Phony Veteran: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

It's worth noting, that in the United States at least, laws have started to be passed making this behavior illegal.

Needless to say, [[Truth in Television]].

 

 

'''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]]'''

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* According to a recent chapter of ''[[Black Lagoon]]'', Dutch may be one of these, as a military character points to flaws in Dutch's accounts of serving in Vietnam.

 

== [[Film]] -- Animated ==

* Fowler from ''[[Chicken Run]]'' says he belonged to a Royal Air Force squadron. While he was indeed part of a ''human'' squadron, it isn't at all like the other chickens think, so when Ginger tells him to go pilot the airplane they built ...

'''Fowler''': Good heavens, no! I'm a chicken! The Royal Air Force doesn't let chickens behind the controls of a complex aircraft. }}

 

* At one point in the film ''[[Trading Places]]'', Eddie Murphy's character pretends to be a disabled homeless Vietnam veteran.

* The bum harassing D-FENS in ''[[Falling Down]]'' uses this as one of his excuses to get money from him, claiming to be a Vietnam veteran despite only being around 30 at most.

* ''[[The Reluctant Astronaut]]'' has the hometown hero at one point admitting to Don Knotts' character that he was never a soldier like he claimed: he was a librarian, and even his "war wound" was just the result of an on-the-job injury. Since Don Knotts' character has inadvertently been trumped up as an astronaut even though NASA simply hired him on as a janitor, this amounts to [[Oblivious Guilt Slinging]].

* In ''[[Due Date]]'' Peter thinks that a guy they're talking to is one of these. When he comes out from behind his desk, he's in a wheelchair. And proceeds to beat Peter up. Ouch.

* Thenardier of ''[[Les Misérables]]'' spent the Napoleonic Wars robbing corpses but boasts about his war heroism, had an inn with a patriotic title, and in [[Les Misérables (theatre)|the musical]] is introduced dressed as a Napoleonic soldier.

* In the [[Posleen War Series]] book ''Hell's Faire'', by [[John Ringo]], when visiting No Name Key in Florida, [[Badass|Mike O'Neal Jr's]] claim of being in the military is initially questioned by the residents, thanks to them having been fooled, previously, by someone claiming to be a veteran to leech off of them.

* {{spoiler|Inverted}} in the ''[[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]]'' novel ''The Taking Of Chelsea 426'', with the character of the Major, an apparently senile old duffer forever droning on about his military career, with copious hints that he's really one of these. While he does prove to have a good deal of bravery and military knowledge, the punchline comes {{spoiler|after his [[Heroic Sacrifice]], when the Doctor reads the obituary of Field-Marshal Henry Whittington-Smythe and says "I ''knew'' he wasn't really a Major!"}}

* In Dave Barry's ''[[Big Trouble]]'', Snake tries to take advantage of his new ankle injury by posing as a Vietnam vet, along with his bud Eddie. Nobody gives them anything, because they're obviously too young to have served in the Vietnam War.

* Inverted by Pops, in ''[[Time Gentlemen Please]]'', who "didn't fight in World War II... admittedly".

* The beginning of the very first episode of ''[[Cheers]]'' has a kid trying to using a fake military ID to buy beer. A kid who's ''12 at most'':

'''Kid''': ''[beat]'' This is the thanks we get. }}

* An episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' (the episode after House has gone back to working at Princeton Plainsboro, after recovering from {{spoiler|going insane and then realizing that only diagnostics gives him the constant thrill he needs to keep the pain down, now that Vicodin is no longer an option}}) features a very cranky man with one arm, living in the apartment below Wilson's. Allegedly he served in Vietnam, which is where he lost the arm. Subverted in that he actually did serve - just not in Vietnam. And not in the U.S. Army; he's actually {{spoiler|a Canadian citizen}} who lost the arm during {{spoiler|a peace-keeping mission, while trying to save a kid from a landmine in a country ''near'' Vietnam.}} He's irritable for much the same reasons House is: he's in constant pain, due to phantom limb pain; House {{spoiler|fixes this}} and the guy ''breaks down crying with relief'' because {{spoiler|for the first time in over thirty years, he isn't in agony.}} It's never made clear whether he stopped claiming he was in Nam - it's implied, when he's telling House what really happened to his arm, that he just finds it easier to let people think it was Nam rather than deal with the questions that the truth would spur.

* Richie in ''[[Bottom]]'' frequently tries to pass himself off as a war veteran, but is inevitably undone by his own stupidity and Eddie.

** In "Apocalypse", he claims to have "Hurt my leg in the Falklands Conflict".

'''Eddie''': Oh yeah, he tripped over the coffee table trying to switch channels. }}

** In "Parade", his attempt to cop off with a barmaid by using his Falklands story is ruined by Eddie ("This is all a load of bollocks") and an [[I Am One of Those, Too]] encounter with a real disabled Falklands veteran ("I don't believe a word of this. In fact I don't believe it so much I'm gonna smash your face in!")

** In the second Bottom Live stage show, he claims in a letter to the Queen to be an "Old soldier who during the war fought a desperate rearguard action in Burma."

'''Richie''': I was doing my bit Eddie. I was doing my bit. }}

* In ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'', Al Capone claims to be a veteran of World War I, and says he served in the Lost Battalion. A real veteran eventually figures him out and calls him on it. Capone's claims are [[Truth in Television]].

* In ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', Charlie figures out that he can get free lapdances if he claims to be a crippled war veteran. He adopts a costume straight out of ''[[Born On the Fourth of July]]''. Frank steals his idea and one-ups him by pretending to be quadriplegic. Ultimately the ruse is pointless, since Frank showers the strippers with money to get even more attention.

== [[Music]] ==

* From Tim Wilson's song ''Brother in Law'':

But he wasn't there, he was fifteen in '74 }}

 

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':

** In one episode, Homer claims to be a Vietnam vet in order to get free admittance to the State Fair.

* Cotton Hill of ''[[King of the Hill]]'' is eventually called on the fact that his stories place him in the European and Pacific theaters at the same time. It turns out that the European part was fake, but the Pacific part may well be true - it's kind of hard to argue with a man who doesn't have ''shins'' anymore.

* Gru from ''[[Despicable Me]]'' had his minions write up false personal achievements for him. One of them was declaring that he had being awarded the Medal of Honor in 1991.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth and Lies]]