Douche of the Week: Veteran Clothing

Editor’s Note: There is neither anything illegal about the name Veteran Clothing nor is there anything illegal about us writing about their douchbagedness.  -RU Rob

By RU Contributor Jack Mandaville

I hopped on the internet the other day to do my daily blog sweep and ran into the brewing controversy regarding San Diego-based company Veteran Clothing and its CEO, Billy Truong.

Holy titty-sprinkling hell. Where do I start?

Alright, if you haven’t heard about this shit-show, let me give you a brief background.

The blog Guardian of Valor first broke this story a few days ago after numerous readers brought the nature of Truong’s business to their attention. They were concerned with the fact that his clothing line—again, titled “Veteran Clothing”—was misleading people due to the fact that, get this, nobody involved with the company is a Veteran.

Now, to their credit, GoV initially contacted Truong in private. Here’s an excerpt from his response:

“The term ‘Veteran’ is not only towards The Military. Yes, Veterans in the Military are much respected and Veterans in other fields are respected as well. The definition of ‘Veteran’ is a person who has had long experience in any particular field.”

You know what? Truong’s right. The term “Veteran” can be used in reference to numerous occupations. Truong’s response would have sufficed if the name of his company was the only concern. There are a few problems, though. The main being that he has marketed apparel with a military theme—like a shirt and jacket that says “Salute Me,” and the best of all: A Purple fucking Heart plastered right on the breast of one of his shirts, with George Washington’s image replaced by his company’s “V” logo.

If that’s not enough evidence to give you an immediate douche verdict, I’ve got more.

Veteran Clothing’s Facebook page was loaded with homoerotic-looking models posing with their wear in front of what looked like a war memorial—one of these photographs, in which the model was wearing the “Salute Me” shirt, shows him tritely saluting the sky while standing next to an antiaircraft gun.

This, my friends, is undoubtedly meant to be deceptive and make a buck off of unsuspecting buyers.

Of course Billy and company dispute this accusation, maintaining that their company is—and I’m paraphrasing here—urban/street wear for 16 to 24 year olds. And again—according to posts on his company’s Facebook page—Truong reminds us that you “can be a Veteran in anything.”

Thanks, Billy, but I have one question for you: With the exception of war Veterans, how the fuck can anyone be a Veteran in something when they’re 16 to 24 years old? Mind you, I was already a “war Vet” at age nineteen. But I’ll fully admit that, even though I had experienced certain realities that most haven’t, I was still naïve as shit about life and wasn’t even close to being an expert in anything other than driving an armored vehicle and pulling a trigger—not to mention my vast knowledge and expertise in getting my ass chewed by my NCOs.

Trust me, I know guys like Truong: Upper middleclass, repressed abandonment issues, and a shameless will to climb the top. Not only that, judging by his Pauly D-like haircut and yearning to be “street,” Truong’s only real experiences with urban life have been his mother dropping him off downtown on Saturday mornings so he can go do flip-kicks and summersaults with his Parkour club. That’s gangsta, brotha!

Since Truong want to water down the definition of Veteran and be misleading about his… uh… Veteraness, I want to tell you readers a few personal things about me:

• I’m a Veteran basketball player because of those twenty games I played in junior high school.

• I’m a Veteran of the porn industry because of that missing video of me and the ex.

• I’m a Veteran musician because of my mastery of the recorder in 4th grade.

• I’m Veteran writer because of that literary agent who returned my email.

You get the point.

Now, in Billy boy’s defense, he and his company did issue a letter of apology and intent. They also promised to discontinue the Purple Heart shirts. Awesome.

I recommend you read it for yourself, but here’s a brief summary (according to me, the most reliable source in America):

This is the Federal definition of Veteran. We didn’t do anything wrong. Everyone’s hating on us. Stop sending us negative emails. We’re going to make changes to appease you. We’ve got the paperwork to prove we’re legit.

It wasn’t really an apology, rather a better worded defense. Whatever.

While he was making a public statement to appease the Veteran community, his Twitter account was singing a different tune. It was essentially a mesh of tweets saying how he won’t be brought down, bragging about his increasing likes on Facebook from the exposure, and how we’re all haters—not to mention the impressive picture of the kush he was harvesting. Furthermore, on a separate Facebook page, Truong wrote this in the about section:

“If you are an old veteran and just want to say that we don’t deserve to give the name of Veteran for this company leave this page immediately because you are immature and you don’t understand the concept of this movement.”

Old Veteran? That motherfucker! I’m in my goddamn prime, bitch!

See, Billy didn’t realize one of the most discerning factors about American Veterans: We’re the most resourceful motherfuckers on this planet… and people got screenshots of this stuff. So his apology is pretty null at this point.

