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Fake Army soldier confronted on camera at airport

Christian Parmer, a former Army combat engineer, said he decided to confront the man after noticing issues with his U.S. Army uniform.

By Ben Hooper

FRESNO, Calif., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- A man who donned an Army uniform at a California airport became a viral video star when a real veteran decided to film a confrontation.

Christian Parmer, a former Army combat engineer, said he was at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport Monday when he spotted a man wearing a U.S. Army uniform incorrectly.

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"He's wearing his hat indoors, which we don't," Parmer told KMPH-TV. "He's got a Confederate flag on his shoulder, which we don't wear of course."

Parmer decided to confront the man alongside airport police and he filmed the encounter to post on YouTube.

The man at one point claimed to be "EOD," part of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, and bore an armband with the initials.

"If you're EOD, then what's the RE-factor of C4," Parmer asked in the video. "You just said you were in EOD."

The man responded by changing his story.

"I did not say I was in EOD. I said I was in DOD," the U.S. Department of Defense.

The man claimed the uniform belonged to his stepson, but he maintained that he was a former Marine, but balked at telling Parmer what his MOS (military occupational specialty) was.

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"I had nothing else that was clean. I have no other clothes that are here right now," the man said. "I've been here only for four days."

The man said he was in a hurry and needed clothes to drop his father off at the airport.

"It's my stepson's Army uniform," he said. "It's all he had. He's not here right now."

Airport police escorted the man out of the building.

KMPH-TV said the man may have run afoul of the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it illegal to benefit from impersonating a U.S. service member.

The man was holding a Starbucks cup throughout the video interview, and a Starbucks employee at the airport confirmed the man received a 20 percent military discount on his beverage.

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