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Summary: A must read for all Americans
Review: Burkett and Whitley have written a great book debunking myth after myth about America's involvement in Vietnam. The book is a combination of massive research and well constructed prose that reads so easily it is hard to put down.
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Summary: A "Must" for Journalists
Review: Great job! The best of many books I have read this year! This book should be required reading for all journalism students in every university in the country. As a Vietnam Veteran who went on to serve for 23 years, I have been ashamed of the portrayal of Vietnam Veterans as dysfunctional losers and am finally relieved to read the truth. This book has restored my pride as one who served when his country called. My recommendation for journalism students is not so much for the information presented on the Vietnam war and Vietnam Veterans -- other reviewers did an outstanding job of detailing the value of the book in that regard -- but to stress the importance of taking the time to check your facts before writing a story.
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Summary: Finally The Truth Is Told
Review: After decades of disinformation being reported as the truth by the major media outlets in this country, the truth is published for all to read in "Stolen Valor." B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley have done a great service, not only to veterans of the Vietnam War, but to the nation as a whole. By showing that Vietnam Veterans are not the run down, drug using, psycho, killer, who can't keep a job. It is interesting to see that many of the most blatant cases, reported nationally and locally, of troubled veterans can be shown to be fiction, when the light of day is shown up the records.The pat answer, that it was a classified mission, or they screwed up my records on purpose, just doesn't hold up. The real honest veterans of the Vietnam War do not make rediculous claims about their role in Vietnam. Most of us make no claims at all. We came home and made the decision to get on with our lives and put the war behind us. Having idiots running around making stupid claims of heroism, attrocities and disability claims is injurious to all of us. "Stolen Valor" puts the lie to many of these claims and shows us all how we can shine the light of day on the claims of other around us, showing them to be the charlatans they are. Just trying to make a name for themselves off of the suffering of others. Trying to rip off the system for their own benefit. "Stolen Valor" should be must reading for all journalist who wish to report on the plight of the Vietnam, as well as other, veterans. This is the text book which shows them how to clear the air and check the record to find the truth about wild and fantastic claims. I rate this book a solid 5 stars, must reading for all veterans who have asked themselves if they are the only ones who came home without being all messed up and got on with their lives.
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Summary: Just the facts
Review: This book is well worth the price. I'm almost ashamed to admit how good it feels to confront the whiners with documented facts and watch them squeal. A feeling long overdue. No, Vietnam vets are not a bunch of dope crazed alcoholic baby killers wrestling with their inner selves from the depths of a jail cell. No, those that died were not poor nineteen year old minorites draftees. And no, agent orange didn't kill everything in site. These and other myths are systematically debunked with simple documented facts disclosed in about a thousand footnotes. In Stolen Valor, the authors document from actual unbias statistics that after the war, Vietnam veterans performed (good and bad) about the same as their age group who were not in Vietnam. Don't believe what you think you know especially if you learned it in school or on TV. For example, in my opinion the review of the Vietnam war in the popular software Encarta is a joke. It is a prime example of an author with an agenda. This heavily documented book flows from years of hard research work and presents just the facts -- whether the media "agrees" with the facts or not.
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Summary: long overdue
Review: We who served in Vietnam have long awaited someone to come along and tell who were the fighters and who were the phonies. The media has stuck with the phonies for the past thirty years. The authors are to be commended. I would like to enlist their support in exposing the number of books whose authors tell outrageous tales of "true combat" which I for one can prove are untrue. This is especially true of some popular sniper books. RA Doyle USMC retired ( radoyle@hargray.com)
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Summary: Yes, but ... does your DD-214 tell the whole story?
