Awards of Valor (II)

Recently the 9th United States Circuit Court issued an opinion holding the "Stolen Valor Act" unconstitutional. The Act was passed by Congress in 2005 to deal with the false claims of awards for military heroism. The case before the court dealt with a man who, among other lies of military service, claimed to have been awarded a Medal of Honor.

The lie is created from the the motivation of the liar. Is the liar acting out of derision toward the armed forces or its medals of valor or does the liar intend to accomplish some other end for which the medal of valor lie is merely a prop? The liar may perform his or her role as "military hero" admirably, for example, in a patriotic speech, so what is the harm? The script he voices may be appropriate and inspirational, so what is the harm? Whether the liar is a "nutcase, a "wannabe," or uses the lie for self-aggrandisement or personal ambition, the liar cloaks himself with the recognition and prestige that is rightly granted to recipients of the Medal of Honor in particular. The false assumption of that authority diminishes the Medal of Honor's unique status within our national culture and identity. The liar does not have the human capacity of a Medal of Honor recipient to script or speak as such an individual. By singular or multiple acts the true recipient has exposed certain elements of his humanity and thereby retains a unique quality of character that no actor/liar could replicate. The "audience" is thereby harmed by assimilating the speech and watching the behavior having been made to believe that the liar actually possessed a unique quality of character when those qualities do not exist in the liar. In my own experience, would the "Duty, Honor, Country" speech of General MacArthur in 1962, now iconic in the US Army, have retained its power if we were to have learned that it had been presented by an actor? It could not. Once the liar is exposed the audience loses some faith generally in the trustworthiness of veterans and in the military to speak to them from a position of unique experience and commitment.

Earlier here I had written: "Medals and ribbons are, in one sense, a part of the theatre costuming of the armed forces. But more, medals of valor are important recognitions of necessary and exemplary conduct in war. In the community of servicemen and women and veterans, as they should in the civilian world, the ribbons command a degree of respect." The loss credence and respect by citizens for the extraordinary, violent, agonizing work of the Armed Forces can lessen the sense of value they attribute to the men and women who serve. Disbelief in the recognition of heroism may correspondingly lessen the citizens' appreciation for the quality of heroism. The conduct of war needs and produces heroism in defense of all citizens. The movies and games create lies about war. Citizens have to be told the truth by those who know from their own experience the reality of war and duty or our volunteer army, less valued, may become our mercenary army and our veterans more readily ignored. One or two liars, by their individual acts will not affect the general population but such lies coupled with false reports from battle fields, media "spins," anti-military activism, etc. that have become the corollaries of war, will each contribute to a cumulative effect eroding respect and confidence. Look no further back than the '60s for an example. The protection of the integrity of awards of valor and the belief in their validity then is a vital component of our military's relationship with our civilian citizens.

Failing to protect the integrity of the Medal of Honor and awards of valor will encourage further incidents of lying. Veterans proudly and legitimately wearing an award of valor will face cynical disbelief and disregard from citizens rather than the handshake and thank you that they deserve. Liars, however motivated, mock and diminish the awards and their recipients. The theatre created by liars is, as all theatre, not reality. The belief in this particular untruth, however brief, affects all of us adversely.