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Some gave all - some gave none. RI VFW Commander - stolen valor.

jesus, how can someone live this lie 24/7 and look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day. the word shame is just too small here. i guess some people have a need to feel important and stolen valor is one way to go about it.
 
greencobra said:
jesus, how can someone live this lie 24/7 and look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day. the word shame is just too small here. i guess some people have a need to feel important and stolen valor is one way to go about it.
Click to expand...
if you had ever hung around the defunct gun room is shrewsbury ma there was 24/7 of it coming from the heros and zeros that populated the place. it's a combination of bs, fantasy and conquering hero psychosis.
 
OMFG!!!!! This woman is completely delusional!

She would have been much better off just writing a novel and having it published instead of trying to live a shitheap of lies.
 
Hmmm…

I‘m not in VFW or the Legion or anything else. But I’ve bullshitted with enough other veterans to wonder how a civilian could possibly fit in with a bunch of bullshitting veterans.

There are subtleties of vocabulary, jargon, and demeanor that, I think, would be really hard for a civilian to fake unless they’d grown up as a brat or married an SM. Hard to fake, anyway, if the vets around her were paying attention.

Kinda like when a journalist writes a book about operations in Afghanistan. It’s hard to get it 100% “right.”
 
Picton said:
Hmmm…

I‘m not in VFW or the Legion or anything else. But I’ve bullshitted with enough other veterans to wonder how a civilian could possibly fit in with a bunch of bullshitting veterans.

There are subtleties of vocabulary, jargon, and demeanor that, I think, would be really hard for a civilian to fake unless they’d grown up as a brat or married an SM. Hard to fake, anyway, if the vets around her were paying attention.

Kinda like when a journalist writes a book about operations in Afghanistan. It’s hard to get it 100% “right.”
Click to expand...

Agree.
I've talked to a couple of young kids who claimed to be veterans and could tell by the fifth sentence out of their mouth that they were full of shit and pipe dreaming.
 
Picton said:
Hmmm…

I‘m not in VFW or the Legion or anything else. But I’ve bullshitted with enough other veterans to wonder how a civilian could possibly fit in with a bunch of bullshitting veterans.

There are subtleties of vocabulary, jargon, and demeanor that, I think, would be really hard for a civilian to fake unless they’d grown up as a brat or married an SM. Hard to fake, anyway, if the vets around her were paying attention.

Kinda like when a journalist writes a book about operations in Afghanistan. It’s hard to get it 100% “right.”
Click to expand...

I became a VFW Life Member years ago as I do think they provide a good service for veterans. I did go and hang out at the VFW in Uxbridge a couple times but it just wasn’t my thing. Didn’t find it fun sitting around and bitching about the service.
 
Isn't it rather easy to confirm all Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipients? Why do people who do stolen valor schemes always shoot for the moon in their story? And why do they think no one is going to verify records? There must be a correlation between stolen valor and low IQ.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
I became a VFW Life Member years ago as I do think they provide a good service for veterans. I did go and hang out at the VFW in Uxbridge a couple times but it just wasn’t my thing. Didn’t find it fun sitting around and bitching about the service.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm an "at large" life member. No real desire to hang out at a VFW.

Of course, one of my regular lunch stops I wind up BSing with a couple of Vietnam guys.
 
ReluctantDecoy said:
Guess I was wrong. I had assumed it would have been out there in some public database.
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The accompanying article posted above is interesting. Someone with access to the awards database couldn’t find her. She also said she shot her CO on a ship because he was sexually assaulting her and she got court martialed and reduced 2 ranks before discharge and now the Marines are erasing her identity.

did she serve at all? That wasn’t clear to me in the articles.
 
ReluctantDecoy said:
Guess I was wrong. I had assumed it would have been out there in some public database.
Click to expand...

Way back when all you needed to have was your DD-214 with dates the correlated with a conflict or military action and you could become a member. They've changed that as there were too many conflicts and military actions for them to keep up with so they switched to a merit based system. They came up with a list of ribbons that if you earned you could become a member. But you just needed to show your DD-214 with one of the necessary ribbons to prove your requirement. If you're faking your DD-214 you just need to add one of those ribbons. In today's world it's not hard to forge just about any document, unfortunately.
 
Posers need to be nut punted. Even if they’re still on the inside. 50 yard kick to the grundal.