Review: Stolen Valor is a powerful and fitting tribute to the men and women who served so honorably in that long and unpopular war, and certainly, as noted by so many other reviewers, one of the most important works ever to be written in the aftermath of Vietnam. While I'm in agreement with 99.9% of everything the authors conclude, my only issue has to do with the heavy reliance upon, and the tendency to always accept at face value, the "official military personnel file". Throughout Stolen Valor the reader is presented with numerous abstracts of individual military personnel records (including MOS, overseas assignments, awards and decorations, etc.) which are often in sharp contrast to the "war stories" being bantied about by the "Vet" in question. Readers are left with the impression that ALL military records information obtained under FOIA from the National Personnel Records Center is necessarily complete and/or accurate. While that's probably true in most cases, one needs only to visit the official web site for the Army Board For Correction Of Military Records to get "the rest of the story". There, in the ABCMR "electronic reading room" one can peruse literally THOUSANDS of hearings requested by veterans to have their military records corrected. It's very disturbing to discover case after case of legitimate Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal, CIB, etc., recipients whose official DD-214's OMIT these important, hard-earned decorations. Let's face it. It's no secret that the Army's manual record-keeping was sloppy and often unreliable back in the Vietnam era. Even Congress officially recognized that fact. Section 522 of the FY96 National Defense Authorization Act stated "The incidence of heavy casualties throughout the Vietnam conflict inhibited the timely collection of comprehensive and detailed information to support recommendations for awards recognizing acts of heroism, sacrifice, and bravery". That specific provision of FY96 NDAA authorized the award of "...decorations recognizing acts of valor performed in combat during the Vietnam conflict" that comes some THIRTY YEARS after the fact! If you're like me, I stuck my DD-214 in a drawer when I got out in 1971 and haven't given it much thought since. Anyone seeking a copy of my military records over the years would have received an "official file" with several incorrect dates and missing FIVE of my medals. I wasn't even aware that there was anything like an Army Board For Correction Of Military Records. I eventually learned that to get anything on a DD-214 changed, a vet must go through a rather lengthy and laborious process. It took me personally over two years of bureaucratic red tape to finally get my DD-214 corrected. So while I'm whole-heartedly recommending Stolen Valor for anyone interested in the truth, please take those anecdotes in the book where the vet's claims aren't so far-fetched with a grain of salt. You'd be surprised at how many very real combat wounds didn't show up as a Purple Heart notation on a DD-214 until the vet's records were reviewed and corrected by ABCMR. I would encourage ANY veteran whose DD-214 doesn't reflect what you've truly earned to get the ball rolling NOW so that your records get corrected while you're still alive to see it. And while you're waiting around for a determination, read Stolen Valor!
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Summary: It's about time.
Review: As a Vietnam Veteran I often ran into individuals who told war stories that either did not ring true, or were so outlandish as to insult my intellegence. When challenged by me to show proof of their exploits most hid behind the line that they were in top secret operations and or their records had been lost. After seeing B. G. Burkett on ABCs 20/20 a few years ago I contacted him about some of the cases I had known and some examples of frauds. Not only did he return my call, but we had a couple of very interesting conversations about some particular individuals who literally got away with murder under the guise of PTSD. One local man killed 2 men. The first killing was deemed because of PTSD and he was paroled only to kill a second time. When I saw his DD 214 it showed he had never been in combat. I awaited anxiously for Burkett and Whitley's book to go into print and was very pleased with both the writing style and level of research done. Both authors deserve our gratitude and appreciation for the job they did. And it was done at a cost to B. G.s personal finances. You have my thanks.
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Summary: Stolen Valor
Review: This is a hard hitting, no punches held of the impersonators and wannabes who filled the tv screens of America years after the war was over, trying to cash in on its renewed interest. I served four tours there in the Marine Corps and can readily relate to some of the examples put forward by the authors concerning those war hero imposters. I actually met one once when I was in San Diego. I went to a "Run for the Wall" rally downtown San Diego and was talking to one of the long haired disheveld bearded men who was wearing one of the field jackets with all sorts of unit patches sewn upon it. When he mentioned he was in the "Nam" in '67, I told him I was there also and asked where he had served. His response was that he was on a ship, a name which I have since forgotten but was a replenishment ship of some sort. He had never actually even SEEN the land mass of Viet-Nam. I recommend this book for all. It seems the only ones who don't like it are in love with PTSD or are either fellow travellers of the socialist left who still empathize with the cowards who fled to Canada.
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Summary: Stolen Valor Must Read
Review: Stolen Valor is, without a doubt, the most important contribution to Vietnam War history in the last 15 years. The authors seek to recapture a generation's history--a history that has been co-opted by the agenda-driven media, influential anti-war activists and outright phony veterans. For anyone interested in the Vietnam War and its veterans, this is a must read. For anyone conducting oral history or interviews, this is an absolute must read. For professional historians, this book needs to be on your shelf. Same with anyone associated with print or TV journalism. This is a book you won't be able to put down. It will cause you to lose sleep, as you won't want to stop reading. When you're done, you'll perception of the Vietnam War and its veterans will be forever changed. John Bruning Independence, Oregon Aviation Historian Author of "Crimson Sky: The Air Battle for Korea"
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Summary: The true story of the Vietnam vet
Review: All these years that I've wasted working when, as a Marine Vietnam vet I could have been living off the taxpayers! Clearly, I have PTSD--I was up all night reading "Stolen Valor", I had to talk a personal day to finish it and I had "Intrusive Thoughts" about what I'd like to do with the phony vets the book exposes. Since, according the the VA studies, I'm a walking time bomb with PTSD, it's a wonder how I could come home from Vietnam, get a college degree, get elected to the state senate, serve five terms, earn a master degree at night, and then spend the last 18 years as a non-profit executive without a day of unemployment or taxpayer-funded disability and PTSD treatment! For a long time I thought it was only me meeting phony vets with their stories of secret missions, their ratty appearance, and their flea market medals--all accepted without question by the media as the real thing! I wish I could afford to buy a copy for every journalist writing about vets, and every politician pouring money into PTSD & Agent Orange. The authors have done every vet a great service--they gave us back our history--a must read. Robert A. Hall USMC -1964-1968 USMCR 1977-1983
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