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Heroism Should Not Be For Sale
The internet has brought a number of wonderful advances to society and one of the more interesting (and frequently useful) are web sites like E-Bay. The site provides a wonderful ability to sell items you no longer need and to buy products at cheaper prices.
However there are certain things that simply should not be sold, whether on E-Bay or anywhere else for that matter. For example we do not allow people to sell themselves, or to sell stolen property or to otherwise violate the law. But I have noticed something that is for sale on E-Bay that should not be and indeed if it is not already illegal that needs to change.
I refer to military decorations that are being sold on E-Bay. Medals like the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star can be found for sale at any time (just head on over and do a search). In theory these sales should be illegal under the Stolen Valor Act but E-Bay has continually ignored this regulation and it does not seem anyone at the Justice Department is bothering to enforce the law.
I think it is disgusting that such sales take place and it is time that either the Justice Department starts to enforce the current laws or, if needed, that Congress pass stricter regulations.
These medals are awarded to our service men and women for acts of valor and heroism. They do not belong in the same category as my old X-Box games.
Will the Congress and the Obama adminstration act ?
Only time will tell.
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10 Responses to “Heroism Should Not Be For Sale”
Patrick,
Can you dig any deeper here? ?hat may cause recipients of such prestigious military declarations to sell them? This looks like the symptom of a deeper problem is veteran care.
Certainly we need to do a lot more for our vets, and I did wonder about this when I discovered the issue.
However if you check on E Bay most of the decorations are selling for $ 20-$ 30 so it does not seem to be much of a fundraiser/income source for veterans.
Couple of things:
1. The link doesn't take one ot the Stolen Valor legislation
2. I have yet to thoroughly research this (can't locate the original legislation), but does the bill prohibit a lawful recipient of a decoration covered by the act from selling it legally—regrettably as it is that someone would do that.?
I believe it is more intended towards preventing the sale of fake or stolen medals, etc., the wearing or displaying of such medals by “fake heroes,” etc.
Can someone quote the exact wording of the legislation?
Thanks
Dorian
Sorry about the link, fixed it for a wikipedia link. Not sure where the other came from….
The act does make it illegal to present yourself as a medal winner but also prohibits selling the decorations.
While I agree our veterans are all heroes, I do not think anyone should be allowed to sell these awards.
Thanks for the clarification, Patrick.
Dorian
The key phrase above is “except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to law.” The regulations in question are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 32, Section 507 (32 CFR §507) which allows for the purchase or sale of any medal except for the Medal of Honor.
The US military have always considered any medal as chattel, becoming the personal property of the recipient. It is often not the veteran who sells a medal, but his heirs or estate. In the case of the Purple Heart, that medal has been in existence for 77 years. Should a family member not be allowed to sell a medal from a long-deceased grandfather or great-grandfather who was wounded in WWI?
The Stolen Valor Act is arguably a poorly written law. It was designed to increase penalties for impostors, and instead has created questions regarding the rights of people to sell personal property.
For a clarification on the intent of the Act, see Sen. Kent Conrad's (sponsor of the SVA in the Senate) Statement of Legislative Intent, where he outlines the purpose of the Act and clarifies issues regarding the legal and legitimate sale and purchase of US medals.
BTW Patrick, eBay DOES NOT allow the sale of Purple Hearts. Perhaps you should have done what you suggest your readers do and “head on over” and done the search yourself.
Dear Patrick, Ebay has allowed the sale of any medal, legal or not, when it is listed only as a medal of distinction, without the words “medal of Honor” or “Purple Heart” anywhere in the listing. Ebay in no way is an avid protector of the law nor ethics. They are also not experts in any way about military honors. Though their 'mission statement and rules' state otherwise, they do not scan in the area of porn, not in the area of unauthorized copies of art, and during the embargo on OJ Simpson's book on how he 'might have' killed Nicole IF he really did it… it took a barrage of outraged emails from authors, publishers and ebayers (as well as the Brown family lawyers) about the many stolen copies offered for sale on ebay, before ebay pulled the plug on those sellers. Ebay's response time was, as usual, lethargic to say the least.
You bring up a subject that is tense and sad for we who are veterans or veteran wives or family. We see broad bands of bars for sale at garage sales, flea markets. If we can, we buy them, send them to veteran organization for honorable display or honorable disposal. There is a similar issue with holy objects for those of us who are Catholics; rosaries, holy cards, death cards often thrown away in dumpsters after garage sales. Again, removal, even so, and proper use or honorable burial or blessing and burning is called for there.
Some would say, these objects, all of them, are only materials, just matter, and not important. But, as you know, as does D.E. Rodriguez, as do many others, sometimes certain objects take on the fineness of the wearer, the user, the heroic, the memorable, the actions of the just.
dr.e
Dear Patrick, Ebay has allowed the sale of any medal, legal or not, when it is listed only as a medal of distinction, without the words “medal of Honor” or “Purple Heart” anywhere in the listing. Ebay in no way is an avid protector of the law nor ethics. They are also not experts in any way about military honors. Though their 'mission statement and rules' state otherwise, they do not scan in the area of porn, not in the area of unauthorized copies of art, and during the embargo on OJ Simpson's book on how he 'might have' killed Nicole IF he really did it… it took a barrage of outraged emails from authors, publishers and ebayers (as well as the Brown family lawyers) about the many stolen copies offered for sale on ebay, before ebay pulled the plug on those sellers. Ebay's response time was, as usual, lethargic to say the least.
You bring up a subject that is tense and sad for we who are veterans or veteran wives or family. We see broad bands of bars for sale at garage sales, flea markets. If we can, we buy them, send them to veteran organization for honorable display or honorable disposal. There is a similar issue with holy objects for those of us who are Catholics; rosaries, holy cards, death cards often thrown away in dumpsters after garage sales. Again, removal, even so, and proper use or honorable burial or blessing and burning is called for there.
Some would say, these objects, all of them, are only materials, just matter, and not important. But, as you know, as does D.E. Rodriguez, as do many others, sometimes certain objects take on the fineness of the wearer, the user, the heroic, the memorable, the actions of the just.
thanks Patrick, for remembering the honorable.
dr.e
I'm late posting to this forum as I recently found the article. While I understand many people's reaction saying that these medals should not be for sale and should stay with the families of the veteran, this sadly cannot happen in many cases. Families die off or do not want these medals for many reasons. When this happens, it is up to collectors to acquire these medals so that they CAN be preserved for future generations. Without the collector, these medals will vanish and the memory of the soldier's who earned them will fade away. I am one of these collectors, who takes it as an honor to preserve the memory of these servicemen when no one else will do it for them. I research the lives of these heroes and write about them on my web page and take my collection to public events so that the public can see and remember. I have received countless expressions of thanks for what I do and take great pride in this.
The only medal that is illegal to buy or sell in the United States in the Medal of Honor (the Stolen Valor Act does not ban the sale of any other medal). The law banning their sale was passed with good and well meaning intentions, but as the saying goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” This law has not preserved the honor of the award or protected the medal from collectors. All it has done is drive the sale of these medals overseas to Europe or Asia where our military heritage is lost forever. Because of this ban, Americans are denied the right to honor, preserve and cherish our military history. This is what happens when laws are passed without thinking about the consequences.
Collectors are not the problem and banning the sale of medals is the surest way to destroy our nation's military history. Please consider what would happen to these medals, and the memory of these heroes, if collectors like me were not there to buy these medals and preserve them for everyone to see.
You can see the medals that I have preserved at http://www.tohonorourfallen.com.