Reply #17: The answer toyour question probably deserves its own thread, but here goes...

[CTyankee]

remember Joseph Ellis? He is the Pulitzer Prize winning historian, specializing in Revolutionary War American history, and a distinguished professor at Mount Holyoke College, an elite Seven Sisters school in western MA. He wove a fantastical tale to his friends and colleagues about how he served in Vietnam during the war and was in actual combat situations where he performed heroically. The College asked him to devise a course on the Vietnam War which he did, regaling his students with his combate experience.

He was exposed by a real Vietnam Veteran. Not only had he NOT served in Vietnam, he wasn't really a soldier altho I think he did work for the DOD in Washington.

For this transgression, he was suspended from teaching for one year and has since been reinstated.

He also told tall tales about scoring the winning touchdown in his high school Homecoming Game. He was never on the team.

Interestingly, his scholarship in American history has never been questioned. He was obviously extremely careful and precise in his life's work.

I really don't know the answer to your question or to the Joe Ellis situation. My guess -- and it's just a guess -- is that he wanted deeply to have served in Vietnam (without actually risking his life), got carried away with the narrative of the story he made up, was in love with his resume and reputation, and thought he could get away with it...

The bigger they come, the harder they fall...