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Database could serve as example for feds

With the nation at war, the number of decorated veterans is on the rise, a trend law enforcement officials agree is historically accompanied by an increase in phonies attempting to cash in on the respect legitimate heroes receive.

Though frauds usually skyline themselves by going too far — often claiming numerous service crosses, Silver Stars and Purple Hearts — it’s often difficult to tell the real heroes from the fake ones. It’s even more problematic to confirm suspicions when a story or ribbon rack looks too good to be true.

The solution is simple, relatively cheap, and comes down to a moral imperative for the federal government, said Doug Sterner, a civilian in Pueblo, Colo., who’s spent the last nine years compiling an online database of everyone who has earned the nation’s top three awards for combat valor since World War I.

The records on Sterner’s Web site are rock-solid and attract about 8 million hits each month. The FBI and several other government agencies use his database to check up on people they suspect of wearing unearned awards.

That’s because the government doesn’t have a central database of its own, something Sterner and several veterans organizations are pushing to change.

Each branch of the military keeps its own records of award recipients, but those records are partially digitized and available to the public only through Freedom of Information Act requests that often take months to process, making it difficult for communities to identify the phonies in their midst and problematic for military officials to honor unsung heroes in their ranks.

Sterner said 50 percent of the requests he’s received over the years have come from Army, Navy and Air Force officials who ask, “Do you have so and so’s citation? We’re naming a rifle range for him and such-and-such.”

Sterner said he has connected countless people with the citations they have needed to dedicate buildings and memorials to recipients, but he’d rather the military took it out of his hands because “I’m doing a job the government should be doing.”

He’s urging the House and Senate veterans’ affairs and armed services committees to hold hearings on the topic of military personnel records, hoping that lawmakers will protect heroes and guard against fakers by creating an “official” online national database of valor award recipients.

Sterner’s sentiments are echoed by the nation’s largest veterans organizations and may be gaining steam on the Hill.

“Military awards, decorations and badges should already be electronically filed for [discharge paperwork] purposes,” said Joe Davis, national spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “Consolidating such records in this information age should be a snap.”

Ramona Joyce, spokeswoman for the American Legion’s national headquarters, called creating a national database of awards recipients “a no-brainer.”

Playing “devil’s advocate,” Joyce said the government should ensure a national database doesn’t put “too much personal information” in the public domain and noted that “while we’d like to recognize all heroes, not all heroes would like to be recognized.”

Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who sits on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, feels “it makes perfect sense for him to carry legislation as a follow-up to Stolen Valor [Act of 2005],” which he introduced in the House two years ago, said his spokesman, Rick Palacio. The law made it a crime to claim unearned valor awards.

“There should be an accessible digital database of military records including medals and awards,” he said. “I don’t know what the likelihood of hearings are, but someone will take up the issue of legislating the database in the near future. Congressman Salazar has been giving it a lot of thought.”

Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., who signed onto the bill after a former Marine in his district was caught wearing an unearned Navy Cross, may again co-sponsor the legislation if Salazar introduces it in the House.

“Sam in very interested in this idea,” said his communications director, Jason Klindt. “There should never be any doubt that medals were won and not stolen, so he is committed to protecting the integrity of these awards.”