Local pastor made up elaborate Navy SEAL tale

Yahoo News ^ | May 9, 2011 | Liz Goodwin

[Atlas Sneezed]

This time the exposed fabricator was a preacher—though people who monitor this brand of public lie note that members of the clergy are often tempted into such misrepresentations.

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Looky here! The MSM hate clergy even more than military!

[353FMG]

I confess that my only battle experience in the Armed Services was in the battle of the chowline.

I showed my utmost valor and courage in every one of them.

[ScubieNuc]

Anyone who knows a real Navy SEAL would be a double fool to say they were one. When they find out your lie, and they will, you will wish you got an ass whopping! These guys are connected in a myriad of ways and things as simple as auto service or getting a job can be ruined when you mess with them.

Real veterans will bend over backward for anyone who was in the elite forces (SEAL, Green Beret, Ranger, PJ, Delta, etc.) If I’m running a business and a documented Navy SEAL asked me not to serve so-and-so because they are a fraud, you can bet I’ll honor that.

As a side note, I was a Navy certified SCUBA diver. I have been asked many times if that is the same as a SEAL and have had to explain many times that, NO, my 6 week course is just one small part in their long training. I am NOTHING like a Navy SEAL.

[Diver Dave]

I was a 2nd class diver as well as a 2nd class shipfitter/pipefitter back in the 60’s.

I ran into a SEAL at the grocery store last year. I was wearing my ship’s hat with a 2nd class crow and a diving helmet pins. I saw his SEAL hat and offered a word of Thanks to him. He saw my pin and commented that they (SEALS) had a great deal of respect for salvage divers. Blew me away. It was a just a job we did. We worked hard and we also had a lot of fun.

[doc1019]

I have only known one SEAL in my life (that I know of), and I knew I was in the presents of a SEAL just by his commanding presents and overwhelming confidence. He is now the CEO of a strong and stable company.

[mj1234]

good one!

here goes my seal story...

when I was in boot camp (1973) they allowed everyone to try out for the SEALS- if you did not try out- you got to clean more shi...rs or other crazy nonsense. so most tried
out ( there actually was quite a few that were going to try
out for the BUDS/UDT teams-and they got time to run and train.)- so after watching a hokey film - that is still shown to this DAY of a Seal creeping up out of the water!!
(LOL what’s up with that?)

they told us what to do:
swim so many laps in such amount of time (4x75 meter?)
pushups in so much time
pullups..
situps..
And over a 1 mile run..

so me and I guy I met from Wisconsin are listening to
this Master chief tell us how he wants to see us swim-
NO over hand strokes, NO splashing (really wanted to see
the Seal swim recovery stroke - Which is a modified side
stroke)- asked if there were any questions- like a dufus
I raised my hand - “could I swim under water after diving
in??”

YES stupid!!- walk UNDER WATER FOR THE FULL TEST!!- just Don’t Splash-

Well, I was a very good swimmer- they blew the whistle and dived in..swam under water all the way to the opposite
wall kicked off and came up- ... yep everyone is still heading my way - this is where it gets interesting-—

They assigned an instructor to watch ME- and he was right there when I finished - (quite a few of the most burly guys
I have seen were floundering- with laps to go) Pushups,
situps, pullups -no problem- that ++ mile was a killer for
me- but I think I was still the first guy in my group.

So I get done and they ask me to go see the senior chief.. they are impressed with my academic score- then take a close lookat my pyhsical - (I have a severe hearing
loss in my right ear-) never seen anyone get so pissed-
needless to say , was not asked to even try out for BUDS.-

My Friend from wisconsin?- did great- had vision like
40- 200 or such- they got pissed at him too.

We thought it was a FUN time -AND did not have to clean any Shi...ers.

Went on to become an airdale- fixing radars

[ConorMacNessa]

Dave, my dad, an MSC officer, qualified as a 2nd class diver at age 38 because he was preparing to do research on hyperbaric injuries like the bends, etc. He used to come home from Diver School every night exhausted from the regime, but the instructors held him up as an example to his younger classmates. I guess he wasn't too popular with the young ones.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[Rebelbase]

A lying preacher? Really?

[Mark17]

It was a just a job we did. We worked hard and we also had a lot of fun.

We in the USAF have a lot of respect for you guys too. I was just an Air Force air traffic controller for 20 years, but I think we all did our part. And yes, I was in Vietnam, and somehow managed to survive a year, trying to work aircraft in and out of Bien Hoa Air Base, one of the 5th or 6th busiest airports in the world. We could only work the position for an hour, then go to the corner, talking to ourselves. I don't know why people want to lie about Vietnam, or any other things. I hated every minute I was in Vietnam, and could not wait till I could leave.

[yarddog]

I was on a college track team with a former Army Ranger Captain. He was a distance runner and I was a sprinter/hurdler.

He was actually one of the easiest going, most pleasant guys you ever could imagine yet there really was something about him, maybe it was that confidence that you knew he was no ordinary man. I suspect other ones may have had a different personality.

I later looked him up on the internet and discovered he was in fact a hero or what I call one, in Vietnam. Also had a lot of awards.

[ScubieNuc]

Great Story. I have a similar one.

When I first joined the Navy in the Summer of 1982, I joined as a Nuke in the delayed entry program. By the time I got into Boot camp in the summer of 1983, I was thinking maybe I’d see about other jobs.

