Brian Dennehy Claimed He Served in Vietnam – He Never Did
Brian Dennehy was acknowledged for his roles in many major-identify movies: Initial Blood (1982), F/X (1986), and Romeo + Juliet (1996), just to title a several. He was also a US Maritime Corps veteran, serving in the armed service from 1958-63 – and it is here the famed actor stirred controversy. Throughout his daily life, he falsely claimed to have served in the Vietnam War, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of those who’d risked their lives throughout the conflict.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for folks to lie about the extent of their company, with there getting several situations of stolen valor. Some do it to acquire resources from federal government companies and the public, while other folks lie for the recognition war heroes receive right after braving the enemy head-on.
An on the net research allows any individual to purchase medals and uniforms, and social media lets buyers to create whatsoever persona they want. Even before the web, lying about serving was simple to do, as there was not an simple way to actuality-examine the tales informed – and in any case, who would lie about staying a war veteran?
It is not one thing you’d count on a superstar to do, but, as history has revealed, it has happened.
Dennehy got his start out in Hollywood in 1977, with appearances in two movies and a few television shows. His initially important function arrived with the initial installment of the Rambo franchise, Initial Blood, in which he portrayed Sheriff Will Teasle. It’s arguably the actor’s most renowned part, and it led to lots of much more options in the subsequent decades. He had the respect of audiences throughout the world, and this only grew on them finding out about his time in the military.
Right here is what we know about Dennehy’s services in the Marine Corps. He enlisted on September 15, 1959, and was stationed for a time on Okinawa, wherever he played football. He remaining the armed service on June 4, 1963, just below four several years later on, just before the Vietnam War had truly started to heat up.
Throughout his job, Dennehy claimed to have served in Vietnam. He explained to Playboy that he’d carried out a 5-calendar year tour in the course of the war, throughout which he’d experienced minimal injuries in fight. He appeared to go additional in-depth when speaking with The New York Situations, elaborating that the accidents he’d sustained ended up induced by shrapnel. He also claimed to have gotten a concussion.
He even acted like he realized the mentality of those who’d experienced to destroy even though serving, telling Playboy, “As for killing a person, any one in battle would concur that it’s very considerably accidental. It is not what you are thinking about. You invest a substantial amount of time just attempting not to be in a beat circumstance. You are attempting to keep away from coming confront-to-face with anything at all. So when one thing negative happens, it’s ordinarily accidental.
“But the implication in war movies is that war has this rational starting, center and conclusion. And of system none of it does,” he ongoing. “It’s completely f*****g chaos. Apocalypse Now is the movie. Even a lot more fascinating is that it was designed so shortly soon after the war was above. It was and is the most subtle overview of the knowledge.”
The fact is, Dennehy hardly ever served in Vietnam, and he issued a general public apology for his lies in 1998 following remaining termed out by B.G. “Jug” Burkett, a genuine-life veteran of the conflict who’s dedicated his post-war daily life to outing situations of stolen valor.
“I lied about serving in Vietnam and I’m sorry,” Dennehy instructed The Globe. “I did not signify to just take absent from the actions and the sacrifices of the types who did genuinely serve there…I did steal valor. That was very incorrect of me. There is no real excuse for that. I was a peace-time Maritime, and I received out in 1963 without the need of ever serving in Vietnam… I started out the tale that I experienced been in ‘Nam, and I bought trapped with it. Then I didn’t know how to set the record straight.”
As CBS News details out, the closest the actor at any time bought to “action” in the course of the war was by portraying Maritime Sgt. Ned T. “Frozen Chosen” Coleman in the built-for-Television set film, A Rumor of War (1980).
Even so, regardless of admitting he’d lied about the extent of his navy assistance, Dennehy started telling the same falsehoods significantly less than 10 several years afterwards. As The Denver Put up studies, in 2007, he explained to a journalist with The Wall Avenue Journal that he’d served in Vietnam. As it turns out, he did not feel all that lousy about exaggerating the extent of his provider he wasn’t sorry.
For the most section, aside from outrage from veterans and the people of individuals who basically served in fight, Dennehy’s vocation was largely still left unscathed by his admission of stolen valor. It could be the average man or woman did not understand the accurate gravity of what he claimed or it could be that, when you’re in Hollywood, egregious conduct is not usually punished.
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All cases of stolen valor should be treated with the very same sum of scrutiny, no matter of how famed the particular person is. These claims do a disservice to the genuine-existence bravery of individuals veterans who risked their life for flexibility and who are deserving of our recognition and gratitude, no matter if that be in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq – or any war.
Clare Fitzgerald

Clare Fitzgerald is a Writer and Editor with 8 decades of encounter in the on the net information sphere. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Kings University Higher education at Western University, her portfolio includes coverage of digital media, existing affairs, historical past and true crime.
Between her achievements are becoming the Founder of the true crime blog, Tales of the Unsolved, which garners between 400,000 and 500,000 views yearly, and a contributor for John Lordans Very seriously Mysterious podcast. Prior to its hiatus, she also served as the Head of Content material for British isles YouTube publication, TenEighty Journal.
In her spare time, Clare likes to engage in Pokemon GO and re-look at Heartland above and in excess of (and about) again. Shell also rave about her a few Maltese dogs each time she will get the likelihood.
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