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The Military Valor Roll of Honor Act (formerly HR 3769) died when the 110th Congress adjourned without moving the Bill forward. On January 22, 2009, Congressman John Salazar and 26 other members of the House introduced the same Bill in the Current (111th) Congress. The new Bill is HR 666 but the language is the same as the old Bill. This time we hope to see it successfully passed. |
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The Military Roll of Valor Act
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When American Doughboys returned from their bitter but victorious battles to liberate France in World War I their commander General John J. Pershing noted, "Time shall not dim the glory of their deeds." Following the end of a second World War and while American soldiers continued their valiant service in Vietnam, in the 1960s General Pershing's words were inscribed at the entrance to a new football stadium in Philadelphia, birthplace of our nation. That stadium was officially named "Veterans Stadium" by the Philadelphia City Council to honor the memory of the veterans of all wars. Four decades later the Philadelphia Eagles have moved on to newer facilities, Veterans Stadium stands empty, and the words of General Pershing are seldom read. Though time can not dim the glory of the deeds of those who have served to gain and preserve our freedom, time certainly has dimmed the remembrance of those deeds and the men and women who sacrificially made them.
A post-script to Alexander's story is that, upon receiving his uncle's General Order authorizing award of the DSC, McDaniel noted that the award had also been authorized for one other soldier who was killed at about the same time in France. He initiated a search for the surviving relatives of Staff Sergeant Lawrence Gunderson, found them, and learned the stories were almost identical. Gunderson's parents died never knowing of their son's high honor, which was finally awarded to surviving family members half-a-century late. When Senator Mark Dayton presented the award in 2002 the "Courier News" wrote, "They never received or knew that their son had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His family might never have known had it not been for a man from Indiana, Monty McDaniel." In both cases, the glory of the deeds of these brave warriors had not been diminished--only forgotten. While such true heroes ARE forgotten by the nation they served while written records of their deeds are gathering dust in the basement of a forgotten Washington, D.C. archive, wannabe heroes capture the attention of others with self-promotional false claims of service, sacrifice, and heroics. Last month alone dozens of phony heroes emerged in press reports. In Topeka, Kansas, Tim Debusk was charged with using a forged citation to obtain distinctive Purple Heart license plates identifying him as a wounded warrior of the Global War on Terrorism. In Fort Worth, Texas, David McClanahan used false records showing he had received two Silver Stars, multiple Purple Hearts, and a bogus letter from the White House indicating he had been nominated for the Medal of Honor in order to obtain scholarships, bank loans, and speaking engagements. In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the man at the forefront of a major state-wide bid for a $1 billion casino was exposed as a fraud who lied to a Congressional subcommittee about being a hero at the Battle of Khe Sanh--which occurred while he was still attending high school. That individual, Glenn Marshall, was also touted in press reports as the recipient of the Silver Star and five Purple Hearts. His exposure and subsequent investigation revealed the man was also hiding a 20-year old rape conviction. On September 21, 2007, in Seattle, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced charges against eight men who falsified military records to award themselves medals and hero status, some of which then used that status to receive Veterans benefits. Their fraud, based upon forged discharge paperwork and award citations, cost the U.S. Government $1.4 million dollars. Among the eight was one man, a resident alien, whose records showed he served and was wounded in World War II while a member of the famed "Flying Tigers." In fact the man had never even served in any branch of military service. The fraud perpetrated by these and scores of
others recently exposed and publicized in media reports is
possible because of failures in steps to properly preserve the
history of the deeds of our Nation's TRUE warriors. Twenty-first
century technology and the ability to manufacture deeds of glory
has given us more heroes than has combat, while that same
technology has been largely ignored as the tool to properly
document the history that is real. In September 2007 when it was
revealed that as many as one in three records in the Library of
Congress' Veterans History Project involved claims to awards
never earned, the library's director of communications Mr. Matt
Raymond told MSNBC it "would be impossible" to check
proffered oral histories for the legitimacy of claimed awards. No
existing database has ever been assimilated to record the deeds of
those who have served so valiantly through America's wars. The
records do exist, in archived General Orders at NARA, on cards in
the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. and at Marine Corps Headquarters
in Quantico, Virginia. These documents preserve in fading ink and
on yellowing paper the "glory of the deeds" of true
heroes, men and women whose valor and sacrifice should never be
allowed to deteriorate on aging media or become lost in piles of
unarchived papers, to thereby become lost in history. Let us as a nation reveal ourselves as a people that honors and remembers those who have given their best to preserve our freedom, not just the generals and icons, but the ordinary men who left everyday jobs to serve in defense of freedom and, by their uncommon valor not only secured our freedom, but recorded a legacy of valor to inspire generations in the future. |
As webmaster for HomeOfHeroes.com, my initial purpose when I launched this site in 1998 was to highlight the stories of Medal of Honor recipients, a group of heroes who comprise fewer than 4,500 of the more than 40 million Americans who have served in uniform. In time, after requests to expand, I undertook the daunting task of finding, typing and making available citations for the awards second-only to the Medal of Honor: The Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, and Air Force Cross. When I began that in 2001 I believed it was an impossible dream and, 7 years later have surprised myself with the fact that I have digitized and posted the citations for more than 18,000 of the 24,00 awards (and hope to complete this in 2008). At times I became myself discouraged but, in those moments I received emails such as the following simple, but brief exchange from a former Marine in Boston, Massachusetts: |
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In
2001 Monty McDaniel watched the movie "Saving Private
Ryan" sparking thoughts of his uncle, Staff Sergeant Paul
Alexander, who was killed fighting during the Normandy Invasion.
Seeking out his uncle's grave Online he noted the letters
"DSC." Further research revealed those letters stood for
"Distinguished Service Cross," the highest award
presented by the U.S. Army and second only to the Medal of Honor.
It was NEWS to Alexander's family, none of who knew of the young
soldier's great heroism at the time he lost his life in battle.
After persistent research that took nearly a year McDaniel at last
found the citation for his uncle's award in the National Archives
and the medal was presented posthumously--50 years late--to
Alexander's surviving brothers and sisters. Paul Alexander's
parents died in the 1990s never knowing their son was one of the
5,000 soldiers of World War II to receive this high honor.
