PASSED DECEMBER 6, 2006
SIGNED INTO LAW 12/20/2006

The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 may well be the most sweeping legislation effecting military awards since the Medal of Honor review of 1917 during which criteria for awarding our Nation's highest military award was strengthened. (Prior to 1917 the Medal of Honor was the ONLY award that was available to members of the U.S. military, thus it was awarded for varying degrees of heroism and/or personal achievement often far below contemporary standards.) During that 1917 review Congress began establishing a series of lesser awards in what has evolved to become the Pyramid of Honor, a series of medals awarded to members of the military in increasing levels of importance and prestige. Subsequent to the review of 1917-18, little has been legislated in regards to these awards beyond authorization of new awards or slight changes in the awards process.

Additionally, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 restores a precedent established by General George Washington when he instituted our first individual military award in 1782. In his General Orders issued from his Headquarters in Newburg, NY, on August 7, 1782, establishing the "Badge for Military Merit" (which in 1932 was revived as the Purple Heart), General Washington noted the following points with regard to military awards:

"Before this favor can be conferred on any man, the particular fact or facts on which it is to be grounded must be set forth to the commander-in-chief."

"The name and regiment of the person with the action so certified are to be entered in the Book of Merit, which will be kept at the orderly office."

"Gallant men who are thus designated will, on all occasions, be treated with particular confidence and consideration.

"Men who have merited this last distinction (shall be) suffered to pass all guards and sentinels which officers are permitted to do."

"Should any who are not entitled to these honors have the insolence to assume the badges of them, they shall be severely punished."

When the Medal of Honor was established (1861-62) during the War Between the States, no one could have predicted that it would become so precious a symbol of sacrifice and valor, or that there would be a need to protect the medal against imposters who might "assume the badges of them (true recipients)". Neither was such protection for the integrity of these awards considered when the Pyramid of Honor was established following the review of 1917. Thus, in the development of our military awards system, General Washington's 1872 guidelines became the pattern in all matters of contemporary awards except for his precedent for punishing imposters. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 restores that precedent 232 years after General Washington first set it forth.

Background for the Act

World War II Medal of Honor Recipient Mitchell Paige started pursuing people who sold fake Medals of Honor in the 1950s after seeing stacks of them sold at gun shows. He would tell the vendors about the $250 charge for selling Medals of Honor, and they would laugh. Since the medals often sold for more than $500 apiece, the fine would not hurt their business. So Paige, who had hundreds of files concerning medal fraud in his Palm Desert, California home, began contacting politicians to get the law changed. He was finally successful in 1994. Title 18, U.S. Code Section 704, regarding the illegal use and sale of military decorations and medals, was changed to make specific provisions for the Medal of Honor. Congress increased the maximum prison sentence for the sale of unauthorized for fake Medals of Honor to one year and upped the maximum fine from $250 to $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for corporations.

In April 1995 F.B.I. Special Agent Thomas A. Cottone, Jr., was notified that a man was selling Medals of Honor at a trade show close to his New Jersey office. Cottone arrested Robert S. Nemser, a then 57-year-old memorabilia collector, after Nemser sold two fake medals to Cottone. Subsequently Paige and Cottone began comparing notes and working together, with Mr. Paige being designated as the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's liaison to the F.B.I.

All of the fake medals Cottone gathered appeared to come from the same source—HLI Lordship Industries of Hauppauge, N.Y., a company that was the official contractor for making the (real) Medals of Honor and many other military medals. Cottone's subsequent investigation resulted in Lordship admitting to manufacturing 300 fake Medals of Honor and in 1996, the company was fined $80,000 and ordered to return the $22,500 it made from the illegal sales. The company was placed on a five-year organizational probation and no longer produces Medals of Honor.

