A few years back, a law was passed to make it a federal crime to wear medals that you hadn't earned or claim decorations that you hadn't been awarded. (I know I'm simplifying it, because for purposes of this discussion, it's the intent that matters) Basically, if you wore the damn things, or claim that you got awarded the Medal of Whatever, and you hadn't, you were in deep shit.
When I first heard about this, the news reawakened an old, battered sense of pride that I hadn't felt in years. I was a bit iffy on the second war with Iraq even when it was going on, and once all the digging was done, it turned out there were no damned WMD's, and Bush passed the buck by saying, 'Well gosh, I had all this intell that said they had some!', I was pretty well sick of it. Note that these are my feelings on the war itself, not the people who did the fighting and the dying.
I had heard more than a few stories about idiots passing themselves off as a decorated Marine, a SEAL, or a who-knows-what, and then getting caught. Every single time, I wanted those idiots to be stuck in cammies with a big USA flag on them and be dropped into BF Nowhere in the Middle East to see all the warmth and love that would get them, or to get sent down to Central America to fill enough sandbags to recreate the Great Wall of China. Hearing that it was finally going to be illegal made me feel better than proud, it made me feel good.
Life went on, and I went on with it, thinking about a million other things. Somewhere in the back of my head, part of me must have still been chewing on that issue. The first look at something usually isn't the most honest.
In a couple of days,the Supreme Court will start deciding on whether this law is constitutional or not. Though it still sticks in my gut that people get to play make-believe with places and events that real men and woman bled for, I'm hoping they decide against it.
There is a difference in most people believing something is reprehensible, and it being illegal. What these people are doing is telling a lie about something that can usually be checked, and all it takes is one non-believer to get the ball rolling. If they did it to get elected, then let the truth come out and let the people judge. If they did it to add weight to whatever argument they were making, that only weighs it in the other direction. If they did it to look like a hero, put them on stage in a dunce's cap and with a sign that says, 'Liar.' When you make a law about something, the government can send in people with guns. In my mind, that's not an appropriate response to this.
When someone lies about being decorated, what measurable harm does it do? Who dies? Who bleeds? Who loses money? We may raise them up in our heads and our hearts, but is that a reason to send people with guns? If they do it to commit fraud and get benefits, then prosecute them for fraud. The argument that it cheapens what the real veterans did sounds too much like the claim made by the folks who want to keep same-sex couples from being able to dress up, go to church, and say their vows in front of the world. What I did, I will never forget, whether other people admire or revile me for it.
Full disclosure: I was a Marine, I served in Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm. The only individual decoration I was awarded was a meritorious mast, and it was awarded before either event, and was more for not being an idiot than anything else.
