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Top military officers, like now-retired Maj. Gen. J.T. Furlow, wrote that it was a pleasure to have known Michael McDowells father and to have served with Michael McDowell throughout the years. You are a warrior of valor, a knight of devout courage, and a soldier of the highest order, Furlow wrote to Michael McDowell. Your Father is looking down from Heaven proud of the son he raised. Godspeed as you promote up to the very rank your Father held. Retired Gen. David Petraeus, then director of the Central Intelligence Agency, left his own heartfelt message for McDowell and his fiancee at the time, Christy. My staff and I are praying for you and Christy and your mother as you go through this time of sorrow and grief over the loss of your father, Petraeus wrote. General McDowell was a great man and leader, and I am confident that you will accomplish even more than he did in his lifetime. Thank you for your devout and faithful service to your country and for being a great man that leads by example.
Current and former board members of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, who had come to know Colonel Mike over the last decade, chimed in. It is with deepest regret that I did not have the opportunity to meet this great American and service man. And a great honor to call his son and legacy a friend, wrote Sgt. Stephen Hall. But the legacy, it turns out, was a lie. McDowell, 57, has never been in the military. Neither had his father actually an Irving evangelist who died in 1985 while leading a revival in California. The comments from top military officers were fake; investigators believe they were written by McDowell to go along with the phony obituary that hed created for his father. I thought the guy did a pretty good job writing that. Its better than I could have done, Furlow said in a telephone interview from East Texas. Unfortunately, theres a lot of these people out there that are taking away the glory of people who have done things. This individual has to be sick to do stuff like this.
Now, McDowell faces criminal charges as local and federal investigators continue to dig into a ruse that they say spanned at least 15 years and enabled him to fool government agencies and immediate family members. He was arrested this month in Fort Worth on suspicion of impersonating a public servant and could face charges ranging from forgery and tampering with a government document on the state level to impersonating a military officer on the federal level. Investigators have uncovered evidence that McDowell acquired special access for at least one Fort Worth police association board member to tour the Washington Navy Yard when it was closed to the public. He persuaded Texas Department of Public Safety employees to issue him valid drivers licenses without his picture or fingerprints because of his work as an intelligence officer.
And he obtained Purple Heart recipient license plates. We jokingly refer to this as the old Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Catch Me If You Can the military edition, said Fort Worth police officer Brad Thompson, lead investigator in the case. Just how far McDowells impersonations reached and what else he may have gained remain under investigation. One of the issues that came up from one of our people who was in D.C. was that he met him inside the secure area of the airport, dressed in his uniform, and picked him up in a vehicle with government tags, Thompson said. We heard that from multiple people, that he picked them up in vehicles with government tags on them.
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Congress passed the original version in 2005, making it illegal to claim falsely certain military awards or honors, such as the Congressional Medal of Honor, in any setting. The U.S. Supreme Court struck it down on First Amendment grounds, saying lies were a protected form of free speech. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013, however, has one key difference that sets it apart from the 2005 version: It likens the lie to fraud and makes it illegal to claim falsely military honors for the purpose of obtaining money, property or other tangible benefit. Im pleased that the valor and integrity of our military awards, along with the men and women who have earned them, are once again protected by law, said Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev.
Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center, said the distinction between the two versions is important. The 2005 Stolen Valor Act couldve been used to punish a braggart in a bar, said Paulson. The 2013 version cant do that. Xavier Alvarez was one such braggart, though he didnt do his boasting in a bar. After being elected to the board of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in California, Alvarez lied while introducing himself at a board meeting by saying he had received the Medal of Honor. In 2007, he was charged under the Stolen Valor Act, pleaded guilty and then challenged the law on First Amendment grounds; he ultimately won a 6-3 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The newly signed law probably would survive judicial scrutiny, according to First Amendment experts. But theyre still leery of the bill, saying it is unnecessary and therefore disruptive to freedom of speech. The 2013 version is better than the one that was struck down, but its still not necessary, said Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. Fraud is already illegal. Both Rottman and Paulson expressed concern that the phrase tangible benefit was ambiguous and could mean problems later in defining what tangible benefits include. They would have preferred the bill stick to more easily defined language such as money and property.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who authored the majority opinion in U.S. v. Alvarez, said the 2005 act was unconstitutional because of its chilling effect on freedom of speech. He also said the public ridicule and contempt Alvarez suffered after lying about receiving the Medal of Honor was an appropriate form of punishment. Once his lie was made public he was ridiculed online, his actions were reported in the press and a fellow board member called for his resignation, Kennedy wrote. There is good reason to believe that a similar fate would befall other false claimants.
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"Impersonating a Public Servant"?
"Impersonating a Public Servant"?
This bill has lots of first amendment issues.
