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God bless Lt. Reichelle and all like him. We will all be poorer when they pass.
I feel ya. I served 26 years almost all in the Army Reserve, and I never saw a shot fired in anger. I have a Retired ID card, and the guards at the gate still salute and call me sir, but a PFC with one tour deserves a whole lot more recognition than I. And every badge on my uniform I EARNED (burns my ass to see some of that crap too).
But don’t you dare sell yourself short - you took the same oath, and you served with honor. That’s all you can do.
I wasnt anything much special myself, but I usually tell people I was a cook when asked. Do not want, or need recognition, and cant stand asshats like the ones you describe.
Your post made me realize that I should have prefaced my OP with something and I hope I didnt come across as a “Only trigger pullers are heros” type.
I recognize the sacrifice made by every vet. But when you lie to my face - it goes out the window. I would gladly sit down with these guys, thank them for their service, and buy them beer while they told stories about being an Administration Marine in Yuma. But they don’t. They’d rather BS everyone about their top secret POW rescue missions eerily remiscent of Rambo movies.
I know exactly what you mean. I’m a police officer with the VA, was a MP in the mid 80’s stationed in Munich Germany with the 66th MI BDE as Physical Security. Did some fest duty. Closest I came to combat. Every problem child I deal with in the VA is a former SEAL, Marine Force Recon, Army Green Beret or Ranger, Delta or a PR or FAC if Air Force. Never knew the military had so many SF troops and for some reason they are all either homeless or close to it. What I have found is the ones that have been there done that DO NOT talk about their service or downplay their accomplishments the blow hards are just that blowing hot air. I’ve had 35 year olds claim to be Vietnam vets, People that searved less than one year in the service were 8 years in the SEAL teams etc it goes on and on. The quiet ones with the tatoo’s and scars are the real McCoy. Most of the rest are pretenders. And in my 10 years with the VA my experience is the B.S. artists always give themselves away when they cant remember the last lie.
Every year we lose more of that Generation. The Generation that went away for 5 years, came home only to leave again 5 years later for Korea, all because it’s what their Nation asked of them.
I still can’t believe there aren’t any known a World War I veterans left now either 
I track. I did my 9 years, never heard a shot fired in anger, and feel really uncomfortable with all the "thank you"s I get from others. I just did my time, did my job and got out. Nothing to thank.
I had the pleasure of knowing a lot of WW1 vets growing up in southern Wisconsin in the 70’s. They were a differant breed, Never claimed to be the greatest at anything but the fact that they survived that hell left what appeared to be a quiet dignity to them. They didnt brag or if they did it was about survival. I also knew a survivor of the Battan Death March in WW2 Another great man that you would never know was a vet if it werent from the obvious scars he carried or the pride he carried himself with. We have real heroe’s walking amongst us and I see them every day. Kids who stood up at their country’s call, kids that have been deployed longer and more times than most of America’s vets ever were, but we hear more complaining from the In the rear with the gear folks than we do from the guys in the front risking their asses. I am proud of my time in the service and by luck of the draw I never had to see combat, Just lucky that the check I wrote wasnt cashed I guess.
I served in the Air Force but keep my veteran status low keyed. I did plenty of shooting out in the field, but I was with a rivit gun repairing aircraft. The closest I ever got to a war zone was a two week TDY at an FOL in West Germany. I realized that if I’d ever found myself in a foxhole with an M16 waiting for the enemy, I would have wet my britches. The only way I would have been effective in combat was to keep my airplanes ready for the pilots so they could do the real fighting.
