, but I wouldn't be surprised if there have been dozens over the years and in different languages.
Brass diggers?
It should probably also be noted that the impetus for the accusation is a misquote of him in a video where he said he approves of common sense gun control legislation to ensure that "The weapons of war which I carried, in war is the only place they will be" he did say it a little fast so the publications quoting him dropped the very necessary comma in that sentence and claimed he was saying he carried them during a war, neglecting the fact that with the comma, it makes sense grammatically, and without the comma it doesn't at all, which is a mistake I doubt a teacher would make, even if they were a social studies teacher and not an english one.
The weapons of war which I carried, in war is the only place they will be.
"Weapons of war" there forms a dangling subject, and this sentence does not make grammatical sense after all.
I know a couple of guys who pretended to be astronauts in order to get a grilled cheese sandwich
Are astronauts military? Obviously space force but what about nasa
Most are but a number of civilians have been selected for the program.
I've gotten numerous freebies around Cape Canaveral due to my "I'm in the Astronaut program" comment within ear shot of workers in certain establishments.
You know a couple of guys who are always getting into trouble in your area? One's tall and uptight, and one's short and lazy. I think they work at the city park.
My lips are sealed.
We had a DARE officer in CT that apparently did that, "Officer Chuck" is all I had known him as in school. He apparently pretended to be a Navy Seal, but had fabricated that story, but I've never been able to find any details about it, I just remember being told about it 20+ years ago.
My mother-in-law was a career army staff sergeant who spent most of her working civilian life also with the army as the administrator of a reserve center.
She was in an MI (military intelligence) unit and was deployed to a condo in Virginia. She was never around any combat. She gave so much of her life to the army. If anyone ever fucking criticized her for not picking up a gun and shooting at an Iraqi, I'd give them a big piece of my mind.
I'm very anti-war, I marched against that war. But fuck anyone who criticizes someone's military service. It's not like it's an easy job (well, maybe it was for Vance, since mostly he was giving tours to reporters and writing press releases). My mother-in-law would never act like anyone who went through military service doesn't, at the very least, deserve the acknowledgement that they generally put in some sort of effort. I will criticize Vance's service only because he doesn't respect other veterans.
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