Cold War Service Medal, Let Us Try Again in 2014

As we all know the year 2013 was a do nothing year. There was no concerted effort or push to have the Cold War Service Medal authorized.

Our request to President Obama to issue an Executive Order to create the medal went unanswered and ignored.

All elected officials are now home and will return to Washington on Jan. 2, 2014. Please let us all try to contact them in their local offices before

they return to Washington.

Ask them to please introduce legislation that will authorize a Cold War Service Medal. One good idea would be to use the same wording used by

then Senator Clinton in the bill she introduced.

The Secretary concerned shall issue a service medal, to be known as the `Cold War service medal', to persons eligible to receive the medal under subsection (b). The Cold War service medal shall be of an appropriate design approved by the Secretary of Defense, with ribbons, lapel pins, and other appurtenances.
`(b) Eligible Persons- The following persons are eligible to receive the Cold War service medal:
`(1) A person who--
`(A) performed active duty or inactive duty training as an enlisted member during the Cold War;
`(B) completed the person's initial term of enlistment or, if discharged before completion of such initial term of enlistment, was honorably discharged after completion of not less than 180 days of service on active duty; and
`(C) has not received a discharge less favorable than an honorable discharge or a release from active duty with a characterization of service less favorable than honorable.
`(2) A person who--
`(A) performed active duty or inactive duty training as a commissioned officer or warrant officer during the Cold War;
`(B) completed the person's initial service obligation as an officer or, if discharged or separated before completion of such initial service obligation, was honorably discharged after completion of not less than 180 days of service on active duty; and
`(C) has not been released from active duty with a characterization of service less favorable than honorable and has not received a discharge or separation less favorable than an honorable discharge.
`(c) One Award Authorized- Not more than one Cold War service medal may be issued to any person.
`(d) Issuance to Representative of Deceased- If a person described in subsection (b) dies before being issued the Cold War service medal, the medal shall be issued to the person's representative, as designated by the Secretary concerned.
`(e) Replacement- Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, a Cold War service medal that is lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was issued may be replaced without charge.
`(f) Application for Medal- The Cold War service medal shall be issued upon receipt by the Secretary concerned of an application for such medal, submitted in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary prescribes.
`(g) Uniform Regulations- The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that regulations prescribed by the Secretaries of the military departments under this section are uniform so far as is practicable.
`(h) Cold War Defined- In this section, the term `Cold War' means the period beginning on September 2, 1945, and ending at the end of December 26, 1991.'.

Should your official object to this version you can ask them to use wording similar to H.R. 1968 The Cold War Service Medal Act

of 2011

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the award of a military service medal to members of the Armed Forces who served honorably during the Cold War, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Cold War Service Medal Act of 2011'.

SEC. 2. COLD WAR SERVICE MEDAL.

(a) Medal Authorized-

(1) IN GENERAL- Chapter 57 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

`Sec. 1136. Cold War Service Medal

`(a) Medal Authorized- The Secretary concerned may issue a service medal, to be known as the `Cold War Service Medal', to persons eligible to receive the medal under subsection (c).

`(b) Design- The Cold War Service Medal shall be of an appropriate design approved by the Secretary of Defense, with ribbons, lapel pins, and other appurtenances.

`(c) Eligible Persons- A person eligible to be issued the Cold War Service Medal is any person--

`(1) who--

`(A) served on active duty in the Armed Forces for not less than 24 consecutive months during the Cold War;

`(B) was deployed as a member of the Armed Forces outside the continental United States for a period of at least 30 days during the Cold War; or

`(C) performed such other service in the Armed Forces during the Cold War as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe for purposes of this section; and

`(2) who, if discharged or released from the Armed Forces, was so discharged or released under honorable conditions after service in the armed forces characterized as honorable.

`(d) One Medal Authorized- Not more than one Cold War Service Medal may be issued to any person.