I’ve been working on a local poser for a while now, he’s been up to the statehouse in Boston actually receiving awards for his work, and he’s never set foot overseas in a uniform. I’ve brought him up to a couple of actual Vietnam vets involved in the Legion/VFW scene, AND the Pres of the local AMVETS where the guy in question is a f***ing member and I still can’t get anyone to care. It’s unreal. They know he’s a poser and they won’t lift a finger to help out him. I think this is why most of us won’t hang around those places, they’re loaded with pogues and posers. It feels dirty.
 
cams said:
Posers need to be nut punted. Even if they’re still on the inside. 50 yard kick to the grundal.
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Wait - do the guys still in get to continue posing as stellar, squared away professionals once or twice a year when evaluations come around?
 
AntiHippie said:
Wait - do the guys still in get to continue posing as stellar, squared away professionals once or twice a year when evaluations come around?
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That’s a given. lol Though my statement about ‘still being on the inside’ was referring to the female posers balls in the OP. Just in case my alcohol intake at the time muddied that up.
 
She is/was a social worker at the Providence VA. I wonder if she just used other Vet's stories to weave her own story. I always wonder how people can get away with stuff like this never being in the service, let alone ever being deployed. Being Navy, I didn't know a damn thing about the other service's uniforms, medals, jargon, etc. so I can imagine non-mil folks falling for it. Surprised she got away with it for so long mingling with VFW members.

coffeeordie.com

VA Investigating ‘Stolen Valor’ Marine’s Role as Social Worker

The woman accused of passing herself off as a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran suffering from stage 4 cancer is now being investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she is employed as a social worker. Veterans groups say Sarah Cavanaugh faked a combat-heavy military history...
coffeeordie.com coffeeordie.com
 
I was in dunks today and may or may not have overheard a guy talking to a buddy. One may have said, "The easiest way to out a stolen valor Marine is to hand them a crayon, if they eat it, give them a different color. If they ask for some paper to draw on, rest assured they are a fraud."
 
I worked with a guy like this. Absolutely extraordinary stories. He was so full of his own shit, it was impressive. Pararescue, 2 silver stars, etc etc etc. He was fully delusional though -- I deployed with his brother, and he'd tell me made up stories about what his brother did. His other brother worked with us and told us he's always been like that, totally full of shit. But he'd just go on and on and on. Then another guy I worked with said he'd talked to him about Iraq when they first started working together, before he knew better, and a year or so later he was getting a couple of the stories he told, re-told back to him by this guy, except with this guy at the center.

It's one thing to be a Bluementhal and lie/let a lie be believed about your service for personal gain. That's evil and scummy. A lot of these other people are clearly dealing with some mental illness. I don't quite feel bad for them, but it's clearly not people firing on all cylinders. From the T&P article this woman is clearly batshit.
 
crazymjb said:
and a year or so later he was getting a couple of the stories he told, re-told back to him by this guy, except with this guy at the center.
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I used to work with a guy like this. wasnt military stories, but other stuff. guy was an absolute compulsive liar. sucked when u got stuck working with him for the day
 
Last edited:
Tuesday, July 12, 2022

www.abc6.com

East Greenwich woman to plead guilty to stolen valor charges | ABC6

Sarah Cavanaugh. (U.S. Attorney's Office Rhode Island)PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — United States Attorney Zachary Cunha said Tuesday that an East Greenwich woman is expect to plead guilty to stolen valor charges. Sarah Cavanaugh, is accused of pretending to be a cancer-stricken Navy veteran...
www.abc6.com www.abc6.com

www.providencejournal.com

Former VFW commander accused of posing as an injured veteran to admit to fraud

Former VFW commander accused of posing as an injured veteran agrees to admit to fraud
www.providencejournal.com

PROVIDENCE – A former North Kingstown VFW commander agreed on Tuesday to plead guilty to charges that she defrauded veterans charity organizations of more than $250,000 by posing as an ex-Marine battling a grave cancer diagnosis due to toxic exposure on the battlefields.

Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, 31, of East Greenwich, will plead guilty to charges of fraud, aggravated identity theft, forgery and fraudulent use of medals, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced Tuesday.

In exchange for her admissions, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence in the low end of sentencing guidelines in which she faces a maximum of 24 years behind bars. The plea agreement specifies that the sentence she receives for wire fraud be served consecutively to the mandatory two years she faces in prison for aggravated identity theft.
 
As a reminder, there was no R.I. stolen valor law at the time.

In the meantime, between getting caught and now:

www.abc6.com

Stolen valor bill unanimously passes R.I. Senate | ABC6

Sarah Cavanaugh. (U.S. Attorney's Office Rhode Island)PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The stolen valor bill has made it’s way through the R.I. Senate. State Senators unanimously passed the bill Thursday. The bill would make it a crime for someone to falsely represent themselves as an active member of...
www.abc6.com www.abc6.com
 

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