Fraudulent Representations About Receipt of Military Decorations or Medals- Whoever, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds oneself out to be a recipient of a decoration or medal described in subsection (c)(2) or (d) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both..
The Purple Heart is more than just a medal -- especially to the recipients who have sacrificed while fighting for their country. "It gives me a distinguished feeling," said Sam Houston, who was awarded a Purple Heart in 1970 after his service in the Vietnam War. "No matter where I go, if I'm wearing a Purple Heart hat, people always stop me. There's that saying, 'all gave some and some gave all.' " This year, a piece of legislation is expected to come up in Congress that could help protect the Purple Heart and preserve that distinguished feeling.
Rep. Paul Cook, R-Calif., plans to introduce the Private Corrado Piccoli Purple Heart Preservation Act this session. The bill would penalize the sale of any Purple Heart awarded to a member of the Armed Forces by imprisonment up to six months or a fine, which would be determined by the Department of Justice based off the federal fine schedule. "The purpose of the bill is to see the Purple Heart protected and to ensure medals find their way back to families or homes of honor," Cook, himself a veteran, said in an emailed statement to the News Herald in Panama City. "It's wrong to turn profits on the sacrifices of our service members. These medals are powerful symbols of selflessness in defense of our nation. They deserve to be cherished by families instead of being traded like a pack of baseball cards and auctioned to the highest bidder."
Piccoli's medal was purchased in an antique mall for $100. The woman who purchased the medal gave it to her son, Capt. Zachariah Fike, who served in the Vermont Army National Guard. Fike then founded Purple Hearts Reunited, a nonprofit that returns lost or stolen military medals of valor to veterans or their family. Cook introduced the bill last year, but it was at the end of the congressional session, and no action was taken. He is optimistic it will pass this time and expects it to get referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations as it was last session. In 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a federal crime to fraudulently claim to be a recipient of certain military decorations or medals to obtain tangible benefit.
Houston, who is chapter commander of the Sgt. Timothy Padgett 811 Military Order of the Purple Heart, said that it "happens quite often" that a military medal may end up in a pawn shop or antique store. Those who find one should turn it in to a local chapter of Purple Hearts Reunited, advised Houston. Awarded since 1917 to those wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. military, the Purple Heart is an important badge of honor in military service and should be regarded as such, Houston said. "It's the oldest continually used medal in our history," he added. "It's the only medal given out strictly for combat wounds, that's what makes it prestigious. As a recipient, I'm glad they're trying to get a handle on this. People should not be able to buy any military award for heroism or wounds. It takes away from what it truly means."
Purple Heart Would Receive More Protection With New Law | Military.com
This year, I introduced legislation to provide special protection for Purple Heart medals awarded to service members wounded or killed while serving in the Armed Forces. This legislation would end the buying and selling of Purple Hearts, a practice that transforms these symbols of our brave service members' sacrifices into collectible commodities. This legislation isn't just about good public policy. I'm compelled to act by the personal stories attached to some of these medals.
One letter began, "They broke into my home and stole it. That was my grandfather's medal, the one he got from MacArthur. I know they're just looking for anything they can sell, but that medal was priceless." Another family's story reads, "This medal was precious to my parents. On special occasions, they would let us touch it and hold it in our hand. As I grew older and missed my brother more and more I realized, this is the only tangible thing we have left." These stories are two among many. The Purple Heart has become a powerful symbol of sacrifice to our nation's veterans.
Purple Heart
After the roar of battle ends and service members come home from war, some were met with parades and honors while others unfairly endured the silence of an indifferent country. Regardless of how their war ended, veterans of every conflict soon learned that America's attention span can be short and, without symbols and memorials, the sacrifice of past generations is sometimes forgotten. That's why symbols like the Purple Heart have such a special place in our country. They remind all of us to reflect on the sacrifices that have secured our freedom and recognize the veterans among us who stood in defense of our liberty.
When these symbols are cheapened, it hurts us all. While most military collectors are honorable, good people, there is also a distasteful and downright ghoulish desire by some collectors to acquire Purple Hearts awarded to veterans wounded or killed in famous battles. Unlike collecting military gear from past conflicts, like helmets or uniforms, trading Purple Hearts puts a monetary value on something priceless: blood spilled in defense of our nation. Our national symbol of sacrifice should be off limits to profiteers. Allowing disreputable collectors to hawk a veteran's Purple Heart on the auction block like a baseball card demeans all veterans, especially those wounded in combat.
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It's not if they are committing fraud. ."Impersonating a Public Servant"?
This bill has lots of first amendment issues.
Buying them and using them to impersonate a veteran are two different things.you can go to any pawn shop in spring lake or fayetteville nc....and buy any medals all day long....i am sure its that way outside any military base
