(Untitled)

[koken23]

Someone just got busted

Comments

[juunanagou18]

I didn't even know that you could wear someone else's medals, much less what side to correctly wear them on, tbh.

[wemblee]

Me neither.

[koken23]

Australian protocol on this different to American protocol. We're allowed to wear them - you're not - and it is pretty widely known.

[wemblee]

Ah, okay! Interesting, good to know.

[erunamiryene]

Hey, it's no big deal! It's like ... you know, pretending you're a trapeze artist! Or a doctor! Servicemembers should be happy people do this - that means people want to be like them! /snark

I know Australian protocol is different, but a DECADE of interviews? Being the face for holidays? This dude's full of shit with his "I wasn't being a fraud, I swear" routine, IMO.

[aussie_songbook]

Speaking as a fellow Aussie, the rights-side/left-side medal thing is pretty well-known here - anyone who's ever watched even a few minutes of the televised coverage of the ANZAC Day March, or gone to an Australian primary school, should be able to tell the difference.

I'm speechless at what this guy did. The thing that gets me is the decades of interviews and press in which this guy BLATANTLY FABRICATED HIS OWN PAST, and for what? What did he have to gain? Sympathy? Respect? Congrats, buddy, you've just lost all of that and more.

To be honest, I'm not such a fan of relatives wearing the medals and marching in the ANZAC Day March, etc, but at least the majority of them have enough respect for the veterans to wear the medals on the opposite side.

/endrant/

[lozbabie]

Another Aussie who is horrified. I never had any of my immediate family serve (both my grandfathers were too young for Vietnam, my great-grandfathers both worked on the railway and therefore weren't ALLOWED to go. One grandfather volunteered for Vietnam but was deemed ineligible because of his flat feet) but even I knew that about wearing the medals on the other side.

[sparkindarkness]

Pretty much the same in the UK as well

[koken23]

For me, it really depends on the circumstances. I mean, we're moving to the UK for a few years - so this won't happen for a while - but by the time we get back my son will be old enough to march with his dad, and I know my husband's kind of looking forward to being able to share that.

Relatives marching with someone, I'm okay with. Relatives marching for someone can be a little bit tricky.

[homasse]

What a serious jagoff. UGH.

[blunder_buss]

It's pretty common knowledge among Australians; even if your family can't drill that into you, it's often taught to kids at school.

I have NEVER heard of this. I must have slept through that class because I never saw it mentioned there either.

Still, I really freaking doubt this is just a quaint misunderstanding that happened over a decade.

[koken23]

Ever seen any footage of the annual Anzac Day marches?

Five minutes of that, you'll see it.

[blunder_buss]

Now that I think about it, I've never actually sat down and watched one. I'll try to next year.