In response to “Stolen Valor Act facing legal challenges,” (article, Feb. 8): I was disappointed to find that this federal law designed to protect the honor of men and women who have been given accolades in the armed forces was under scrutiny.
Men like Xavier Alvarez and Rick Glen Strandlof, who have been caught in their lies, should accept their punishment like men instead of hiding behind a dubious shroud of free speech, which now puts the act at the mercy of courts that are loath to trample on the hallowed ground of the First Amendment.
The attorneys representing the men charged will argue that under the First Amendment, their lies are protected from legal action because they don’t hurt someone else. I suggest the contrary; every false brag and boast of men who have never served anything but themselves causes suffering to the collective psyches of every self-sacrificing man and woman in uniform.
To those who overhear a conversation the center of which involves the recollection of glories on the battlefield and the rewards received for their valor, be skeptical; the men and women who have earned recognition for their actions are generally too humble to acknowledge themselves.
First Lt. Michael CryerForward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq