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Stolen Valor Violators by War
(This Information Site is Continually Updated.)
65,000 files from each of the four following war eras were randomly selected for review. The figures indicate the percentiles calculated from each 65,000 total.
War Violators are individuals who served in-country or in-waters of combat zones. Non-War Violators are individuals who did not serve in a combat zone, but either falsely claimed to have earned a war medal or falsely claimed to have served in a combat zone (which is the equivalent of falsely claiming to have earned war service medal).
Rank Violators are individuals who falsely claim to have achieved one or more promotions than actually achieved. The usual number of promotions generally claimed was one rank above their actual rank. We found that (mostly junior) officers and (mostly junior) enlisted personnel were generally equal offenders. Very few (less than .0001%) were found in officer ranks above O4 and enlisted ranks above E7. Only in a single stand-out case did we find an individual claim to have served as an O9 (Vice Admiral) in the segregated US Navy during WW2. This individual (an African American female) was clearly mentally ill, although she was competent enough to fabricate a Navy Report of Separation that, if not for its abundantly contrived content, might appear genuine to someone with little knowledge of history or military documents.
| War Era | Medal Violators % war vets |
Medal Violators % non-war vets |
Rank Violators % war vets |
Rank Violators % non-war vets |
World War 2 | 05% | 08% | 02% | 08% | Korea | 02% | 03% | 01% | 04% | Vietnam | 14% | 27% | 16% | 19% | Gulf War | 01% | 03% | 01% | 02% | War on Terrorism | 01% | 05% | 01% | 03% |
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