Sarah Kenney said that her husband died in Iraq when he dove in front of a bullet that would have hit a child. Her story attracted the sympathy of a group called Homefront Heroes, which then told the media about it. But it turns out that Kenney's husband didn't die in Iraq. He's still alive and well here in America. He isn't even a soldier.
Kenney had made the entire thing up. This sounds like a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, in which people attract attention by inventing illnesses in others (usually claiming that their children are sick, but claiming that a husband has died would seem to fit the description of the syndrome as well). Kenney later made a statement to the press:
"I think I need some serious counseling... This is the most serious lie I've ever told, but I've been caught in many lies." Sounds like she's heading in the right direction, but still seems a little creepy.
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During the first Gulf War under George I, a co-worker told everyone in the office that his brother had been killed fighting in Iraq. He took time off from work to attend the funeral. We eventually found out that the brother never existed. A little later, the same co-worker resigned and then told everybody he'd been fired.
Is that Munchausen by Proxy, or just being a pathological liar? I'm not sure.
Sometimes I look in the mirror and see a monster.