There was an uncle of mine on my father’s side that was five foot nothing who was the sweetest old guy you could ever know. He was a canon cocker in WWII and survived the Battle of the Bulge. A cousin was a B-25 pilot who flew many successful missions until getting shot down about a year before the end of the war. He spent that year in a Luft Stalag, although I don’t know which one. He chose only to tell us about the good memories he had at of that time, of the camaraderie he shared with the other prisoners. Another relative was involved in dirty little drug wars in Central and South America. I knew another vet who went ashore in Vietnam from his naval vessel to bring back downed aviators. He owes his life to a large wounded soldier he was carrying because when shot at by the enemy, the bullets struck the wounded soldier killing him. He was never even able to get the man’s name. He’s also haunted by death of a Vietnamese girl who stepped out on the trail while they were being pursued. He doesn’t know if it was his bullets or one of his team mates bullets that struck her down. A friend who is a former Marine served in Iraq. His convoy was ambushed and he had to lead his Marines through a tough firefight. He picked up a cancer from the toxins he was exposed to while over there and has spent the last two years recovering from the treatments. I feel small in their company, but they still thank me for my service and they mean it. It’s humbling but I am grateful and am honored to know these heroes. Those guys who have exaggerate their service records, I feel bad for them because the real vets see them for what they really are
You guys are making me tear up.
Thank you so much.
They do it because they are assclowns; it’s not because they were Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, or Airmen. They would be the same assclowns if they had never joined the military.
pretty wild for sure 
we had a WWII guy come into our Church on Sun (not POW) but still great to hear
gave a nice little talk about his life mentioned how he met Patton once but was so mellow like a lot of us did not a big deal then how he was a airplane mechanic (pre air force of course part of the Air Brigade) and when he had met Patton they said they were waiting for some fuel and he said we can spare some fuel from the airport so they got a hold of a ton of fuel and rolled onto these carrier trucks to get to the tanks etc… some pretty cool stories of course being one of those guy when the pastor said its such a honor to meet heroes like you that fought in WWII and are the truly greatest generation he of course OH I am no hero I just kept the planes flying with some other folks the real heroes are the guys that gave there lives !!!
what was great his Grandson introduced him and his grandson was also in the marines
at lunch noticed him at a table with his kids so got to sit down with him for lunch
when I was at Pearl Harbor I used to love talking to the vets I would see there ! this was about 20 years ago so quite a few more around and quite sharp about things still would never grow tired of hearing the stories and there lives before during and after the war !!!
Most of the true warriors that I know don’t even set foot in the VFW. Your post might have made me understand why. I’ve had the pleasure of working under a real Vietnam era S.F. guy and a Vietnam era multi-tour F-4 pilot who was shot down and survived a engine failure during a launch off of a carrier. Both of these men never bragged about a thing and it took me years to hear their stories.
My Grandfathers never bragged about their service during WWII, they were frank and honest about their service as an Army paymaster and a Navy machinist mate.
The more recent wars have brought it home for my wife and I. My brother in law is an Army lifer. He’s served seven deployments, all of which attached to the 1/3 SFG. He was blown up by an IED in 2005, breaking his back and destroying both heels in his feet. He fought his injuries for several years and returned back to service. He makes up no stories about his service. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s Airborne, but he’s a motor pool guy. He fixes shit for the sharp end of the spear and he’s proud of that. He could easily tell tall tales of his SF service, but he doesn’t.
Just remember that for every one of those D-bags out there that like to tell tales, there are a dozen quiet professionals that aren’t telling their tales.
Holee-shit. I thought I was not only the only one who felt this way, but that I was wrong for feeling it somehow. When asked about
my service, I reply the same way I used to hear G. Gorden Liddy reply about his…“Thank you, but it was modest at best”.
I literally cant stand some of these lying mofo’s, and Ive very nearly gotten into fisticuffs over calling them out on their shit.
I have four WWII vets left in my church - 3 Navy (including a Navy WAVE - PO2, '43 - '46!) and 1 Army; an Infantry Platoon leader in Korea, a USMC Desert Storm vet, and a few other Korea & Vietnam era veterans. They’re all good apples, and if you’re buying, you might even get a good story or two from them. 
