A fake veteran appears to get busted for claiming stolen valor to save a mere 10 percent at Waffle House – while not even knowing what uniform he’s in – in a series of videos released on TikTok.
In the video, a man claiming to be a Marine loudly confronts the apparently fake veteran eating alone in his booth. After the man is exposed in multiple ways, he leaves the restaurant in shame.
Under the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, fraudulent claims about military service are punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to a year, or both.
In the first video, the self-described Marine approaches the fake veteran, saying, “Excuse me, dog, did you just say you’re a veteran?”
When the Marine points out inconsistencies in the other man’s uniform, he tries to prove his status by asking the Waffle House employees to confirm he’d gotten the veteran discount.
The fake veteran then mistakenly claims it’s Veteran’s Day, while employees counter that it was the week prior. After the Marine tells the employees the man is “a fraud,” one employee informs the other that they’re not even allowed to give veteran discounts in the first place.
In the third video, the fake veteran claims to have been in the Army. But the Marine says, “Why your thing say Air Force?” as the clip zooms into the “U.S. Air Force” patch on the fake veteran’s chest.
The fake veteran says, “You know what I mean, like–” but the Marine cuts him off: “No, I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know what you mean, bro.”
In the fourth clip, the Marine criticizes more than the uniform: “Full beard! Earrings! You believe this clown? That’s a clown.”
The other man then stops claiming to be a veteran and pivots to asking the Marine to stop recording him. He pleads for the Marine to “chill” and says he “embarrassed me in front of this young lady,” meaning one of the Waffle House employees.
Afterward, that employee berates him for saying “that you served to protect our country when you actually really did not.”
In the last video, the fake veteran leaves the establishment sucking on his drink. The female employee playfully asks the Marine to “stay and protect me,” but the Marine follows the fake veteran out to his car and shouts at him.
“Stop recording me, bro,” the veteran shouts back. “Come on, man.”