While Lordship plead guilty to illegal manufacture of 300 Medals of Honor, Cottone and others believed that perhaps the number was triple that figure. Lordship's bogus medals remained on the black market, and from time to time resurfaced around the neck of individuals who had never been awarded them. David Wilk was photographed wearing the Medal of Honor when he gave the keynote address at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Research Day program in 1996. In fact, Wilk had never been in the elite Special Forces (which he claimed) and his only tour of duty outside the United States was a brief stint as a truck driver in Germany. He had certainly never been awarded the Medal of Honor. Wilk's fraud was symptomatic of a growing program, subsequently reported in the award-winning book Stolen Valor by B.G. Burkett and Geena Whitley (1998).

While Wilk's actions were criminal under the aforementioned Section of Title 18 which prohibits WEARING unearned military awards, his "crime" (like many similar ones subsequently uncovered, was considered "minor" and generally such cases were not vigorously pursued.

Equally concerning was the number of cases of individuals using the Medals for DISPLAY purpose (without actually wearing them) in efforts to validate false claims to being a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Illinois District Judge Michael O’Brien possessed TWO Medals of Honor, both of which hung prominently in a frame on the wall of his courtroom. Everyone in his city believed he was not only an honorable man of the judicial profession, but one of America’s greatest heroes. There can be no doubt about the judge’s intent in the display of these two awards, and he may well have escaped disclosure of his lie had he not tried to carry his fraud too far. Illinois provided valid Medal of Honor recipients with distinctive license plates for their personal vehicles. When Judge O’Brien applied for his Medal of Honor plates, someone at the Department of Motor Vehicles contacted a true recipient who was an acquaintance and learned that Judge O’Brien was a fraud.

Judge O’Brien’s lies were subsequently exposed but he avoided prosecution under the "WEAR" loophole in Title 18. While it is against the law to manufacture, wear, buy, sell, or trade the Medal of Honor, it is not a criminal offense to possess one or display it on your wall to validate false claims.

The proliferation of "Stolen Valor" spurred unofficial watch-dog organizations like the POW Network which initially began operation to preserve the stories of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War. Chuck and Mary Schantag, operators of the website, quickly found that not only was "Stolen Valor" a Medal of Honor issue, but an issue in which for public sympathy and/or adoration, bogus former POWs were outnumbering the tally of REAL P.O.W.s returned at the end of the Vietnam War. Furthermore, with increasing pressure from these watch-dog groups, the wannabe heroes began in increasing numbers to shun pretenses of receiving the Medal of Honor in favor of lesser awards that were much harder to verify. While in the last five years the number of reported Medal of Honor fakers has dwindled slightly, the number of bogus heroes wearing the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, and Air Force Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor) increased dramatically. As to the respect granted to this second-tier of the Pyramid of Honor, it is of note that General George S. Patton once said, "I would rather be a lieutenant with the Distinguished Service Cross than a general without one." Patton actually earned two, as did his son, but over the last five years it has been found that most of the purported recipients of these awards were bogus--in fact many had never even served in the military.

In a resurgence of patriotism following the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, coupled with a heightened awareness and appreciation for our military, the wannabe heroes began to proliferate like never before. Americans love heroes, and General George Washington set our nation well on course to recognize these heroes in 1782 when he established our first medal for rank-and-file soldiers with the words, " The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all." In the two centuries that followed, a system of awards to denote heroes has grown. Without continuing General Washington's admonition to severely punish imposters however, stolen valor made every potential hero suspect, and diminished the honor we as a nation owe to those who serve and sacrifice in the defense of freedom.

Pam Sterner is the wife of one of the websites dedicated to preserving the history of our heroes and her husband has found himself dealing more and more often with the phonies. A friend of most of the living recipients of the Medal of Honor, Pam had also been a guest of these true heroes at several of their functions, during which she met and became friends with Mitch Paige and Special Agent Cottone. Mrs. Sterner saw the frustration of these and others in dealing with the problem of bogus heroes and, as a political science student at Colorado State University-Pueblo, decided to take action.

