Former soldier claims 2,746 confirmed kills in Iraq

[DallasSleeper]

He is a tanker, they tend to over exaggerate things.

He may have fired that many rounds, they miss a lot though.

<ducks and covers>

Tankers don't ride Bradleys. He is a Cav Scout.

[exlude]

I thought Chris Kyle's stories were a little embellished, this is down right pathelogical.

[talisman]

Trublu in here arguing with Talisman in 3...2...1...


(see tags)

Just because I started the thread doesn't mean I made the tags.

[ceyko]

Tankers don't ride Bradleys. He is a Cav Scout.

Fair enough, all falls in the same clump of folks to me though. I think their heads bounce around too much in those things.

[Chili]

Fair enough, all falls in the same clump of folks to me though. I think their heads bounce around too much in those things.

Jimmy's gonna beat you the next time you see him.

BTW.. Both 19 series right? Close enough for us Remf's!

Only reason I know the difference between a Delta and Kilo is because I was in the PAC.

[DallasSleeper]

Jimmy's gonna beat you the next time you see him.

BTW.. Both 19 series right? Close enough for us Remf's!

Only reason I know the difference between a Delta and Kilo is because I was in the PAC.

The Deltas and the 11 series (used to be Mikes, not sure about now) are all baby tankers.

19D Cavalry scout
19K Big Boy

[ceyko]

Jimmy's gonna beat you the next time you see him.

BTW.. Both 19 series right? Close enough for us Remf's!

Only reason I know the difference between a Delta and Kilo is because I was in the PAC.

heh, yeah - a lot of extra field time due to tankers...etc...etc.

I like Jimmy, he's a unique tanker.

[SS Junk]

I wonder what his K/D ratio is?

Camper!111

[Zfan]

The man has been smok'in some good shit

[Chili]

heh, yeah - a lot of extra field time due to tankers...etc...etc.

I like Jimmy, he's a unique tanker.

I want to know how he fit in the drivers seat! I'm sure he was glad when he moved to loader.

[Forever_frost]

This is BS. Unless he has documents to back him up, prosecute him under Stolen Valor

[Chili]

This is BS. Unless he has documents to back him up, prosecute him under Stolen Valor

Without googling, would the stolen valor thing apply if he was not claiming specific awards he does not have? I thought that was what it pertained to. But wouldn't think the "confirmed kills" thing would be applicable.

[Forever_frost]

He's selling a book that makes claims that he cannot backup. He is claiming achievements he did not have and making money off of it. Not only stolen valor but also fraud.

[Chili]

He's selling a book that makes claims that he cannot backup. He is claiming achievements he did not have and making money off of it. Not only stolen valor but also fraud.

Don't get me wrong, dude is a douche, but....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act

U.S. law that broadened the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals. The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants might have been imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could have been up to one year. In United States v. Alvarez the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2012, that the Stolen Valor Act was an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment, striking down the law in a 6 to 3 decision.

[Forever_frost]

Looking up the 2013 Stolen Valor but something to read

Update: I spoke to Mr. Johnson after this story was first published. He says his new book doesn't claim that he killed 2,746 enemy combatants or that he has 121 sniper kills. He says while those numbers are on the book jacket, and in HarperCollins' publicity for the book, that the claim is never made in the text of the book and that it is inaccurate. He says he is not responsible for the publisher's writing. The 2,746 number he says is his battlefield estimate of those killed by both him and the men he was fighting with. Johnson says the he did kill 121 enemy combatants on his second deployment to Iraq, with M4 and M14 rifles, and that the choice of the term "sniper" was because average readers don't understand the difference between a marksman and a sniper. He says that Mr. Spaid could not have read the book, that Spaid's claim that dismounts were extremely rare during the invasion are inaccurate, and that Spaid wasn't in a position to speak to what Johnson witnessed and experienced. Johnson says that while he once gave an estimate that he'd perhaps fired 7,000 depleted uranium rounds from his Bradley during the invasion of Iraq that he gave that estimate to an interviewer while wounded and at Walter Reed hospital in 2003 and that it was only an estimate. He is uncertain about how many rounds were fired. He says the story about cutting the wire is true, that it was the sort of wire you might buy at the hardware store for a dryer, and that it's played for laughs in the book. He says that he regrets that he did not correct the Fox and Friends interviewer's statement that he had 2,746 confirmed kills in Iraq, but that it was his first television appearance and he was a bit flustered; he says he did correct this assertion on a later airing of the O'Reilly Factor on Fox (available here) and in other media interviews. Johnson said his motivation in writing the book was so that his comrades would get more credit for what happened and so there would be less focus on him, correcting a failure in emphasis in an official US Army history of the Iraq invasion published in 2004 that he was interviewed for. Tomorrow, I'll write more fully about my interview with Johnson with more details on his war experience.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2013/0626/America-s-deadliest-soldier-or-stolen-valor