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Summary: A tool to be used in exposing fake Vietnam veterans.
Review: Right on! At long last a true picture of Vietnam veterans. For too long have the fakes and wannabes distorted the image of the normal vet. We did our jobs and have no need for excuses or to blame our experience on lifes failures. Sonny Baca, Comm., MAG-12, 1st MAW, Chu Lai '68.
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Summary: It's time someone wrote this book.
Review: Mr. Burkett and Ms. Whitley have performed a magnificent service to the thousands of military men and women who make no big deal about having been in combat. "Stolen Valor" should give second thoughts to those uncounted thousands of phonies who claim military honors without having earned them. I am one of a group of a half-dozen former US Navy SEALs who spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down and exposing what we call "wannabes," or phony SEALs. Just in the last two years or so, we have exposed more than 2000 of these sad people, but our efforts pale alongside those of Burkett/Whitley, who not only track down their prey but find out just who and what they were! Burkett and Whitley have done their homework; the American public will be aghast at the extent of the fraud perpetrated upon it by these would-be heroes. It should also be aghast at the scandal and corruption within the Veterans Administration, where millions upon millions of dollars are siphoned off by hundreds, maybe thousands, of liars and thieves trading off the duty and heroism of those who really did serve. "Stolen Valor" should be a perennial bestseller; if there were a "ten-star" rating, I would give it an eleven. Every American interested in the truth about the aftermath of Viet Nam should read it.
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Summary: A true literary piece of history! A must read about Viet Nam
Review: This is the best researched and accurate account of America's media based conspiracy to defraud the VietNam veteran. It exposes so much fraud within the media, and veterans organizations depicting a very sobering reality of ignorance and gullability within the American public. It clearly articulates the misrepresentation of the VietNam veteran, and documents the travesty a generation of our country's finest have had to endure. It exposes the Veterans Administration for what it is - pork barrel politics, corrupt to the very core. It amazes the reader with evidence demonstrating how poorly researched media news is, and how gullable the American public is. It calls for a day of reckoning with the culprits and frauds that have defamed our citizen soldiers and lied to our public. It's a must read for any person seeking the truth about the VietNam veteran. It should be used as a textbook in our public schools to correct fabricated and falsified history. Read it, you won't put it down!
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Summary: Only once before have so many owed so much to so few.
Review: Every Vietnam Veteran tired of being stereotyped as a loser should read this book to find out where the stereotype originated, and how to put an end to it. Whitley and Burkett uncover more fake Vietnam Veterans than there were VC in Binh Dinh province. But beware: reading this book will no doubt make you angry as hell when you discover that the VA makes service-related disability payments to men (and women) who never served a day in the military, let alone a combat tour in Vietnam. From now on, no wannbe is safe from scrutiny. Anyone can file a Freedom Of Information Act request to obtain the DD-214 and DA-201 file for anyone making wild claims about service in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos. This book should be a must read for anyone in the news media contemplating a work about Vietnam Veterans. Ray Smith - C Co 1st Bn 69th Armor 4th Inf Div. Vietnam 68-69
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Summary: At last the truth
Review: At last we recieve a book that should have been written long ago. As a Viet Nam vet who served in the USMC with great men like Jim Webb, and little Mac McGarvey I find this book to be the leader in the field of debunking the myth and negative image that most of us have had to carry for such a long time. It not only exposes the imposters for what they are it also exposes the same government that ran the war machine for what it is. It did not support us then, it now degrades us by not checking on the service it provides to others who were not combat vets. This book should be mandatory reading to all politicians, including the White House, it should be mandatory reading to all VA hospital administrators and service personel.
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Summary: Must reading for those who have served with Honor.
Review: Someone has finally told a story that portrays the Vietnam Veteran in a positive light and cuts throught the bull. Well documented and highly plausible. Captures the reality and discards the myths. Defines the mythical Vietnam Veteran and exposes them for the cowards and fortune seekers they are. As a retired SGM with over 26 years of service, I salute B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley for a story that should have been told years ago.
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Summary: A page turner that never lets up
Review: Stolen Valor is a good fast read, which is unusual for non-fiction. I was amazed at the extent some people will go to make themselves out to be heroic combat veterans, even some who were already highly decorated. I would have given it five stars, but I feel it misses the mark on certain issues about the Veterans Administration and PTSD. By missing the mark, it lumps combat veterans with actual PTSD in the faker pile, and in that sense, creates its own injustice. Psychological combat disability has existed since war began, and to say the VA created it to bolster their budget is nonsense. The book claims that any veteran, and even a civilian who didn't serve in the military can be service-connected for PTSD and receive money. This is totally false. A faker can walk into a VA facility, claim to be a veteran, and maybe receive temporary treatment based on their word. They may even use a phony name and another veteran's ID, which has happened. But no one can become service-connected, particularly for PTSD without service records. It is impossible. The process is complicated to rule out fakers. Any combat vet knows the cammie wearing vets with medals all over their chests and bush hats are 99% fakers. The VA knows it. But certain regulations like "reasonable doubt" and the new criteria based on the Persian Gulf War "that a trauma doesn't have to be a real trauma but only perceived by the veteran as a trauma" has opened the door for false PTSD claims. I agree this should be changed. Adding to the confusion, many Marine vets without a grunt MOS were forced into combat because every Marine was a basic rifleman, and not every Marine or Army vet in combat received hero medals of Purple Hearts. To say they were not in combat because they don't a have a string of medals or or a grunt MOS is misleading and absolutely not true. The VA is also phasing out inpatient PTSD units. So the book does a wonderful job of exposing fakers, but does a terrible job on PTSD and the VA.
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Summary: revealing
Review: every american touched by the viet nam war should read this book. a viet nam veteran myself i learned more about the war from this book than i believed possible. find out the real truth. read this book.
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Summary: A Superb "Demythtifying" Book
Review: Some years back I read an enlightening article about the large number of Vietnam Service personnel whose RVN tours consisted primarily of "baking bread and fixing typewriters." Interestingly, I've never run into any! However, the number of civilian Viet Vets I've casually met who claim "Green Beret", SEAL, and RECON membership has, I believe, been statistically significant! I used to think it was because I look pretty gullible. Thanks to STOLEN VALOR I finally know I'm not alone! [I even knew a career Navy Nurse who was a "Marine Sniper", the sole survivor of a "lost patrol", and claimed a gun shot wound to the knee - but never wore the awarded Purple Heart "out of respect for those who didn't return!"] They're out there folks! And in extraordinary numbers as Burkett and Whitley have confirmed, exposed and then incredibly documented. Not only was valor stolen... it was pawned for personal gain, greed, and fraudulent glory! What a great book... perhaps the best rational work about the Vietnam Veteran and such related issues as PSTD and Agent Orange! I applaud the authors for their meticulous research, fearless devotion to the truth, and their obvious desire to contribute to historical fact. Think "A Man In Full" is a good read? STOLEN VALOR has, for better or worse, far more interesting and complex characters - and it's non-fiction!! All readers have an obligation to spread the word about STOLEN VALOR. Six stars? I served in I Corps "68/'69.
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Summary: The most significant post-Vietnam book...yet!!
Review: As a two tour Vietnam Vet I say " * * * * ing A" and congratulations to Burkett and Whitley on a supurb book that not only tells how to spot Wannabes, but how to prove and expose them. I think it is very significant that after reading the book I have had the honor and privilege to personally "finger" four (4) wannabes who were professing in public to be Vietnam Vets. One even wore the MOH on his coat!! I am working on number 5, now. I for one plan to wrestle my honor BACK! Howard Thomas
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