AMVETS launches new stolen valor Web site - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

AMVETS launches new stolen valor Web site

A leading veterans group has launched a special Web site aimed at raising awareness about the growing number of false claims of military service, medals and awards, and helping the general public report such claims to authorities and the media.

“We’ve seen the news stories, and we have a lot of anecdotal evidence — people calling us and asking us about the issue,” said Jay Agg, national communications director for AMVETS. “ ‘What is it? How do I report it? What are the punishments? What constitutes a violation of the Stolen Valor Act?’ That is really … the genesis of this project.”

“Veterans have a special place in American society,” said Duane Miskulin, AMVETS national commander. “The brave men and women who answered our nation’s call to serve are revered for their tremendous self-sacrifice and courage in the face of daunting odds. Stolen valor is a serious offense — one that cuts into the core of what it means to be a veteran.”

Miskulin said the 2005 Stolen Valor Act, which makes even false claims of an undeserved medal a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to year in prison and a $100,000 fine, has not stemmed what he said is a rise, even in recent months, of such false claims.

The new Web site provides contact information for the FBI, U.S. Attorneys’ offices, inspector general hotlines for the military services, and the Veterans Affairs Department and various media outlets, as well as a sample form letter.

It also links to the Military Times Web site, Hall of Valor, created by private watchdog Doug Sterner. The verified, ever-growing searchable database contains more than 26,100 valor award citations ranging from the Medal of Honor to the Air Force Achievement Medal with Combat “V.” It is searchable by service member, award, conflict and keyword.

That effort would at least be complemented in some manner by a federal database called for by the Military Valor Roll of Honor Act, which AMVETS also boosts on its new site.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., would require the establishment of a searchable public database listing the names of those awarded the Medal of Honor or any other medal authorized by Congress. The legislation now has 48 co-sponsors.

The Hall of Valor database “is what has been developed instead, in a void, because the government isn’t maintaining these records,” Agg said. “I think it’s proper that the government should keep an accounting of its American heroes, of its war heroes. It should track military service in general, not just acts of valor.”