Truong’s decision to substitute the real Veteran definition of “Honor, Courage, and Commitment,” for the more popular “Bitch, I gotta get paid,” is the reason why he’s our Douche of the Week. And since he loves the idea of being street, he will be forced to play a never-ending game of bones with Alfred Ponzi, Kenneth Lay, and Bernie Madoff. Lastly, from this “old” Marine Vet, I just want Billy to know that he can Semper suck my balls.

 

 

17 Comments

1. 

   RedactedMedic

   August 27, 2012 at 9:06 am

   Hey Hey now. Lets give this guy some credit. I mean I’m sure he’s spent many years on the hard streets of San Diego as a “Soulja.” It’s close enough to a soldier, right? His company’s mantra of “Salute the Bitch” sounds like something almost directly off the pages of AR 600-25, does it not? And the ripped off Dane Cook “Su-Fi” logo adaptation, Priceless. These guys are cutting edge Hip-Hop/fashion moguls. Some “real N****s,” as their website mentions.

   Only Mr. Truong, you and most of your crew are not of the decent to be using such a word in it’s popular vernacular. Should you come down to the “Dirty Souf,” I’d be more than happy to escort you to a few areas you could try and explain your street cred to the local populace. There’s no locked twitter account to hide behind then. I’m sure your boys at Spoonz Music, who apparently represent Kevin Hart, Boyz II Men, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, and Nelly would be able to help you. All from their middle-class suburb New Jersey house where their domain is listed, as well as yours.

   You’d be smart to change the name of your company with the quickness. As it is, you are already getting negative press in your local area, thanks to KGTV. But better yet, just go ahead and quit while you’re not ahead, since according to the same article you have yet to turn a profit.

   Reply
2. 

   Nik Corvus

   August 27, 2012 at 11:35 am

   Wow. “…you don’t understand the concept of this movement”. I understand it. It seems closely related to the “movement” I had this morning.

   Reply
3. 

   Hans

   August 27, 2012 at 1:27 pm

   Oh you have to see the attention Veteran Clothing is getting! https://plus.google.com/108044291090402673514#108044291090402673514/posts

   Reply
4. 

   Cruciform Clothing

   August 27, 2012 at 2:44 pm

   This has my blood boiling. I’m almost at a loss for words. Do I engage this cretin, or let him slither by?

   I’m a owner operated sole proprietor web only business. Scraping and clawing to stay alive and do it the “right way.” Guys like this are the ones who trample guys like me to earn their dollar.

   Thanks for calling out this scum. I’ll help spread the word.

   Reply
5. 

   SSG Conyers Lamb

   August 27, 2012 at 3:14 pm

   This young man and his boys are clearly of the crowd of folks that think it’s ok or acceptable to wear medals not properly earned. This is the same crowd of folks that protest at the funerals of veterans and servicemen and women preaching that Soldiers are “Of the devil” and stuff like that. It is absolutely apparent that this F##k-knuckle has not one shread of respect for the folks that gave him the opportunity and the ability to twist the reality of freedom into his own mindset to support his means. God bless the constitutional right to freedom of speech, eh? Guess what “homie?” It’s folks like me and my comrades that give you that freedom. It’s folks like the author of this page that give you the ability to be a retard. I’m not one to wish bad things on people, but karma’s a bitch. Thank a REAL veteran for the freedoms you so willingly abuse today. High Angle Hell.

   Reply
6. 

   Will Black

   August 27, 2012 at 3:32 pm

   Here’s an idea. Why not have Ranger Up create a new marketing strategy that targets these guys as little wannabe bitches and Ranger Up as the real veteran clothing label? Petty? Sure. Antagonistic? Yup. But it would be funny to see them try to counter it.

   Reply
7. 

   Andrew Yurcich - Milifidel.com

   August 27, 2012 at 3:35 pm

   As I brought up to Kelly the other day this is a spit in all Vets faces.

   We are a REAL Vet owned operated Military inspired apparel company such as Ranger Up and Forged. MILIFIDEL was started by 3 prior US Army soldiers this really turns our stomachs. We hanging and banging to get this to appeal to mainstream for our clothing and the message PAY HOMAGE to our MILITARY , past ,present and future! We aligned w THE GREATER LA FISHER HOUSE , to show it not about just the profit it’s about bringing awareness to the soldiers and their families that need our help! I agree at 24 for Throung to call himself a Vet of anything just dumbfounds me.

   He better watch his ASS he lives in a heavily populated MILITARY town.
   Thanks to Ranger Up for making them Douche Bags of the week HOOAH ! Also thanks to San Diego channel 10 for writing a small story on these
   Douche Bags

   If you have not seen the petition started please go sign this stated by soldier at FT HOOD TX! http://www.change.org/petitions/veteran-clothing-of-san-diego-california-stop-using-military-references-in-your-clothing-line-and-advertising

   THX ANDREW from MILIFIDEL “MILITARY LOYALTY”
   HOOAH !

