BALTIMORE, MD -- AMVETS, a leading national veterans organization, is taking action to make it easier to identify and report cases of stolen valor.
"While not a new phenomenon stolen valor is on the rise," says AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin.
When AMVETS National Commander talks about a sudden increase in cases of stolen valor, phonies wearing some of the military’s most revered commendations, one of the cases he’s talking about is the one we just uncovered.
The FBI is now investigating Tampa resident Angel Ocasio after
we discovered him wearing Marine "Deltas" and showing off his Navy Cross despite the fact he’s never been in the Marine Corps or any branch of the service. That's a violation of the Stolen Valor Act, the federal law making it illegal to wear or claim to have earned medals of valor.
"After AMVETS spoke out recently about the fake veterans in California and Florida, we decided something more had to be done," says Miskulin
AMVETS has now created a website,
www.reportstolenvalor.org, a database of those who really have won medals of valor. It also contains instructions for those who suspect phonies on how to report information to law enforcement and the media.
"Often these cases aren’t pursued until they are broken in the media," says Jay Agg of AMVETS.
It can’t be overstated how serious veterans take the issue of stolen valor. While Angel Ocasio is a fake, George Malone is a real winner of the Navy Cross from his service in Vietnam.
"It came at a very high price," says Malone.
The FBI’s investigation of Angel Ocasio continues. Some of the veterans we interviewed have been contacted, and now, there’s a powerful new tool that will root out phonies posing as heroes.
