Saw a bum wearing CAP Senior Pilot wings

[flyboy53]

If you feel strongly enough about it, you can make a Citizen's Arrest, but I would strongly encourage you to engage your self-preservation mode before confronting a Street Person- They don't last long on the streets unless they have good skills at surviving confrontation, i.e. they might bite one of your body parts off......
Major Lord

Sage, real-world advice.  I have known a number of street people in my lifetime and so much of their lives focuses on self-preservation that:

First, they are not going to give a tinker's cuss what someone tries to cite out of U.S. Code;

They are more than likely wearing the garment because it is WARM and could care less if it has CAP or Girl Scout insignia;

If you continue to press the issue, they'll most likely press it another way.

Thousands of high school age men and women wear old military cloths (or military style) every day. It seems to be a fashion at the moment. (One I do not understand but anyway....)

I honestly to not believe any court in the US is going to listen to this style of argument for very long. The first thing the defense would bring up is freedom of speech (and the Supreme Court has already said clothing is considered a form of speech).

Agree.

The sad thing about this string is that you lost the opportunity of striking up a conversation with the guy. Obviously, he holds some sort of distinction to the insignia and he may have given you a real line of B.S., but a little compassion goes a lot further than a challenge in these situations.

As a veteran, my heart breaks when I find a homeless person who is a fellow veteran. Sometimes they are in that situation because of hard luck. Sometimes, it's the result of their service and I would rather help him than critize him.

You never know.....

[DakRadz]

Okay, so what about those that DO wear full ribbons stacks as a fashion statement? I've seen the goofy "4 star general with CMSgt stripes" jackets, but usually the stripes are inaccurate or more like another country's. And those are pretty silly anyway, with little chance of being mistaken for military.

Last night I saw a guy wearing 12 military ribbons (Ultrathin-style, btw) on one of these jackets- and it looked like it came like that. Defense Superior Service, Bronze Star, MSM, DFC, NDSM, and more. Just caught a glimpse of it, and I was working- but there were obvious signs this guy wasn't wearing his own, personal ribbons, or had even been in the military.

Thoughts?

[Eclipse]

Thoughts?

Make mental note and move on.

[RADIOMAN015]

Okay, so what about those that DO wear full ribbons stacks as a fashion statement? I've seen the goofy "4 star general with CMSgt stripes" jackets, but usually the stripes are inaccurate or more like another country's. And those are pretty silly anyway, with little chance of being mistaken for military.

Last night I saw a guy wearing 12 military ribbons (Ultrathin-style, btw) on one of these jackets- and it looked like it came like that. Defense Superior Service, Bronze Star, MSM, DFC, NDSM, and more. Just caught a glimpse of it, and I was working- but there were obvious signs this guy wasn't wearing his own, personal ribbons, or had even been in the military.

Thoughts?

Well, that's pretty simple, just go up and ask him about why he is wearing what he is .  You might even want to pull out and flash your CAP ID card (hey here's an idea, maybe Vanguard could make up badges that say CAP member on it, like cops have :angel:), to let him know that CAP is watching for ANY uniform violations anywhere :angel:
RM 

[NCRblues]

Okay, so what about those that DO wear full ribbons stacks as a fashion statement? I've seen the goofy "4 star general with CMSgt stripes" jackets, but usually the stripes are inaccurate or more like another country's. And those are pretty silly anyway, with little chance of being mistaken for military.

Last night I saw a guy wearing 12 military ribbons (Ultrathin-style, btw) on one of these jackets- and it looked like it came like that. Defense Superior Service, Bronze Star, MSM, DFC, NDSM, and more. Just caught a glimpse of it, and I was working- but there were obvious signs this guy wasn't wearing his own, personal ribbons, or had even been in the military.

Thoughts?

Thoughts? Shame on him...but once again, freedom of speech and expression.

[sarmed1]

One of the ambulance companies I workrd for it was a common practice for departing members to "donate" their old uniform t-shirts and sweat shirts to the urban outdoorsmen of Tucson, Az....youl'd be driving down the road and see some dude in a paramedic shirt panhandling or selling pencils on the island in the intersection....perhaps some good natured former member has done the same thing here......
mk

[RRLE]

maybe Vanguard could make up badges that say CAP member on it, like cops have

And stand the chance of getting yourself arrested for impersonating a police officer. That is something the law takes a lot more seriously then uniform violations.

[SarDragon]

maybe Vanguard could make up badges that say CAP member on it, like cops have

And stand the chance of getting yourself arrested for impersonating a police officer. That is something the law takes a lot more seriously then uniform violations.

There was an incident in CAWG some years ago about that. Let's not go there. It's not something we need, and would likely make more trouble than it's worth.

[Hardshell Clam]

I carried a real federal badge and now a real state one and I will tell you this: You would never get a conviction for just wearing the wings/shirt. Then toss is some words like "grand jury" and "indictment".  it gets less provable.

FYI: You MIGHT if the guy was in full uniform and tried to act as a CAP member around kids or get on a base, etc. More likely, the guy would be sent off for a mental health exam unless you could show the attempt was for an "evil" purpose, then enters the locals and/or Homeland Security...

But just for wearing an old coat? More of a chance of a 747 landing on the moon.

Let it go, this is getting silly.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

^^Most judges at all levels of the judiciary have overloaded dockets and I think their interest in a case like this is going to hover somewhere around zero, unless the "offender" is doing something really stupid like showing up at a base wearing general's stars.

[AngelWings]

^^Most judges at all levels of the judiciary have overloaded dockets and I think their interest in a case like this is going to hover somewhere around zero, unless the "offender" is doing something really stupid like showing up at a base wearing general's stars.

Or blues pants tucked into rought-out boots.