In my job I have had the privilege of hauling a LOT of vets over the years.
I drove a guy who Captained a minesweeper for I believe Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese surrender.
I drove a guy who was a meteorologist on the team that got to tell Ike when his best windows would be to invade.
I even hauled a guy who was a German soldier in Africa, brought to the US as a POW, fell in love with us and stayed until his death.
The other day I believe I had my first encounter with a "stolen valor" situation. I drove an older gentleman who claimed to have been in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. So far this is believable as I have met several vets from that era as well. But when I asked him what his MOS was, there was a pause, a bit of a stutter and then, "I, uh, don't remember. I was just 101st, that was my MOS, ya' understand?" I said, "Oh yes, I understand completely." After that I changed the subject and we talked about other stuff.
But I've been wondering, as I don't want to judge someone inaccurately. Would all Vietnam era vets understand my question? I met one Vietnam vet years ago who was a sniper assigned to LRRPs, but I don't recall how I asked him the question.
Note: For those not familiar with the military MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialty. Basically, "what is/was your job?"
The guy I was hauling wasn't wearing any pins or medals, so nothing infringed in that way, but the kindof grandiose claim of 101st Airborne set me off a tad. Thus, it got me to thinking about how far back "MOS" would be understood.
Thanks,
Doug
I drove a guy who Captained a minesweeper for I believe Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese surrender.
I drove a guy who was a meteorologist on the team that got to tell Ike when his best windows would be to invade.
I even hauled a guy who was a German soldier in Africa, brought to the US as a POW, fell in love with us and stayed until his death.
The other day I believe I had my first encounter with a "stolen valor" situation. I drove an older gentleman who claimed to have been in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. So far this is believable as I have met several vets from that era as well. But when I asked him what his MOS was, there was a pause, a bit of a stutter and then, "I, uh, don't remember. I was just 101st, that was my MOS, ya' understand?" I said, "Oh yes, I understand completely." After that I changed the subject and we talked about other stuff.
But I've been wondering, as I don't want to judge someone inaccurately. Would all Vietnam era vets understand my question? I met one Vietnam vet years ago who was a sniper assigned to LRRPs, but I don't recall how I asked him the question.
Note: For those not familiar with the military MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialty. Basically, "what is/was your job?"
The guy I was hauling wasn't wearing any pins or medals, so nothing infringed in that way, but the kindof grandiose claim of 101st Airborne set me off a tad. Thus, it got me to thinking about how far back "MOS" would be understood.
Thanks,
Doug