Marine Corps veteran Michael Delfin was sitting in a Sacramento bar when he struck up a conversation with another military member. This guy, an airman, showed him an active Air Force ID. When Delfin followed suite, he was accused of stolen valor because his ID didn’t mark him as active duty.
“So, I asked him to read my ID, and he was like nahh stolen valor, stolen valor; this guy’s a fake,” Delfin said.
Delfin served 12 years in the Marines as a tracker, and in 2004 he served in the Battle of Fallujah, the highest point of conflict in the Iraq War. The event is considered one of the bloodiest battles to take place since Vietnam. Despite his lengthy service, Delfin has a different ID because he is no longer active duty.
The Marine wasn’t interested in participating in a bar brawl, so he left the bar. The airman and another individual blindsided him in the parking lot. The altercation left him with a broken tibia and jaw.
Delfin and his wife have already spoken to the police and an Air Force investigator. They’ve also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Delfin’s new medical expenses.
“Everybody that’s in the service does their job, but when you go to combat it’s a different thing, so to claim on me I’m stolen valor, that’s a slap in every veteran’s face,” he said. “He needs to get caught. He needs to get made an example of, plain and simple.”