bobdina
06-27-2009, 04:05 PM
Professed Medal of Honor recipient is doubted
BY R. NORMAN MOODY • FLORIDA TODAY • June 27, 2009
Federal agents said a 62-year-old Palm Bay man falsely claimed to have received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.
Gary B. Amster pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tampa to charges that he knowingly and willfully falsely represented himself verbally and in writing to have received the Medal of Honor.
The Stolen Valor Act, under which Amster was charged, is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Amster's case is scheduled for a hearing at 3 p.m. July 23 in U.S. District Court in Tampa before Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson.
Amster is thought to have served in the Army for two years in the late 1960s.
Mary Schantag, a researcher and founding member of the POW Network, said she has been monitoring Amster's case since it was turned in to the FBI 18 months ago.
The POW Network's Web site shows what Schantag said is the altered military discharge document that Amster used to bolster his false claim and to obtain a Medal of Honor Florida license plate. The site also shows a photograph of the red convertible Mitsubishi with the license plate.
"To start with, he's falsifying a military document," said Schantag, who is headquartered in Branson, Mo. "He's impersonating a Medal of Honor recipient. That's just despicable."
Amster could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
The medal was established in 1861. There have been 3,447 Medals of Honor given for valor in action against an enemy force. There are only 196 living recipients of the medal.
Emory Bennett, who was given the Medal of Honor posthumously, is the only recipient from Brevard County.
Bennett, an Army private, was 21 when he was killed on June 24, 1951, near Sobangsan, Korea. Two enemy battalions swarmed a ridge in an attempt to dislodge Bennett's company. He left his foxhole to provide cover for his company and was wounded as he fought to protect his comrades.
Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran from Pueblo, Colo., and his wife, Pam, helped get the Stolen Valor Act passed by Congress in 2006. Since then, Sterner has helped track those falsely claiming to have received medals.
Unlike in Amster's case, most false claims are for other medals.
"Over the last year, we've had over 50 prosecutions," Sterner said. "It's very rare for us to nail a Medal of Honor phony."
Sterner said many of those who claim to have earned medals also have received benefits they don't deserve, such as ones from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from speaking fees.
"Almost always, there's some sort of associated fraud," he said.
BY R. NORMAN MOODY • FLORIDA TODAY • June 27, 2009
Federal agents said a 62-year-old Palm Bay man falsely claimed to have received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.
Gary B. Amster pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tampa to charges that he knowingly and willfully falsely represented himself verbally and in writing to have received the Medal of Honor.
The Stolen Valor Act, under which Amster was charged, is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Amster's case is scheduled for a hearing at 3 p.m. July 23 in U.S. District Court in Tampa before Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson.
Amster is thought to have served in the Army for two years in the late 1960s.
Mary Schantag, a researcher and founding member of the POW Network, said she has been monitoring Amster's case since it was turned in to the FBI 18 months ago.
The POW Network's Web site shows what Schantag said is the altered military discharge document that Amster used to bolster his false claim and to obtain a Medal of Honor Florida license plate. The site also shows a photograph of the red convertible Mitsubishi with the license plate.
"To start with, he's falsifying a military document," said Schantag, who is headquartered in Branson, Mo. "He's impersonating a Medal of Honor recipient. That's just despicable."
Amster could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
The medal was established in 1861. There have been 3,447 Medals of Honor given for valor in action against an enemy force. There are only 196 living recipients of the medal.
Emory Bennett, who was given the Medal of Honor posthumously, is the only recipient from Brevard County.
Bennett, an Army private, was 21 when he was killed on June 24, 1951, near Sobangsan, Korea. Two enemy battalions swarmed a ridge in an attempt to dislodge Bennett's company. He left his foxhole to provide cover for his company and was wounded as he fought to protect his comrades.
Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran from Pueblo, Colo., and his wife, Pam, helped get the Stolen Valor Act passed by Congress in 2006. Since then, Sterner has helped track those falsely claiming to have received medals.
Unlike in Amster's case, most false claims are for other medals.
"Over the last year, we've had over 50 prosecutions," Sterner said. "It's very rare for us to nail a Medal of Honor phony."
Sterner said many of those who claim to have earned medals also have received benefits they don't deserve, such as ones from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from speaking fees.
"Almost always, there's some sort of associated fraud," he said.