Stars and Stripes has done stories on stolen valor of those wearing either what they didn’t earn or being what they never were. When is Stars and Stripes going to do a story on desk jockeys, both officer and senior enlisted, receiving Bronze Stars for riding a desk or doing something lower enlisted do every day?

During my last tour I heard of such instances but never witnessed it. This tour, I’ve seen more than a dozen Bronze Stars given to both officers and senior enlisted who never engaged in a firefight, never had to deal with a bomb blowing up in their face or receiving any type of wound whatsoever.

It is a disgrace to those who have died or been injured and received a Purple Heart and a slap on the back. It makes me question every Bronze Star recipient I encounter from now on when it is given away like a lollipop, in my eyes.

Spc. Stephen SkierskiForward Operating Base Echo, Iraq