In November 2004 Pam was in her junior year at CSU-Pueblo when one of her professors assigned the students, as a major class assignment, to write a "Policy Analysis" paper. Pam wrote her paper on the issue of "Stolen Valor", announcing to her instructors that she was doing it not only as a class assignment, but to subsequently use it to introduce legislation to amend Title 18 (U.S.C.), Chapter 33, §704. Though supportive, her instructors did their best to point out the reality that there was little chance of such a bill being introduced and, even if she crossed that hurdle, little chance that such a bill would ever get out of committee.

Early in 2005 Pam was instrumental in organizing a visit and lecture by Congressman Tom Tancredo (R/CO) at CSU-Pueblo. During that event Pam had occasion to visit with the Congressman and share with him her policy analysis paper. As a life-time Republican, and with the words of her instructors that "no Democrat will get a bill passed" ringing in her ears, she unsuccessfully pleaded her case. (Tancredo later co-signed the bill.)

The following month Congressman John Salazar, a Democrat recently elected to Colorado's 3d Congressional District, learned of Pam's work through a staffer who knew Pam from CSU-Pueblo. Salazar asked Pam to meet with him in his office to discuss the issue.

In February Pam and her husband (back) joined Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient Peter Lemon (front) for a meeting in Congressman Salazar's Pueblo office to discuss her policy analysis of the Stolen Valor issue. Joining them was State Senator Abel Tapia who happened to be in the office that day. Ironically, the previous year Pam was granted opportunity to intern with a state legislator through an on-going CSU-Pueblo program, and did so as an intern for Tapia, a Democrat who was Chairman of the powerful Joint Budget Committee. (A special sanction had to be obtained for Pam, a Republican, to intern for a Democratic state senator.) The political differences (like the Sterners, Mr. Lemon is a Republican) are significant in that from the beginning, the Stolen Valor Act has begun and worked its way through Congress in a strong bi-partisan spirit of teamwork and cooperation.

Following that meeting Congressman Salazar instructed his staff to begin working with the Sterners and Special Agent Tom Cottone to draft the language for the bill he planned to introduce to address the issue of stolen valor. Initially Pam's policy analysis called for legislation to protect only the top two tiers of the Pyramid of Honor. "I didn't want to ask for too much," she said. "I felt getting just that much done would be hard enough." As the work developed over the following weeks, Congressman Salazar would come back with such questions as, "Should we include the Silver Star," and then "what about the Purple Heart?" It was the dream in the back of Pam's mind, more than she hoped for, and ultimately everything she could have asked for. By the end of May the language had been crafted to protect ALL military awards from those who would assume the badges of the real heroes.

On Memorial Day 2005, in Michigan, William Kovick appeared at the local Memorial Day celebration to deliver the keynote address wearing a Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, and multiple other unearned awards. Subsequently exposed, news reports of his fraud brought national attention to the problem.

On July 19, Congressman Salazar introduced HR 3352, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. Joining him at the press conference was B.G. Jug Burkett, author of the book by the same title. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

As luck would have it, during that same week the movie "Wedding Crashers" was released. To many observers the Stolen Valor Act appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to a scene in the movie during which the main characters use Purple Hearts to prey on women. In fact, though the timing was quite coincidental, the movie served two helpful purposes:

It illustrated that indeed military awards can be fraudulently used, and

It focused national attention on the Stolen Valor Act.

Pam and Pete Lemon soon made joint-appearances on a national FOX News report on the problem of Stolen Valor, as well as a morning talk show for the Denver FOX affiliate. Additional print and broadcast interviews followed, focusing more and more attention on the problem as well as the bill to deal with the problem. Before Congress adjourned the following week for the August recess, HR 3352 had the bi-partisan support of 48 members of Congress. The bill further quickly received endorsements from:

The Colorado State Board of Veterans Affairs

The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation

The Military Order of the Purple Heart

The FBI Agents' Association

The Veterans of Foreign Wars

The American Legion

Vietnam Veterans of America

In the fall an article in the VFW magazine caught the attention of Senator Kent Conrad (D/ND). On the day before Veterans Day (November 10, 2005), with the bi-partisan co-sponsorship of ten well-respected members of the Senate, Senator Conrad introduced S 1998, a Senate version of Salazar's Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which was introduced under the same title. In the months that followed, the Senate Bill gained the co-sponsorship of 27 members of the Senate, including Judiciary Chairman Senator Arlen Specter, son of a World War I veteran.

