posted on March 7, 2007 11:59:47 AM
I was told recently that President Bush signed in to Law!!!. You will not be able to sell USA Military Medals. Is this TRUE?
posted on March 7, 2007 12:09:15 PM
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."
posted on March 7, 2007 06:26:22 PM
helloooooooooo Kiara! Long time no see,,,,How are ya?
Hey! I,,, am the THE VET,,,,,so if I, want to SELL MY MEDALS to some collector Before I drop off, I,,,,,,am going to Prison?? hahahahaha.......
you can ONLY Get those replacement MEDALS "ONE" time from the GOV..so your house burns down a SECOND time you are out of LUCK.........some kid STEALS them....too bad, you got your one time replacements,,,,,,Floods,,,,,,whatevers,,,,,
IT's the WEARING and PROCLAIMING to be that should be the issue, NOT the sales,,,,,,
Believe me,,,, Musems have MORE of this stuff than they can handle and they'll just be Thrown in the back basement.....boxed and for gotten about UNTIL,, THEY,,,,Decide to have an AUCTION...........hahahahahaha......A suckers donation. and THEY have some kind of NON PROFIT staus which Relives them of ANY problems,,, been there seen that....... I could go on and and on,,,,,, But,,,,,,,,i won't.......
Stupid Laws, unwell thought out....let's see 13 medals times 6 months in Prison,,,,,per offense,,,,hahahaha, 6.5 years in Prison for selling My OWN medals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahah. whaddaya in for? selling my military medals.......WoW. a real convict type......hahahahahaha. stupid! Stupid! stupid!
I Think I WILL HOIST Another Vodka on that note......
Live Long, Drink Vodka, works for me.
posted on March 7, 2007 06:45:24 PM
Hmmmm... mixed feelings on this one. If I were a decorated veteran, I wouldn't want my kid to deprive my grandchildren of my medals after I'm gone, to feed a gambling habit or whatever. I also wouldn't want them displayed on some louse's wall, inferring that he earned them. Why couldn't they put a time limit e.g.; 100 years when they couldn't be sold or traded? Edited to add: sometimes a right to sell turns into an obligation to sell. It would be a pity if a vet felt obligated to sell his medals to pay for his kid's braces.
[ edited by pixiamom on Mar 7, 2007 10:45 PM ]
posted on March 9, 2007 06:15:52 AM
I ended up with a small pile of military insignia a couple of weeks ago. I haven't listed them because I don't know what any of them are, and haven't had time to research.
Does this mean I can or cannot sell them? I don't think any of them are honor metals, like purple heart, but mainly insignias.