So about 3/4 of the way through Boot (and right after our last official PT) the question was asked if anyone wanted to take the SEAL/Diver test. Only one guy in my commany raised his hand, and he was my bunk mate. Well, the PT was being given on the other side of the base and he couldn’t “straggle” there by himself, so I said I’d go with him.

So we jog about a mile (after already jogging for our official #4 PT) over to the pool. Well, we get to this room which had about 50 or so squids anxious to test. The first thing they did though was look at your service folder and check your ASVAB scores. Well, lo and behold, the guy I jogged over to the pool with didn’t have a high enough ASVAB to even take the test, so he was DQed right away. When they got to me, the guy looked at my record and saw that I was already designated for the Nuclear power ‘pipeline’ and asked if I had oked taking this test with my detailer. I quickly lied and said, he said, that it was my choice, and they let me take the test.

Like you said, after that we watched some movie type thing and then began the test. Like you said it was swimming first, which growing up along the Mississippi, swimming was like walking for me back then, and I had no problem, but a number of guys didn’t make the time on that.

After each evolution, you had to stand at parade rest until the instructor gave you directions for the next event. The next event was push-ups in a set time. Two minute rest. Situps in a set time. Two minute rest. 6 pull-ups, then the mile or mile and a half run. I saw one guy, who looked like a Greek god chiseled out of granite, cruise through the swim, push-ups and situps, but fail to make it past 4 pullups. By the time we got to the run, there were just 3 of us left.

The two other guys were actually from service side (Great Lakes) and had taken this test 2 or 3 times before, and I was the only recruit left. The two guys finished and qualified all events in SEAL time. I finished everything but the run in SEAL time, but I did qualify to be a Diver.

When the instructor congratulated us on a completeing the event, he handed us the paperwork to sign. The two Service School guys signed theirs right away, but I had second thoughts on dropping out of my Nuclear schooling before I really had even begun it. So needless to say, they weren’t too happy when I declined to sign on to be a diver.

Four years later, stationed onboard my Submarine, the opportunity arose to be one of the ships SCUBA divers, and I jumped at the opportunity. Sometimes I think I should have went diver all a long and dropped my Nuclear training, but then I wouldn’t have had the great job I have now. My Navy time would have been a HELL of a lot more fun and enjoyable though if I just went Diver.

[susannah59]

I have a relative by marriage who was a career Green Beret. He was in during Vietnam as well. Very ordinary, quiet, unassuming. In 30 years I've never heard him talk about being a Green Beret; if I didn't know it from family, I'd never have guessed it.

People like the man in the article, who brag and talk about their Special Forces service, I tend to not believe. I don't think the guys who really have done it have anything to prove to anybody.

[FunkyZero]

It's funny how some folks looking at their own years of peacetime service kind of see it as just a few years of oddity and a time when they got to see a few crazy things, maybe train on some mammoth piece of gear or weaponry... travel a bit and earn some lifelong friends.

Then when you look at someone else service and stories, it can be so inspiring.
I worked with an old coot in Lafayette, IN back in the early 90's. We were both welders. The old coot's name was Jim... I'm ashamed to say I can remember his last name now. He was retired Navy, did more than several decades of service. He went back to work in his 80's because his wife developed cancer and he needed the money.
ANYWAY... I could talk to him for hours upon days and just listen to the stories. He, like yourself, was originally a diver. Moved on to demolition and even did a stint with the Dutch navy at one point. He was no liar, he was the real deal. You can tell.
He never offered up, I had to wrench it out of him, but once he got started and if no one was around, he had some amazing stories. He never had tales of epic battle or acts of superhuman heroics... but that guy had been everywhere and done everything. From raising ships to underwater demo. He told me about every dumb and stupid thing he ever did that near got him killed and he chuckled every time. You could tell he missed it in a bad way. He was drawn by the risk, it was what made him alive.
I sometimes wish I could spend some more time with him, but i'm certain he is long ago dead; I lost track of him when I had to move years ago. I can remember seeing him walk across the shop floor carrying something small, him all hunched over and hobbling, half-crippled. But and all I could see was an icon. I often wished I could see the world through his eyes just once.
Those are the kind of men few can stand next to and be anything but humble. He was one tough old man and he made a real and very strong impression on me.
I know it's a bit off topic, but your post reminded me of him and made me smile. Point is, you don't have to be part of any special forces unit in order to earn respect, you only have to be a real man.

[meadsjn]

A lying preacher?

Used Car Sales => preacher => politician => pundit

Look out, Huckabee!

[ScubieNuc]

Point is, you don't have to be part of any special forces unit in order to earn respect, you only have to be a real man.

So very true. I have tried to instill in my kids a few important ideas. One is:

Integrity is a gift a man gives to himself.

I don't know who originally said it, but it has so much tied into it, I think it summarizes a lot about being a man.

Then I have pointed out to my kids that God and man judge us on three basic things:

Our Word. (Do we do what we say we will do.)
Our Work. (Can people count on us to do our best and give quality work.)
Our Worship. (Basically, it's your moral compass. God will ultimately judge us on this, but if your morale compass is off, your work and your word will be also.)

While I respect the military and veterans of all walks, I also recognize that not everyone who is or was in the military or special services are decent human beings. Everyone has daily opportunities to better thenselves and the world around them, and I have known some veterans who don't do that.

In short, just because someone was in the military, that doesn't guarentee that they are a "real" man or woman, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong. I also don't want my kids thinking that the only way to be a "real" man or woman is through the military. It's just one avenue that is most recognized by society.

[Squantos]

No pun intended but deepest respect for you an other salvage divers. You Stay Safe ....