   Reply
8. 

   Zac Brohman

   August 27, 2012 at 9:44 pm

   Ok, se let’s get this straight.This douchebag thinks it’s ok to misrepresent military honors and awards by changing the pictures on them?! Or we need to salute him because “Bitch, he needs to get paid”?! well, here’s an option to get him paid. Let’s offer him a job at a National Cemetary cleaning headstones at $.50 a pop with his own toothbrush to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice?! Or have him work as an orderly at his local VA hospital helping true memebers of the Order of The Purple Heart?! Thoughts?! Or how about we just drop his a** off in the middle of the Kandahar Province with people that are true veterans because they have the required operational experience that Truong says all you need is experience. So yeah, I know Rangers Lead The Way, but this time I think the entire Military and True Veterans need to lead the way for this guy to get his head readjusted from his 6. Hooah, Hooyah and Oorah!
   PS Im a Veteran because:
   I put my life on the line for 10 years in the US Navy

   Thats a true veteran.
   I’m out! ‘Nuff Said!

   Reply
9. 

   Mad Medic

   August 27, 2012 at 10:45 pm

   You salute the rank not the man. Old saying, very true. If you salute just as a sign of deep respect then we might well salute Sergeants Major, and hell there have been a few PFCs and SGTs with balls the size of freaking grenades who have done awesomeness.

   The Purple heart thing is what makes me want to monkey stomp his spleen. How fucking dare he malign something that has so much significance. I can’t read shit like this or I’ll start throwing crap I need.

   Reply
   • 

     GI-Jenn

     August 27, 2012 at 10:53 pm

     I believe there is someone who has reported the misuse of the image of the Purple Heart. It’s illegal to use an image or likeness (doesn’t have to be exact) of the Purple Heart without licensing. I’m totally with you on this one, Mad Medic; it really frosts me that they had the nerve to use that.

     Reply
10. 

    Sean Lofland

    August 27, 2012 at 10:49 pm

    I agree with the previous posts. I do agree with Truong one statement that you can be a veteran of many things i.e. Micheal Jordan is a veteran basketball player. Which if his clothing represented sports that would be appropriate. I think where everyone’s shit comes unspun is the use of military imagery. Which if with the purple heart shirt if it was hanging from a fisher house logo might of been cool with the companies logo in it, with of course a percentage going to the fisher house. But it is the blatant fuck you from that privileged piece of shit at us that pisses me the fuck off. Now that don’t ask don’t tell is off the books some Camp Penelton jar-heads need to go ass fuck the little bitch till he respect us or dies from anal raping. Hoo Ahh

    Reply
    • 

      Nik Corvus

      August 28, 2012 at 11:25 am

      I think you’ve hit on the crux of the matter. If they weren’t using military imagery and claiming the title “Vet” and “Veteran”, nobody would care. If they were throwing gang signs and pimpin’ hos, people would just shrug and move on. As it stands, tho, they’re claiming honor and respect they just don’t deserve.

      Reply
11. 

    GI-Jenn

    August 27, 2012 at 10:49 pm

    @Will Black,
    I have been following this little dramedy pretty closely, and have stopped myself a couple of times from putting in plugs for Ranger Up gear in some of the comment threads. Every time I read something about it I just get too pissed to trust that I’m acting rationally, so I’m not doing anything. I think a lot of people who are in the loop about this issue are also aware of RU.

    Reply
12. 

    Duane Mowrer

    August 28, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    The crux of the matter – what Billy Trong just doesn’t get – is that, for us, these aren’t just pictures and medals. Most of us know someone who earned a real Purple Heart, and when we see that medal being disrespected, it has an effect way different from the one Billy and his guys were trying to create.

    On a completely divergent note – and this is not hating on them, just an observation – their stuff sucks. No quality, ZERO originality. I mean, look at Ranger Up’s stuff, MILFIDELS’s work – all high-quality, original designs. If Billy would have only asked, he probably could have been given a lot of good advice by some REAL vets. As it is, he will be lucky to not be branded by this fiasco for life.

    Reply
13. 

    J

    August 28, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    How about you make a copy of one of his designs and label it “Veteran’s Jerkoff Clothing”, and have a caricature of him saluting a giant dildo while he whips his willie?

    Reply
14. 

    Patty Crack N' Pack

    September 8, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    Some people’s kids….

    Reply
15. 

    Ted N

    September 21, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    Didn’t really care before, was just shrugging it off as just another tard that we protect anyway, but I hadn’t heard about him photoshopping the Purple Heart. Now he deserves everything that’s coming to him. Dumbass little two-faced child.

    Reply