`(e) Issuance to Representative of Deceased- If a person described in subsection (c) dies before being issued the Cold War Service Medal, the medal may be issued to the person's representative, as designated by the Secretary concerned.

`(f) Replacement- Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, a Cold War Service Medal that is lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was issued may be replaced without charge.

`(g) Regulations- The issuance of a Cold War Service Medal shall be subject to such regulations as the Secretaries concerned shall prescribe for purposes of this section. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that any regulations prescribed under this subsection are uniform to the extent practicable.

`(h) Cold War Defined- In this section, the term `Cold War' means the period beginning on September 2, 1945, and ending on December 26, 1991.'.

(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 57 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

`1136. Cold War Service Medal.'.

(b) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense shall take appropriate actions to expedite--

(1) the design of the Cold War Service Medal provided for by section 1136 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)); and

(2) the establishment and implementation of mechanisms to facilitate the issuance of the Cold War Service Medal to persons eligible for the issuance of the medal under such section.

I am sure you will hear about the "Cold War Certificate", remind whoever you are talking to that this is just a piece of 

paper that anyone who worked for the government in any function is eligible to the certificate; it makes no mention of 

military service and most veterans have not bothered to apply for it.

Also mention that in 2011 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that in the first year or two of the medal it

would cost about $2 million dollars, with a cost of $30 million over a 7 year period. That is much less that the cost

estimate given by the Department of Defense.

Make note of the fact that DoD authorized both the Armed Forces Service Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal 

for operations in Bosnia. So the excuse by DoD of "duplication of awards" does not make sense. plus we all know veterans

who served their tour of duty and received no award of medal of any type.

We must make the push hard and often. Contact your elected officials by phone, email, fax, in person or by mail. Do it now

and continue doing it.

Congress will begin working on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 in just a matter of days. Let this be the

year that the Medal is at long last authorized and issued.

Jerald Terwilliger

Former Chairman

American Cold War Veterans

---- Jerald Terwilliger Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans "We Remember" ---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Supreme Court Says NO to Stolen Valor Law

On Thursday the Supreme Court ruled that the Stolen Valor Act of 2006 was an infringement of the
First Amendment protecting free speech.  By a vote of 6-3 the justices decided that it is okay to lie
about military service and honors and awards.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority "fundamental constitutional principles require that
laws enacted to honor the brave must be consistent with the precepts of the Constitution for which
they fought" and that "statutes suppressing or restricting speech must be judged by the sometimes
inconvenient  principles of the First Amendment."

While the government has an interest in protecting the integrity of the Medal of Honor and other valorous decorations, the Stolen Valor Act was too "sweeping" and "quite unprecedented" in attempting to prosecute people for merely lying, he wrote.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. joined Kennedy in the opinion.

"The statute seeks to control and suppress all false statements on this one subject in almost limitless times and settings," Kennedy's opinion states. "And it does so entirely without regard to whether the lie was made for the purpose of material gain."

Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan ruled the law unconstitutional but left open the possibility they would reconsider if the law was rewritten.

The law was written by U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colorado, and signed in 2006 by President George W. Bush, making it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself, in writing or speaking, as having received a military decoration

The opposing opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas said "the right to free speech does not protect false factual statements that inflict real harm and serve no legitimate interest."

They went on to say that the "proliferation of false claims about military awards blur the signal given out
by the actual awards by making them seem more common  than they really are."

A new Stolen Valor Act H.R. 1775 written by Congressman Joseph Heck with 52 cosponsors is in the
House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. And in the Senate is a bill
S.1728 with 2 cosponsors and is in the Committee on Judiciary.

So now it is imperative that we contact our Senators and Representatives and urge them to become
cosponsors to these bills, and that they push to have the bills passed out of committee to the floor
for a full vote.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/06/28/4067435/supreme-court-strikes-down-stolen.html#storylink=cpy

---- Jerald Terwilliger National Chairman American Cold War Veterans "We Remember" ---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996