Medal of Honor Tragedy

Today is National Medal of Honor day. If you've never met a recipient of the nation's highest decoration for valor, seek one out, shake his hand. Every time I've met a living recipient, I'm overwhelmed with a sense of awe and respect. Even just seeing the medal itself leaves me with a lump in my throat. The sad thing is, due to a well-meaning law designed to prevent impostors from wearing the medal (incredibly, people do this), it is illegal to buy or sell the medal. The only legal way to obtain one is to be given one as a gift, by a recipient.

As an unintended consequence of this law is that the medals of deceased recipients are usually sold overseas. So our military heritage is being lost to foreign shores, disappearing into medals and orders collections worldwide, never to return. This includes historic Civil War medals. I believe Congress should make an exception to the law, allowing collectors to buy and sell the medal for collecting purposes. At the same time, the penalty for wearing one should be dramatically increased.