#Middlebury #Veterans #StolenValor
VETERANS POST
By Freddy Groves
Right now in the U.S. Congress is bill S.1469 – Stop Stolen Valor for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Contractors. Its purpose is to require certification of small businesses applying for contracts. Ideally, this bill, if passed, would put more teeth into any punishment handed out for abusing the Department of Veterans Affairs small business and service-disabled veterans contract program.
Despite the laws about stolen valor, crooks still try to claim what isn’t rightfully theirs. In a recent case, a woman was sentenced to federal prison for, among other things, forging military discharge papers and claiming to have received military medals after being hit by IEDs.
In this case, the woman actually worked at the VA and saw firsthand what kind of paperwork and information was required. She ended up grabbing $250,000 from veterans charities, served as a VFW post commander and gave speeches wearing a uniform and medals she purchased online. She managed to keep up the fraud for five years. She’ll be heading off to prison for six years (not nearly long enough) and will need to repay $284,000.
Then there’s the guy (a Canadian) who’s been charged with violating the Stolen Valor Act by falsifying his discharge papers to indicate that he earned many medals and ribbons, including the Purple Heart. The guy did serve in the U.S. military, but he was bounced with a bad-conduct discharge and never earned a Purple Heart. He’s incurred the wrath of several government agencies – in addition to the U.S. attorney – including Homeland Security, DMV, Border Patrol and the U.S. Air Force.
And there’s the guy who claimed to be a former prisoner of war and a Navy SEAL to help him steal health care benefits and jump up a few priority groups ahead of real veterans. The thief never served.
If you suspect someone isn’t who they say they are, check online databases. Look at the P.O.W. Network (www.pownetwork.org), the Congressional Medal of Honor Society (www.cmohs.org) and Home of Heroes (www.homeofheroes.com) with an alphabetical index of 120,000 actual recipients.
© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.