In April 2006 Pam Sterner was selected to represent Colorado's 3d Congressional District at the Model U.S. House of Representatives, meeting in the House facilities on Capitol Hill during the spring recess. During that "mock" legislative session, she introduced the Stolen Valor Act which passed overwhelmingly. While attending that event Pam visited several Capitol Hill offices to lobby for the "real" Stolen Valor Act, and had the opportunity to at last meet Shawn Ferguson and other key Conrad staffers with whom she had been working only by phone for several months. The Capitol Hill newspaper "Roll Call" learned of Pam's visit and sent a photographer to Conrad's office for a photo of her meetings with Mr. Ferguson, a key figure in the development and efforts to pass the Senate Bill.

Throughout the summer several high-profile cases of Stolen Valor made headlines all across the country, including a major AP report and a large story in USA Today. These stories spurred further interest, and the Sterners and Congressman Salazar appeared in repeated news stories on FOX News and ABC's Good Morning America. John Hoellwarth, a reporter for the Times Publishing Group, authored a cover story in the "Marine Corps Times", and began to quickly follow and report on the growing number of Stolen Valor Cases, and also the increasing number of Congressional Co-Sponsors.

On September 7, 2006, Senator Specter Reported S 1998 out of committee; it passed the Senate by unanimous consent that evening, and was sent to the House. The Senate Bill was assigned to the same Judiciary Committee that still held the House Bill, which seemed to be going no where despite the bi-partisan support of 111 members of the House. With renewed hopes, Senator Conrad, Congressman Salazar, and a host of others launched a major effort to get the bill out of committee before the October recess. Colorado (Republican) Congressman Bob Beauprez took unprecedented steps in advocating with House leadership for passage of the bill introduced by his colleague from across the aisle.

Meanwhile, Colorado (Republican) Governor Bill Owens and Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton made contact with House leadership, along with former (Republican) Colorado Congressman Scott McInnis. Medal of Honor recipient Peter Lemon was on the phone daily making important calls, while Chuck and Mary Schantag marshaled a strong voice from their friends in the former-P.O.W. community. John Hoellwarth wrote stories on Stolen Valor repeatedly, keeping the issue before Congress and the public. Colorado State University-Pueblo President Joseph Garcia and Pueblo Chieftain Publisher Robert H. Rawlings took time to write to House leaders urging passage of The Stolen Valor Act. Support came from all sectors.

When the Stolen Valor Act failed to emerge from committee before the recess, things looked dim. But when Congress returned on December 4, it was in the aftermath of several more high-profile cases of Veterans Day phony heroes that garnered not only the support but advocacy of legislators like Congressman Sam Graves. A Veterans Day speaker in Graves' Missouri district had addressed the crowd, including a National Guard unit preparing to deploy, while wearing an unearned Navy Cross pin. (Because it was a pin and not the medal, the individual was un-prosecutable under current law.)

When the Stolen Valor Act goes to the floor of the House for a vote (expected to happen Wednesday), it will be an historic occasion. When the Stolen Valor Act passes the House, and we have every reason to believe it will, it will restore General Washington's forgotten 1782 precedent for honoring our heroes.

But the story of the successful passage of the Stolen Valor Act will be much larger than just the passage of a bill to preserve the integrity of our awards. It will stand as a symbol of the American process, a signal that it still works. Passage of this bill is the result of an incredible teamwork effort from all arenas of the political spectrum. "The media has been our greatest ally in this," noted Tom Cottone. In fact, over the last year the issue of Stolen Valor has garnered more media attention than perhaps any other issue before the 109th Congress except for immigration and the War on Terrorism.

