You ever meet someone randomly and it turned out they went to the same high school as you around the same time? You never knew them, but you guys compare notes and remember certain teachers or certain popular kids and you get that glowing feeling together of recognition and remembrance. That is kinda what it is like when two veterans meet each other. First you compare notes about boot camp. "We once had a Drill Instructor water board a kid until he could finally recite the 4 weapon conditions". "Oh yeah? Once a Drill Instructor got so mad that he called the kid's mom, went on a date with her, then had us all watch the video of their time together in bed while we drilled on the quarterdeck". Then you move on to deployments and at the end you've pretty much given each other the cliffsnotes version of your entire military career.
"Misery loves company" is an old quote, and an accurate one. While we fight, argue, and bicker a lot, there is still a bond that practically all of us share and it extends through generations. My grandfathers and I will sit around and talk about the differences and similarities between the military in their time and mine. If I meet one of the old timers with the baseball caps showing their military career, I'll address them by their rank they haven't had since before I was alive and we shoot the shit for a bit. Jonathon Ester made a good point that even if we can't relate to anything else, we all can relate to a number of things in the military, such as being treated lower than dirt for a good part of it, and the utter ridiculousness that extends from all branches.
This bond is a good part of the reason why this stolen valor trend is such a big deal. If you haven't heard of it, it's when someone who has never been in the military goes out and buys the uniform or medals and such, or merely makes up big stories about his/her illustrious military careers. Sometimes it is an actual veteran who did practically nothing exciting while in, then comes out and makes up a bunch of stories of heroism and extreme accomplishment. That is usually the first sign of a fraud. Their story is too big to be true. One I caught personally made up a story about become an USMC officer at 17 years old (you have to be at least 20 to become an officer), and was the commander of a force recon sniper team. He also had many sniper kills and was highly decorated. I smelled bullshit right away, but ended up publicly calling him out after he started talking down to an actual veteran for not being as superhero as he was. My googling abilities weren't that strong, but someone else was able to find out the picture of him in uniform that he used that I knew wasn't a USMC uniform, was a picture of a soldier who died in the Vietnam war, and whose remains had just been identified and sent to his family for burial. After getting some death threats I never heard from him again.
But it is an annoyance, because you do feel wronged after an episode like that. Like here I was, extending a hand of brotherhood to someone, and it turned out there were lying to me the entire time. It cuts deeper than normal. Not to mention it sullies the name of the people who you knew who really did what this guy was claiming credit for. Some you knew personally and some that maybe aren't around anymore.
Another issue is the victims of these people. Veterans are in for a bit of a rough time when they get out. Gotta find your feet again. You've probably lost a significant number of contacts during your enlistment, and networking is a big part of getting gainfully employed. Your military job might not have a corresponding career in the real world. "Oh you worked on wire guided missile systems? Well we have the perfect position for you at Joe's Waffle Shanty!". And a lot of the people you are competing against didn't burn ~4 good years of their life humping gear around foreign deserts. That's why when someone mentions your service, or thanks you for what you did, it raises your shoulders a bit. Puts a little more kick in your step and you fight on for another day. When you hear about some guy using smoke and mirrors to fool these wonderful people who give a shit about these things, it pisses you off. Because not everyone does give a shit. Those that do are few and proud, and I don't want their kindness abused by some dickhead.
I'm not saying these guys should be lynched. I'm not willing to debate on the Constitutionality of making something like that illegal. But I would like people to understand why it bothers veterans so much. It's not that we feel raised on a pedestal that you mere civies can't attain. Hell, I remember specific talks with other Marines about how awesome it would be to be treated like an actual human being again. It's a rough brotherhood with it's dysfunctions and tomfoolery. But for a lot of guys that's all they have. Some guys lean on that brotherhood to make it through the day. So we are protective of it. And I don't think we are wrong for doing so.
