Brian Dennehy rose to fame with memorable roles in movies such as First Blood (1982), F/X (1986), and Romeo + Juliet (1996), among others. Beyond his acting career, he was a member of the US Marine Corps from 1958 to 1963.
Dennehy attracted controversy and criticism for falsely claiming to have served in the Vietnam War. His persistent claims were especially distressing to those who had actually endured the difficulties and sacrifices of the war.
Stolen valor
Cases of individuals faking or embellishing their military service, often referred to as stolen valor, are fairly common. People engage in this behavior for various reasons, including seeking financial benefits from government agencies and the public or craving the respect awarded to true war heroes who have confronted the enemy.
The creation of countless online websites has made getting medals and uniforms more straightforward, and social media enables people to create any identity they want. Even before the digital age, fabricating military service was relatively easy due to the difficulty in verifying such claims. After all, who would fake being a war veteran?
Although it might seem improbable for a celebrity to engage in such lies, history has shown otherwise.
The beginning of Dennehy’s career
Dennehy got his start in Hollywood in 1977, featuring in two films and three television series. His breakthrough came with the inaugural Rambo film, First Blood, where he played Sheriff Will Teasle. This role marked one of his most memorable performances, leading to numerous opportunities in the following decades.
Dennehy earned the admiration of audiences worldwide, with his military service further enhancing his esteemed reputation.
Dennehy’s service in the Marine Corps
Here is what we know about Dennehy’s service in the Marine Corps. He enlisted on September 15, 1959, and was stationed for a time on Okinawa, where he played football. He left the military on June 4, 1963, just under four years later, before the Vietnam War had really begun to heat up.
Throughout his career, Dennehy claimed to have served in Vietnam. He told Playboy that he’d done a five-year tour during the war, during which he’d suffered minor injuries in combat. He appeared to go more in-depth when speaking with The New York Times, elaborating that the injuries he’d sustained were caused by shrapnel. He also claimed to have gotten a concussion.
He even acted like he knew the mindset of those who’d had to kill while serving, telling Playboy, “As for killing someone, anyone in combat would agree that it’s pretty much accidental. It’s not what you’re thinking about. You spend a considerable amount of time just trying not to be in a combat situation. You’re trying to avoid coming face-to-face with anything. So when something bad happens, it’s usually accidental.
“But the implication in war movies is that war has this rational beginning, middle and end. And of course none of it does,” he continued. “It’s absolutely f*****g chaos. Apocalypse Now is the movie. Even more interesting is that it was made so soon after the war was over. It was and is the most sophisticated overview of the experience.”
He was called out in 1998
The truth is, Dennehy never served in Vietnam. In 1998, he issued a public apology after being called out by B.G. “Jug” Burkett, a real veteran dedicated to exposing cases of stolen valor. Dennehy told The Globe:
“I lied about serving in Vietnam and I’m sorry. I did not mean to take away from the actions and the sacrifices of the ones who did really serve there…I did steal valor. That was very wrong of me. There is no real excuse for that. I was a peace-time Marine, and I got out in 1963 without ever serving in Vietnam… I started the story that I had been in ‘Nam, and I got stuck with it. Then I didn’t know how to set the record straight.”
As CBS News notes, the closest the actor ever got to “action” during the war was portraying Marine Sgt. Ned T. “Frozen Chosen” Coleman in the made-for-TV movie, A Rumor of War (1980).
Dennehy lied again
Despite his admission, Dennehy began repeating the same falsehoods less than 10 years later. In 2007, he told a journalist at The Wall Street Journal that he’d served in Vietnam. As The Denver Post reports, it was more than clear he didn’t feel that bad about stretching the truth of his service and wasn’t truly sorry.
Apart from facing backlash from veterans and the families of servicemen who saw combat, Dennehy’s professional career saw little impact following his confession of stolen valor. This could be attributed to a lack of complete understanding among the wider population on the gravity of his lies or to the common leniency towards such behavior in the entertainment industry.
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Each case of stolen valor deserves equal scrutiny, no matter the status of the person involved. Such claims diminish the true bravery of veterans who courageously served and sacrificed for our freedoms, and deserve recognition and thanks, regardless of their deployment in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, or any other conflict.