Who could have imagined that a paper written by a college student would turn into one of the most sweeping pieces of legislation regarding military awards in the last century? Who could have believed that Republicans would go beyond co-signing, to actively advocate for a bill introduced by someone from the other party. Who could have anticipated that the collective voice of thousands of veterans, picked up and echoed by the media, would have so great an impact? Who could have guessed that a freshman congressman of the minority party would see his first bill successfully passed?

The success of Stolen Valor is notable because Democrats and Republicans from both Houses have worked together in a unique display of teamwork on behalf of our men and women in uniform. Thousands of veterans ranging from Medal of Honor recipients to ordinary men and women whose only medals are the common decorations denoting "I was there", have placed calls, sent emails, and spoken out for this bill. Pam Sterner notes, "A degree in political science didn't prepare me for the real world of 'political business as usual.' For me this bill has been an emotional roller-coaster ride. I started with idealistic optimism that I could write a bout a problem that would lead to a legislative solution. That soon turned into a nightmare of disillusionment at how partisan our political process can be. But ultimately, I've come full circle to see that our system still works. When Stolen Valor passes it will be not only the success of a good and badly needed piece of legislation, its success will serve as a reminder that with teamwork and determination, the American people can still validate the success of our system of government."

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Contacts:

Congressman John T. Salazar (D/CO-3) (202) 225-4761

Senator Kent Conrad (D/ND) (202) 224-2043

Congressional Medal of Honor Society (843) 884-8862

Medal of Honor Recipient Peter C. Lemon (719) 332-3515

Dr. Joseph Garcia, President, CSU-Pueblo (719) 549-2306

Mrs. Pamla M. Sterner (719) 564-1755

Special Agent Thomas A. Cottone, Jr. (973) 684-6614

Chuck & Mary Schantag (  pownetwork.org ) (660) 928-3304

B.G. Jug Burkett, Author of Stolen Valor (972) 491-6770

Lt.Col Thomas Richards (USMC/Ret.) - Navy Cross Recipient from Vietnam and National Senior Vice-Commander of the Legion of Valor (858) 674-0772

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Doolittle Urges Passage of Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2008

Washington, Feb 29 -

Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Roseville) urged passage of HR 3769, the Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2008.  The legislation would require the Department of Defense to establish a searchable database containing the names and citations of members of the armed forces who have been awarded our nation’s military honors. 

An Oroville man claiming to have earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and a Air Medal while serving in Vietnam as a special forces medic, was arrested on Monday by the U.S. Attorney Office for making false claims to those medals.

In 2005, Congressman Doolittle helped pass the Stolen Valor Act, making it illegal to falsely present oneself as being awarded a decoration or medal for military service.  The passage of this legislation was in response to an increasing number of incidents where individuals portrayed themselves as the recipient of a military medal. 

The Library of Congress identified hundreds of false claims of decoration when compiling information for the Veterans History Project.  Even more egregious, is when individuals who never served in the Armed Forces used falsified reports and bogus decorations to receive veterans’ benefits, thereby taking away resources that could be best used to help true veterans.   

“A national searchable database would ensure that only those members of our Armed Forces, past and present, who were either wounded in battle or served with distinction receive the special recognition and the rightful honor they deserve,” said Doolittle.  “Our decorated military veterans deserve to have integrity maintained in the awarding of military decorations.”

Currently, many military records are kept through a patchwork of agencies, making it difficult to verify the legitimacy of claims and also making it difficult for a medal recipient or their family to request information regarding their citation. 

Doolittle added, “Military decorations are earned through exemplary service and sacrifice to our nation.  We should prevent unscrupulous individuals from tarnishing their records.  A centralized database will provide our law enforcement officers with a better tool to prosecute violators, while securing vital records of exemplary service to our nation.” 

Identical legislation to HR 3769 was introduced this month in the U.S. Senate.