A few years ago I was introduced to the ANZMI web pages and I read with a fascinated horror case after case of wannabe war heroes. Rex Crane was one of these cases, he self identified as a war hero and was accepted as such by his community, indeed he rose to the high office of president of the ex-POW Association. His tale included being stranded in Malaya in 1941 aged just 15, taking part in guerrilla action, being captured, imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese, Outram Road Jail, the Burma-Thailand railway, (where more than 2600 Australians perished) and even crucifixion. He went on to collect $689,491 in pensions and a Commonwealth Gold Card covering all medical expenses. The reality of his wartime activity is that he was at home in Adelaide with his family and still at school. His very first taste of prison had to wait until he was 84. You can read of his fall from grace here and here.
There are a host of cases ranging from wearing unearned medals to the creation of fabulous stories of heroism and hardship, from “theft of honour” to theft of money. As it says on the site “If you tell the truth it becomes part of your past. If you tell a lie it becomes part of your future.” Why, why, why do military imposters dress up their lives this way? What extraordinary deficiency in their reality is worth the consequences that flow from their fantasies?
Of course imposters are not only found at the RSL or in ANZAC Parades, the same deficiencies lead susceptible people to dress up their lives in all sorts of ways.
bobmcgee 
It is a strange situation when someone lies for what is seen as a good cause and then is drawn into the lie to become their life vendetta.
For me, I hope Snow White could kick his arse as well.