Veteran

A veteran is a person who served in the armed forces and received an honorable discharge, no matter the length of service. Thus, a veteran may have served less than a year or more than 30 years. A service person may receive an honorable discharge for each completed term of service, so a person may have one or more honorable discharges before finally receiving a less than honorable discharge. Therefore, anyone with at least one honorable discharge may claim to be a veteran. This person may still be classified as a veteran by the government, but amongst veterans, the person is a disgrace. Legally, anyone may claim to be a veteran as long as the claim is not used to gain a veteran benefit.

War Veteran

Officially, veteran of a war is any person who served honorably during the war, whether in the theater of combat or not. For example, anyone who served honorably during the Vietnam War is officially a Vietnam War veteran. Therefore, a person may legally claim to be a Vietnam War veteran even though he or she never served outside the United States. For example, in North Carolina, anyone who served during the Vietnam War may qualify for a Vietnam Veteran vehicle license plate. However, amongst military personnel and veterans, this is not the case; they make a distinction between serving during the time of a war and serving in the war.

Military Awards

Under current law, it is illegal to wear any military decoration that you have not been officially issued, but it is not illegal to claim to have earned a decoration that you were never officially issued. It is against the law to manufacture, wear, buy, sell, or trade the Medal of Honor,; however, other medals are routinely and legally made, sold, and bought.

Special Forces

Veterans who served in the special forces, such as Navy Seals, Marine Recon, Army Rangers, etc. will have this designation noted on their DD-214 Block 13- Decorations, Medals, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized. Seals must complete Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. BUD/S training is not secret. Any Seal will know his BUD/S company number and other members of that company.

Law

As the law currently stands, anyone may claim to be a veteran, a war veteran, an ex SEAL, an ex military martial art instructor, a medal winner, or practically anything else without breaking any law, so be aware of false claims by martial art “masters.” While in the Navy, I taught Taekwondo on a naval base to naval personnel with the approval of the navy; however, that does not mean I was a Navy martial arts instructor. If some of my students were SEALs, but that does not mean I was a martial arts instructor for the SEALs.

Verification

If you really want to verify a person's military service claims, you could request to see their DD-214 (see below). You do not have to request proof of claims from a “master” to verify them. During normal conversation with the “master,” ask questions that a legitimate claimant should know, listen to the “sea stories” to see is they seem authentic and whether they change each time they are told, listen to whether the claimant is using the correct terminology that a ex-military person would or should use or know, and ask questions about the area in which the person claimed to have served. Then judge for yourself if you think the person fits the character and personality of what you believe a person of the claimed military status should possess.

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