Veterans Are Mad

Dick Agnew, a military hero, has a rare Legion of Valor license plate. An honor Texas reserves for its most exalted military heroes.

He received the Distinguished Service Cross in Korea after killing an enemy sentry in hand-to-hand combat despite a broken ankle.  In the view of many veterans and others, unauthorized use of the Legion's plates amounts to a slur against actual medal recipients, including some among the nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed and the more than 30,000 wounded in Iraq.

It's Now A Crime To Falsify Military Certifications

As the bogus Legion members may soon find out, such deceptions entail not only an insult, but a crime. A little-known federal statute imposes criminal penalties on those convicted of falsely claiming to have been awarded a medal of valor.
 
One of the four is required for induction into the Legion of Valor, which has only about 800 members nationwide. Offenses involving lesser medals carry a maximum of 6 months in jail.

 
8 facing loss of plates

Agnew said his group intends to provide the names of the fabricators it unearths to the FBI for investigation of possible violations of the Stolen Valor Act.

 

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