Please visit https://www.archives.gov/oig, where you may report suspected cases of stolen valor. You may also call our hotline at 301-837-3500, or send correspondence to OIG Hotline, NARA, P.O. Box 1821 Hyattsville, MD 20788-0821.

For nearly a decade, Richard Meleski told almost anyone who would listen about the 18 hours he said he spent as a prisoner of war in Beirut in the 1980s. As the story went, he and his fellow members of Navy SEAL Team Six were captured by hostiles who shattered his hand with a hammer. They executed one of his teammates.

The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants might have been imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could have been up to one year.

In 2005, President George Bush signed into law the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which made it illegal to make false statements about military service and awards. The Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Stolen Valor Act, holding that it violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

If you have evidence someone is a faking their war record for fraudulent purposes, such as receiving VA benefits they are not entitled to, go to Report Stolen Valor.org and click on “Report to Law Enforcement,”; and follow the instructions there.

Pending before Congress is the Private Corrado A. G. Piccolo Purple Heart Preservation Act. If passed, the Act will make it illegal for anyone other than the recipient to sell a Purple Heart Medal that has been awarded.

While it is not an offence to own medals which have not been awarded to you, it is illegal under section 197 of the Army Act 1955 to use these to pretend to be a member of the armed forces. The act makes wearing any military decoration, badge, wound stripe or emblem without authority a criminal offence.

Please use the Defense Manpower Data Center’s (DMDC) Military Verification service to verify if someone is in the military. The website will tell you if the person is currently serving in the military. The site is available 24-hours a day.

Who’s Entitled to a Copy of a Veteran’s DD214? The Privacy Act of 1974 limits access to a veteran’s DD214 to only the service member (either past or present) or the member’s legal guardian; only these persons will have access to almost any information contained in that member’s own record.

Congress later passed the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, which made it an offense to wear military uniforms with the intent to deceive others. A civilian can legally wear a military uniform if they do not wear it while committing fraud or any other deceitful act.