American army officer
Not exactly overheard, but this question has turned into a free-for-all on anything that anyone has ever said that's stupid, so what the hell.
This conversation took place sometime around the year 2000.
US army captain: I'm going on a tour of duty to Bosnia tomorrow, and I'm really scared I'm gonna get shot.
Me: There's no need to be scared - the war in Bosnia finished in 1996 and it's pretty stable there now. You won't have any major problems there, I'm sure. Where exactly in Bosnia will you be based, anyway?
US army captain: Prishtina.

I then had to point out that Prishtina was the capital of Kosovo, a province of Serbia, i.e. a totally different country to Bosnia. If he was just a regular army grunt it wouldn't have bothered me too much, but this man was an officer, expected to take life and death decisions and lead men into danger. And he didn't even know which country Prishtina was in! I'm afraid that just sums up the US military.
( Biffins Bridge, Thu 13 Jan 2005, 13:16, Reply)