I've run into a lot of guys, usually at bars back when I did that sort of thing, that told heroic stories of their daring do. I figured 99.9%+++ were full of it. I've run into an even larger number of people professionally that seemed to think lying to me about their extensive military time would get them out of the jam they were in. Many would tell a story that was extremely similar to some scene in a war movie or they'd tell me about "boot camp at Parris Island" where they told their "Drill Sergeant" (!!!) to shove it or some such trash. I also ran into a few kids coming back from the middle east that needed to talk to someone and I apparently seemed like a handy ear. Some were real messed up, some were so obviously full it it was pathetic. I dunno why people do that except that they want someone to pay attention to them to fill some need, I guess. None of the guys I knew growing up who were in WW1, 2, Korea or VN talked about it much. Knew a man who survived the Bataan Death march. Nicest, most cheerful guy you'd ever meet. Another was in graves registration and was later an undertaker after the war and then went on to own a McCulloch/Pioneer/Homelite chainsaw dealership. He was a great guy, way, way up in the Masons. But the poor guy who tried to get him to take on Kioritz (Echo today) Japanese made saws is said to have barely escaped with his life! I guess the old demons were still there.
Of all the kids I talked to coming back from Afghanistan or Iraq that I thought were full of it, every one claimed to be a sniper. I've run into literally dozens and dozens of kids claiming to be snipers. I can't believe there are that many actual designated snipers in any unit. I think the Kris Kyle thing kind of seemed cool to a lot of them.
We had one guy in our Academy class that repeatedly claimed to be one of the Marines killed in Beirut. You'd have thought he'd have wondered why people looked at him oddly when he said that, but he just went on with it. He flunked out about 3 weeks into the 6 month school, probably for the best!
I don't imagine most men really want to relive the horrible stuff. I'd also imagine most of humanity has something that qualifies as "horrible" someplace in their memory that they bury deep and dream about over and over again and never really address. I've handled a lot of those that had sexual or physical abusive stuff done to them as kids. Hard for them to deal with. People say talking helps, but talking also stirs up a lot of suppressed stuff that needs a way to vent. People in general aren't real good at finding healthy ways to handle things like that, so maybe burying it is best for some.
