Summary: <br> Ever wondered if your deceased father received any awards for valor while serving in the military? Ever been told a relative received a medal, but you’ve never seen it? Or, do you feel someone is flat-out lying to you about their service accomplishments? My guest today is helping answer all those questions. Doug Sterner has created a searchable database of valor award citations. Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and Military Times contributing editor has consumed himself with verifying this data by source material such as official award citations, narratives and/or synopses from individuals or records from the National Archives.<br> The <a href="https://valor.militarytimes.com/home.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hall of Valor</a> is an ongoing project. It is a monumental effort to identify the half-million men and women who received the highest U.S. military awards, in addition to the millions of others who received other awards.<br> The <a href="https://valor.militarytimes.com/home.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hall of Valor</a> database currently includes all recipients of the Medal of Honor and all of the second-tier valor awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross and Air Force Cross. They are also in the midst of a multi-year effort to identify recipients of Silver Star and below.<br> Doug and his wife Pam also created the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stolen Valor Act (SVA)</a> that was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2006.<br> Additionally, Sterner warns us of calling out <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/06/05/the-problem-with-publicly-accusing-someone-of-stolen-valor-what-if-youre-wrong/?utm_term=.b7d4cb297c06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stolen valor</a>; because, what if you’re wrong? Is it worth it?<br> I had a great time talking with this Patriot today. He even surprised me by the amount of info he had on my brother <a href="http://markaforester.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark</a>.<br> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/C.-Douglas-Sterner/e/B001JS95WQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Doug Sterner’s Amazon Author Page</a> with his numerous books.<br> *My podcast is on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/patriottothecore" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patreon</a>. Please check out how you can help the cause and get insider access!<br> Copyright 2018 Thad Forester<br><br> http://<a href="http://www.patriottothecore.com/">www.patriottothecore.com<br><br> </a>email questions to <a href="mailto:thad@patriottothecore.com">thad@patriottothecore.com<br><br> </a><br> Rock Tune by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a>)<br> <a href="mailto:thad@patriottothecore.com">Artist: </a><a href="http://audionautix.com/">http://audionautix.com/</a><br> <br>
