There are some names that are sacred heroes in American military history, such as Alvin York and Audie Murphy, men with charming virtue who fought in “good wars.” But since the American defeat in Vietnam, war has become distinctly complicated, and so too has the depiction of the heroes who fight them. Now we’re presented with men of courage and skill who, in their own words, had to resort in some instances to killing civilians or breaking the rules of war. They’re treated to books and movies, and in the age of podcasts are given the ability to paint warfare as both romantic and tragically savage. And sometimes they just make things up.
The United States Special Operations Forces (SOF) is a small and exclusive community, made even smaller for those who’ve seen combat. Many of their daring deeds are not fully known to the public due to the nature of their conflict, either to uphold the secrecy of missions or out of respect for the dead. Many stories stay within that community. But some individuals still rise into public affection, whose tales of brave adventure make them household names. And lately the SOF community has started to call bullshit on these celebrity soldiers, who’ve become superstars to the military illiterate and naive.
Recently, retired MMA fighter and former special forces operator Tim Kennedy has been in a back and forth, claim versus counter claim debate with veterans from The Antihero Podcast, along with others from the special warfare community, who challenge the content of his book and the many stories he’s shared on podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience. His high profile status from his fighting career and frequent appearances on podcasts with large audiences has given him a platform to establish his Tim Kennedy brand.
He is not alone. The former Navy SEAL who claims to have killed Osama Bin Landen, Rob O’Neill, has also had his boasts challenged. What he said does not correspond with others who were there, and even differs from the after action report taken down by the Marine Corps once he and his team returned from the mission. O’Neill was already a decorated an accomplished SEAL with a career that stood on its own merit; his reputation is now at risk of being tainted by a false boast.
Marcus Luttrell, retired Navy SEAL of Lone Survivor fame, has gone on to admit that he did not have much to do with the writing of his own biography, which inspired the Mark Wahlberg film of the same name. Authour Patrick Robinson was commissioned by the U.S. Navy to write the book while Luttrel was still overseas. Robinson was selected because of his previous fiction books that paint the U.S. Navy and military in a positive and compelling light.
And off course there is the late Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL marksman whose bestselling autobiograph American Sniper was turned into a Best Picture nominated movie starring Bradley Cooper. Many of the claims made by Kyle in his book and those depicted in the film were false. The question then becomes, why does the U.S. military tolerate these spurious claims made in its name by those who served? The most obvious is that it reads well and makes the military sound awesome, boosting recruitment. People love heroes, and most will take what a decorated soldier says at face value. The other reason is that lies can be hidden between truths, and vice versa, which in return removes the risk of prosecution if something sensitive is revealed.
As Luttrell went on to say in an interview, the Navy organized for him to have an agent and helped get the ball rolling for his story to be told. Three dead teammates were to become enshrined in history, and the mission they were on turned into something more important than it was. Luttrell was able to insert his own opinions and narrative to sway the direction of the book; his comrades died because the civilians they had spared went on to tell the Taliban where they were. Although the Taliban were well aware of his team’s location and were closing in regardless. Dead civilians or not, the outcome would have been the same. The film and book depict an epic battle where the number of enemy combatants varies along with how many of them were killed. In reality the fire fight was brief, with perhaps no Taliban killed. Luttrell was rescued by locals who protected him until he was returned to U.S. forces. Other accounts claim that he returned with all the loaded magazines he went out with, indicating that he may not have even fired his weapon.
Anyone who has read Chris Kyle’s book can’t go past his claim of shooting looters during Hurricane Katrina. That is a lie. But perhaps it’s a reflection of his nature. Luttrell is fond of reminding the public that killing unarmed civilians is necessary. Tim Kennedy has also boasted of killing women and children, and denies that he has PTSD because of his toughness. In Kennedy’s book the action reads like it was written by Don Pendelton. Ambushes that lead to trucks flipping onto the roof of others, while he leaps out with a sniper rifle shooting from the hip to take on the enemy. The script to Deadly Prey pales by contrast.
The stories are fantastic and as his critics have noted, often defy logic, reason, or are flat out impossible. But for those who want to believe, the average Joe (Rogan listener) or anyone else with a casual interest in history or the military, it’s compelling and exciting. After all, why would a man lie about his exploits while selling a book, advertising courses, and promoting himself for appearances? At the time of this writing, Tim Kennedy has not addressed any of the major points raised by his critics. Instead he continues to deflect their allegations. He likens it to veterans hating on other veterans out of jealousy. The Green Beret Chronicles has recently reported that The Antihero Podcast has had to remove the Tim Kennedy episode upon Kennedy’s request.
This is not a uniquely American phenomenon. Australian Special Air Service hero and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Robert-Smith has come under fire for allegations of crime wars, while some veterans claim he invented some of his war stories. Both the public and government like heroes who can massage the aches of reality that war brings.
In the 1970s and into the 1990s, when magazines were a more powerful medium, legends arose from the pages of Soldier of Fortune, Black Belt and other publications. It allowed for the exploits of a Mike Echanis, Count Dante, or a Frank Dux. During the Cold War and after, it was satiating to know that such men existed, especially in the wake of losing Vietnam. Books written by SEAL Team Six founder Dick Marchenko revealed exploits that could compete with the legend of Bravo Two Zero, which made Chris Ryan a superstar. This genre still has a market, creating supermen in the public mind and validating the military that wields them.
There is a degree of “stolen valor” that occurs, when the dead are disrespected by being used as props and mute witnesses to promote a glory story. The veteran community is cleaning house and removing such lies. Perhaps only they can challenge the sacred cows of celebrity. Making men above reproach based entirely on their military service reveals a unique status that warriors have, even when the war itself is unpopular. These men can transcend above the common civilian because of what they endured while serving government, whether their story is real or not. For the antiwar types it is hard to combat the propaganda status that such men hold. Their promotion benefits a cynical government in a clever manner that always leads to war being justified, even if solely on the grounds of the martyrdom of the dead or the misery experienced by surviving veterans.
In an age of social media, when a public willingly believes and adores anyone who can claim military heroism, these men will keep their influential platforms. A soldier who has seen active duty and actual combat has a special status, even among the antiwar and libertarian movements. It’s a status that a combat veteran can wield for “good,” but still helping perpetuate the war state. It’s also something profitable, especially the greater the lie.
Meanwhile, there are scores of unknown combatants with no book deals or podcasts and who don’t have their stories told. They’re both “friendly” and on the other side of the Global War on Terror. So far we don’t have any podcasts interviewing the sniper legend Juba, or a Peter Berg film about Abu Tahsin al-Salihi. Are they any less a warrior simply because of where they were born? If heroism, courage, and skill are a morality unto themselves, then groups called terrorists and insurgents are also rife with such heroes, no doubt riddled with stories of lies as well. In war, the truth as always gets buried with the un-famous dead somewhere in unmarked graves.
