Purple Heart collecting "controversy" hits the mainstream media

[SA1794]

Found this article. Not intending to start a flame war, but thought some may be interested in reading.

 

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/18...s-fans-and-foes

[teufelhunde.ret]

Medal peddlers: Thriving Purple Heart market has fans and foes

Vintage Purple Hearts can fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars on the open market.

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

 

The Second World War cost John Henckel his life. The Purple Heart medal he earned for his valiant death comes far cheaper.

 

For $395, you can buy the award the Army granted posthumously to Henckel, an Army private from Texas, who was killed in action in the Philippines on Jan. 30, 1945.

 

That’s the price quoted at BayStateMilitaria.com, a combat collectibles site that lists 12 Purple Hearts for sale, ranging from $90 for an unnamed, World War II medal “in nice condition” on up to Henckel’s ribbon.

 

“A lot of people don’t understand why people collect these. They think it’s a glorification of war. It’s the exact opposite: It’s the celebration of America’s good deeds,” said Scott Kraska, operator of BayStateMilitaria. “It’s memorializing those soldiers who lived and those soldiers who died, celebrating them, learning about them, caring about them through their artifacts – uniforms, diaries, letters and through their medals.”

 

Following a Supreme Court decision in June that effectively overturned a seven-year-old ban on the buying and selling of Purple Hearts in this country, the oldest U.S. military decorations have bloomed into popular commodities among online souvenir dealers, Internet classified lists, and e-retailers, not to mention at swap meets and vintage stores.

 

“They can’t keep them on the shelves in an antique shop – on the day they put one out there, it’s gone,” said Capt. Zach Fike, an Army National Guard member based in Burlington, Vt.

 

But the burgeoning Purple Heart market, in Fike’s view, is nothing more than an American tragedy. He devotes many of his nights and weekends to his passion and to his nonprofit, Purple Hearts Reunited. During the past two years, Fike has used his online detective skills to return seven of the wayward medals – earned by U.S. service members killed or wounded in action – to those soldiers’ families.

 

For the majority of Purple Heart collectors and dealers, Fike has few kind words.

 

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to say they’re all bad. But the ones I have encountered, I would consider myself their No. 1 enemy,” Fike said. “They’re making hundreds or thousands of dollars on (each one) these medals. They think it’s cool. It’s a symbol of death. Because of that, it has a lot of market interest and it has a lot of value.”

 

For Kraska and BayStateMilitaria, based in Massachusetts, Fike has even more scathing review: “He is making a profit off of people who died. I have no respect for that man.”

 

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

 

The two men have had one phone conversation. It did not go well. Fike tried to convince Kraska to at least look for the medal recipients’ families before selling the Purple Hearts; Kraska tried to sway Fike that he sells medals that the recipients’ families have typically sold at garage sales or just tossed in the trash.

 

Their personal war – fueled by American wars past, during which more than 1.7 million Purple Hearts have been granted by the military – boiled hotter after the Supreme Court struck down the Stolen Valor Act. Signed into law in 2006, the act primarily intended to muzzle people who falsely claimed they had received military medals. As a side consequence, however, the act made it illegal to sell military decorations.

 

In June, the High Court ruled that the Stolen Valor Act infringed on free speech – even if that speech was fraudulent and uttered by fake war heroes. (On Sept. 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a more narrowly focused version of the Stolen Valor Act that will allow criminal prosecutions against individuals who “knowingly” misrepresent their military service records “with the intent to obtain anything of value.”)

 

Meanwhile, the Purple Heart market remains open for business.

 

How do those cherished awards typically reach the storerooms of military memorabilia dealers? Medal peddlers often find them at yard sales, flea markets or on sites like Craigslist.

 

High court strikes down Stolen Valor Act

 

“They’re not there because somebody pried them out of the hands of an unwilling person,” said Kraska, a military souvenir collector since age 15. He’s now 45. “They’re there because these families have thrown them away or sold them. So these pieces become separated from the family not by accident. They are discarded items.”

 

The value of a Purple Heart is determined, in part, by whether its recipient was killed in action. In such cases, the military engraves the service member’s name on the back of the medal before giving it to the next of kin. Eventually, if collectors obtain those medals, that scant amount of information allows dealers to research the soldier’s personal history and find out when and how he died.