My dad is a Korea/Vietnam era 22 year retired vet of the USCG (CWO4) - my brother is a USAF 0-6. My life ended up taking a different path, but I appreciate ALL that you guys have done. Even if you just peeled potates at Ft. Dix for 4 years, you still DID it.
My FIL just passed away and we never got to talk about it but he was at Iwo Jima and the only thing I ever heard him say about it and apparently to his children either. We were sitting in his den and he had this VHS tape playing and all he said was … “it was like Dantes Inferno”. The only time I even knew he was a Marine was when he heard about someone that had recently been in the hospital or died, I forget which, he said “oh… if I had known he was a Marine I would have gone to visit him”… not to say he didn’t care for other people, but to say for a Marine he would have gone out of his way to offer comfort.
My FIL from first marriage was on the Yorktown. The only story I ever heard him tell was when they pulled him out of the water and laid him on the deck. Someone came up and asked him if he wanted anything. He said a cigarette but he couldn’t lift his arms to put it in his mouth.
It’s ironic that those two stories get condensed to just a handful of words.
The reason some many phonies get away with it, in my opinion, is because:
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So few have served in elite units, so the odds of running into a real BTDT person from the SEALs, Rangers, SF, Delta, etc is pretty low unless you live around Fayetteville, Virginia Beach, Fort Benning, etc. Thus, unless you’re posting day and night about your fake war stories on Facebook (which a lot of these idiots do), you’re unlikely to get caught and called out.
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A million misconceptions that people hold to absolute truth concerning the military are still out there, and they can’t be refuted because everyone’s brother’s best friend’s cousin’s son’s best friend’s uncle was a Delta operator and he told them first hand how it is. Plus, all movies and video game producers need to do is advertise that real SEALs or Green Berets were advisers in the making of the production, so it must be as real as it gets. So, people are gullible enough to believe that guy who said he was a member of SEAL Team 6, but his missions were so secret that the DoD completely erased all evidence that he had even been in the Navy.
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Calling out a veteran for just about anything in America is a death sentence to one’s reputation, and generally for good reason. After the disaster with how many servicemen were treated after Vietnam, giving combat vets a bit of immunity from criticism these days is understandable, and greatly earned. However, it’s also created a monster that if someone thinks the town hero, who everyone knows was an elite soldier running black ops into every shit hole in the world years ago, might be full of crap, the skeptic will be hanged drawn and quartered for disrespecting someone who so gallantly served. It’s a tough position, and it’s really only one that other vets who really have served in combat have the right to step up and take.
You didn’t. Maybe that was my own self-guilt that I didn’t do more showing thru a little…
I once stopped by and spent a few hours with my grandfather’s brother, a WWII and Battle of the Bulge Vet, while I was on duty, in uniform. I felt pretty small that day. He was very humble and just glad to be alive…
To me there are veterans and then there are VETERANS. I am the former. I served but never “saw the elephant”. I consider myself fortunate as I’m not naive enough to think there’s anything “cool” about watching your friends (or perhaps yourself) die violently. You do what you have to do when the time comes, if it indeed does come. Yeah, I threw my hat in the ring but you’ve either BTDT or you haven’t. I haven’t.
All these free meals and Veterans Day discounts are, to me, for the VETERANS out there. I have not and will not attempt to get one. Others have earned it far more than me, and I graciously defer to them.
I was Airborne Infantry, a mortar-maggot. I was in an Airborne Infantry BN in Panama for 3 years then finished my time in an armored cav unit at Ft. Knox. I was not a Ranger, SF (although they did run our jump school in Panama…can I claim that? :dirol:), a sniper, or anything speshul. Did my time and ETS’d. Was in the OHARNG for 3 years afterward. That’s it. Nothing outstanding. I’ll have to fess up to having a couple of Airborne T-shirts and a “U.S. Paratrooper” sticker on my truck…hey, I’m proud of that one small accomplishment!
At any rate, thanks to all you guys for serving, and a special nod of acknowledgement to the VETERANS out there. Yesterday was for YOU!