Exposing Wannabe Heroes
Hero Advocate Call For National Database to Reveal Medal Frauds
Without an official database of all official military medal citations, criminals are tainting the honor of America's real heroes.
With the Medal of Honor as their witness, Xavier Alvarez and Michael Allan Fraser both tell incredible stories of bravery and valor as they recount their actions that led to being awarded this nation’s highest military award. The trouble is, their inspiring stories are shams. Both men have been convicted under the new “Stolen Valor Act,” a recent bill aimed at protecting the integrity of authentic medal recipients.
The legislation was the brain-child of Doug Sterner of Pueblo, Colorado, arguably the preeminent authority on American heroism. The bill became law in December of 2006, yet it hasn’t put an end to the number of wannabe heroes who claim to have earned medals of valor. In some cases, criminals are using falsified medal citations to obtain veterans benefits and honorary license plates.
With an increasing number of people claiming to possess medals they didn’t earn, some have advocated that the federal government should maintain a database of all medal citations. However, both the Library of Congress and the Defense Department have refused to take on the project.
The nearest thing to a centralized database is Sterner’s colossal website, HomeofHeroes.com. Dedicated to honoring America’s heroes, Sterner has written over 25,000 pages of text, which includes the official citation of every Medal of Honor recipient dating back to its inception during the Civil War. Recently, Sterner added the citations of all the Distinguished Service/Navy Cross recipients, the second highest military award for valor. In all, he has posted over 18,000 medal citations. This monumental project has been researched, funded, and maintained by Doug and his wife Pam.
The database has proven its worth repeatedly by helping expose a countless number of medal frauds. As everything on his web site is free to the public, everyone from CNN and The New York Times to Reader’s Digest and the FBI has used Doug’s vast resource materials. Each month, his website receives over 15 million visitors.
Because the federal government has no digital database, Doug’s website has become the de facto government resource. But since his database is limited to the two highest awards, many frauds still go undiscovered.
Doug’s latest effort is to promote new legislation requiring the Defense Department to digitize all General Orders and citations into a publicly accessible national database. The Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2008 has been introduced as House bill H.R. 3769 and Senate bill S. 2610. Currently the House bill is co-sponsored by 60 Members of Congress, consisting of 14 Republicans and 46 Democrats. The Senate version has been introduced in committee, but has yet to be scheduled for debate.
Not only will this national database help expose fraudulent claims of heroism, it will also help honor real heroes who are too modest to tell anyone about their award. Families seeking to obtain such information about their loved ones have had little luck searching government records. According to Sterner, “Try to find out what medals your grandfather earned in World War II, or even to get the citation that describes the heroic action that earned your father a Silver Star in Korea or Vietnam, and you will understand rather quickly how poorly has been preserved the records of our REAL heroes.”
Sterner’s frustration is sensed by what he believes is the government’s neglect of its heroes. “the least our nation owes to those who have served, is to properly preserve for history, and for their children and grandchildren, an accurate history of that veteran's service, sacrifice and heroism.”
