Ive got one that leads to another.
I used to work in management for a local grocery chain. We would go though assistant managers like toilet paper, and I had been with the company about 7 years. We would get guys in all the time that were ex military. One of our best managers had been a Sgt in the Army and liked to wear dresses on the weekends. I was unable to serve, but my Dad had, and whenever I heard B.S. I would call him to be my B.S. Detector. Had this guy about 50 come to work for us that claimed to have served in Vietnam. This guy was a rolling mess. Never had his shirt tucked in, smelled of B.O. often, never cared about how good of a job he did, and always had a story about something to waste 30 minutes at work. I overheard one of his stories one day about how he had an Armored classification while serving in the 101st. This didn't sound right to me, and my B.S. Detector said it might have been fishy. Well, I was stuck working the closing shift with him one night and we had canned soups on sale. He decides he has figured out his menu at home for the next month and bought like 50 cans of it. Since we had to lock up together as witnesses, I helped him out to his beat up car with his soup, had like 6 bags of them. He tells me about how he is living in section 8 housing and hasn't moved all his stuff into his apartment yet. The car is packed full of crap!!! He states he can move some stuff around in the trunk to make room for the soup. He pops his trunk and starts handing me display boxes. I'm wanting to get out of there and try not to look at what he hands me, til I saw something that I didn't think I could be looking at. Of the four displays he handed me, I see two Silver Stars......and his name on the display boxes. The other two boxes were medals I had no idea as to what they were, but I was " You earned two Silver Stars?!?!? He keeps digging to make room for his soup, and says " ya think thats something, look at this one" and hands me a box with a CMOH. I told him its nice that he collects these medals but I hope he is not passing them off as his. He taps the display box with the CMOH in it and stated " its mine, spent two months in a hospital after I earned it." and packs the rest of his soup away. I say goodnight to him and went home and looked him up in CMOHS.org.......SOB!!! He was listed. I went in the next day and told my manager about the "loser" we hired has a CMOH. He chuckles a little bit and says I need to go tell the District Manager that he just fired a CMOH winner for being 15 minutes late for work that morning. The District Manager was sick after I told him........The Manager and I figured out he didnt give a squat about the job since now we figured his stories had been true. I wish I could remember the guys name so you could look it up also, but if I'm really pressed I can get my old manager to write a letter stating this is a true story
The reason I knew I was looking at a CMOH that night is because I used to work at a video store that sold mostly new tapes. I was fixing up a Veterans Day display when an older gentleman was walking around the display, and went "Damn, that cover makes me remember how cold it was!" He was a regular customer, and he was holding a copy of "The Battle of the Bulge". Turns out he was there in the 101st. This was about 20 yrs ago and I don't remember the conversation too well, but being the kid of a former service member, I remember thanking him for his service and how he went on about how cold it was and how his wife wakes up every night without any covers because he still freezes in his dreams and how he had been shot at and heard lots of Germans in the battle. He did mention his foxhole was overran a couple of times and it was a Hell hopefully my generation would never see. He didn't buy the video, said he remembered it well enough. Two weeks later he comes in the store with a box and tells me he has something he wants me to see. Turns out he had a CMOH in the box. Said he got it in the battle. I called him "A Hero!". He stated he was not. This was in the early 90's in Owensboro, KY and I'm pretty sure he is no longer alive, but he was a hell of a man. Can't remember his name either.
So, one day I'm in Dillard's getting a tie for a high school reunion coming up. Over about five yards from me there is a old man and his son trying to buy a suit for the older gentleman. The salesman is joking around and says "wedding?" and the older guy states he is being flown out to Arizona for a book signing. He stated he was a POW in Japan during WWII that worked in the coal mines. I start paying attention at this time. The guy went on for about an hour telling stories about being a POW, starving to death, being beat daily, watching the one nice guard beheaded for sneaking them rice soup, how they had to push the coal carts even after wheels fell off.......you get the picture. By the time he had finished there were about 40 guys standing around the mens dept listening to him speak. Dillard's gave him the suit for free for his service. I don't remember his name or if he won a CMOH either, but I wish I had. I want to read that book he wrote.
