Phony Soldier Investigations

Even after 30 people have been arrested in the last year for lying about their service record, or completely making one up, there are 60 more of these phonies that are being investigated at the moment.

The phony soldiers do exist, and it would not surprise me if those are the ones that end up on TV for interviews.

A recent example is Chester Stiles, a child rapist who the Florida DA said he claimed to be a Navy SEAL. This exaggeration is terribly false, but the news was quick to eat it up. Stiles actually joined the navy in 1988 as a standard enlisted grunt. He was discharged in 1989 at the same level as an engine serviceman in Florida.

You know how much research was needed to counter his claims? A simple 2 minute phone call. The press quickly ate up the lie that he was a former SEAL without thoroughly checking out whether the allegation was in fact based on truth. They merely asked if he was in the navy, and published the article, some stating it "in fact" without any proof of legitimacy.