SEAL of disapproval: fake 'heroes' live a lie

A US pastor who claimed he was a Navy SEAL has been exposed as a fake - with parts of his story similar to the 1992 Steven Seagal thriller Under Siege and Demi Moore's action flick G.I. Jane, US media reports said.

Hot on the heels of the elite military squad's raid of Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan on May 1, which was widely celebrated in the United States, the Reverend Jim Moats told local newspaper The Patriot-News about his own time in the military during the Vietnam War.

He had been telling this story to his local community for five years.

"I had almost no discipline. I was as wild as they came. That was my nemesis," Mr Moats, a senior pastor at the Christian Bible Fellowship Church in Newville, Pennsylvania, told the Patriot-News in an article published on Saturday.

"They weren't looking for a guy who brags to everyone he is a SEAL. They wanted somebody who was ready but had an inner confidence and didn't have a braggadocio attitude."

But Mr Moats's tale about how he was forced to wash dishes after behaving badly and subjected to waterboarding sounded familiar to retired SEAL Don Shipley, who confronted Mr Moats about his claims after his story was published.

They were actually descriptions of scenes ripped from Under Siege, in which Seagal stars as a former SEAL battling against a group of terrorists on a ship, Mr Shipley told the Patriot-News.

And what about Mr Moats's claims that he had been hit by instructors?

That too was taken from a Hollywood film about SEALs - G.I. Jane - in which Moore plays the fictional role of the first woman who survives the crack team's gruelling training regime, Mr Shipley said.

Another ex-SEAL, Jason Ertola, told the Patriot-News it was "very infuriating to have these posers claim the honour that many good men have earned and died for".

"Since [Osama bin Laden] was killed these phonies are coming out of the woodwork and due diligence is required before putting any stories in print as to the background of these individuals."

Mr Shipley told US television network ABC he spent much of his time looking for and challenging SEAL-wannabes and, since the covert operation against bin Laden, the number of people pretending to be SEALs had "skyrocketed".

"Oh god, it has skyrocketed," Mr Shipley said.

"I can't even keep up with the amount of fraudulent claims and phony SEALs. Guys who haven't ever considered doing this are coming out of the woodwork, and we're nailing them as fast as we can.

"It's something with these guys who are in a position of trust that causes a lot of them to do it. The fact that they are in a position where whatever comes out of their mouth is believed - I think that causes some of them to take advantage."

He added: "We deal with these guys all the time, especially the clergy. It's amazing how many of the clergy are involved in those lies to build that flock up."

Mr Moats eventually came clean and admitted in a follow-up interview with the Patriot-News that, while he did serve in the US Navy from 1970 to 1974, he had never done a tour of duty in Vietnam, and had never been part of the SEALs.

"It's an ego-builder, and it's just simply wrong. In that sense I've been living this lie for the past five years," he said.

"I bring a shame and a reproach upon the name of Christ, I bring a shame and a reproach upon my church, and I bring a shame and a reproach upon my family."

He also conceded that the gold Trident medal he once wore at a local event was bought at a military surplus store, and was not awarded to him by the navy.

Last May, US Senator Richard Blumenthal was revealed he had never served in Vietnam despite claiming in a public speech to have done so.