[MSN] Collectors Worry Over Impact Of Federal Ban On Selling Military Medals.

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Collectors Worry Over Impact Of Federal Ban On Selling Military Medals
By Andrea Valluzzo

North Adams, Mass.:Massachusetts auctioneer Darrell English has been
collecting militaria and World War II artifacts since he was a child. His
personal collection comprises thousands of items today. With the recent
federal adoption of the Stolen Valor Act, however, he worries that he might
now be considered a criminal.

The Orders and Medals Society of America believes the law, signed by
President Bush in December, will negatively affect the country's veterans.
Others say it is much ado about nothing and that the intent of the law is to
prevent the defrauding of legitimate veterans and the public by those who
would masquerade as a decorated veteran to benefit by stealing the cache of
good will and trust afforded veterans.

Preexisting federal law, Title 18, already forbids the sales of all medals.
"Whoever knowingly wears, purchases. mails, ships, imports, exports .or
sells.any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of
the United States.except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to
law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months
or both."

The Stolen Valor Act amended Title 18 to increase the penalty for violations
that involve valor medals such as the Purple Heart as well as the Medal of
Honor (often called the Congressional Medal of Honor), which have always
been protected and illegal to sell.

Colorado Congressman John T. Salazar, in introducing the Stolen Valor Act
bill, said the legislation would "penalize distributors of phony medals and
those who fraudulently claim to be decorated veterans .restoring honor to
those who have truly earned it."

Dean Veremakis, president of the Orders and Medals Society of America
(OMSA), a nonprofit group set up to study, collect and exhibit medals and
decorations, said the group is concerned that the new prohibition impacts
veterans' ability to replace lost awards or decorations as well as shipping
them back home to loved ones. 

Colorado resident Doug Sterner, who runs the Home of Heroes website and
helped draft the Stolen Valor legislation, said under the law, veterans who
received said medals for service to their country can receive replacement
medals. Unclear is what happens to the medals after the designee's death. 

Under the wording of the law, family members would be prohibited from
selling such items.

Sterner said he encourages family members to create a display of the medals
in the house or if the descendents no longer wanted the medals, they should
be donated to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society (for MOH awards) or
an appropriate venue of preservation such as city hall or a military museum.

English, who hopes to open his own museum, has parts of his collection in
museums and regularly does community displays to honor veterans and takes
his collection into schools to do programs for students. 

"This law is absolutely unthought through. Instead of using the Band-Aid
approach [to cure the part of fraudulent wear] they decided to use the
amputation approach," he said.

Word of the laws prohibiting sales of medals is apparently not getting out,
as a recent search on eBay for World War II medals revealed 12 current
auction listings and nearly 100 for US military medals.

A legal opinion from the Congressional Research Service last fall on the
impact of the Stolen Valor Act on collectors of military service medals
states that the new act does not impact the original exception in Title 18.
"Therefore, it appears accurate to conclude that if the action of the
collector was authorized by regulation, the enactment of the Bill would not
affect that authorization."

Sterner said he believes legitimate dealers and collectors are protected
under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 32, which allows the sale of
certain decorations, medals, badges and insignia including identification
badges, lapel buttons, rosettes and service ribbons.

Forbidden for sale under Title 32 are the Medal of Honor along with its
service ribbon and rosette, service flags and the Army seal.

While supporting the purpose of the law to prevent "phony war heroes," the
OMSA feels the law should be modified. "We believe that placing the major
emphasis on conduct rather than on medals would more effectively meet the
laudable intent of the legislation."

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