 

“These hearts have more of a historical context,” and thus fetch more in sales, Kraska said. “If a Purple Heart is out of its element (and blank on the back), you have no idea who it belonged to; it really has no historical significance and consequently does not have a lot of monetary value.”

 

In today’s military collectibles market, Purple Hearts doled out during World War II tend to be worth $300 to $400, Kraska said. The prices are fueled by America’s continuing infatuation with “the Greatest Generation” and its seminal conflict, spurred further by popular recent films like “Saving Private Ryan” and by TV miniseries like “Band of Brothers.”

[Bob Hudson]

This does seem to be a case where a man with a mission sees the world in black and white with no understanding of real life.

 

Of course the real sad thing is that the people who write bad laws listen to guys like him.

 

And the reporter seems to have misunderstood the SVA and wrongly said it made PH sales illegal.

[aerialbridge]

and one dealer specializing in the medals. 32 comments posted so far.

 

 

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/18...s-fans-and-foes

[aerialbridge]

and one dealer specializing in the medals. 32 comments posted so far.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/18...s-fans-and-foes

 

 

"Medal peddlers"-- so much for "objective" reporting. Pretty much of a pejorative, I'd say.

[History Man]

Interesting to see such an ignorant view about collecting medals. I mean maybe if the "reporter" went to a few different people who collect medals there would be a fair showing of what actually happens. For example going to people that do public displays of their collections or showing some of the incidents where the family was going to throw away "granpas old army crap" but it was saved from the garbage.

 

Philip

[ajbUSWM]

This is interesting.... 95% of the time the families sell the Purple Hearts ... goodness. The other 5% the items are found in the trash, abandoned storage units or donated to the Salvatoin Army.

 

So are they suggesting that the medals have no value so then most of them end up in the city dump? Which is worse?

[ajbUSWM]

"He (Fike) insists that most Purple Hearts that wind up in thrift shops or in online auctions were not purposely surrendered by families nor meant to be sold but were often lost or misplaced, only to be discovered years later by people who had no connection to the medals yet who saw dollar signs."

 

Man is this guy way off or what?

[JimD]

I like the comments here so far but we are preaching to the choir. I'd like to see some of these sentiments left as comments on the original article posting. That way impartial readers can see the "other side of the story" that was so pathetically neglected by the "journalist" who cobbled together the original article.

[ajbUSWM]

I like the comments here so far but we are preaching to the choir. I'd like to see some of these sentiments left as comments on the original article posting. That way impartial readers can see the "other side of the story" that was so pathetically neglected by the "journalist" who cobbled together the original article.

 

It's NBC ... they will likely delete the logical posts because they offer the other side of the story.

[dhcoleterracina]

I thought Scott Kraska did a good job considering who he was dealing with.

[Bugme]

It's NBC ... they will likely delete the logical posts because they offer the other side of the story.

Sounds just like the French... Throw your hands up in the air and surrender without a fight.

[JimD]

It's NBC ... they will likely delete the logical posts because they offer the other side of the story.

 

They printed my comment as well as at least one other forum member's more thoughful and reasoned comment. The more the merrier.

[Jack's Son]

I've been on both sides, and each has a bright spot. However, I will be the one to decide what I do with my medals.....no one else!

[ASMIC2971]

A friend actually e-mailed me this article, was the spark I needed to get back into collecting after some personal issues. Unfortunately due to my ipad I lost the best response of my life! I also lost a white bordered 7th army reserve command patch due to my iPhone - should have invested in a pigeon instead!

 

I commend the CPT, but he needs to look at the side of the coin that is not showing after he flipped it! We are the 1% to paraphrase my hippy sister in a different context.

 

Drew

[ajbUSWM]

I thought Scott Kraska did a good job considering who he was dealing with.

 

I just realized that NBC/US News probably published this article to give congress the amunition (and cover) needed for a new Stolen Valor Act.

 

It is common for legislative "friends" in the media to brainwash the public (soften them up) prior to unconstitutional legislation that is for "the good of the people. We know best." I mean someone has to put those gun show people in their place right? haha.

 

Of course the last legislation, besides being unconstitutional, turned every veteran and their families in to criminals if they sold their medals at garage sales. Oops... so much for good intentions and smart people.

 

Imagine if all our news was slanted like this... oops again.

[tsakers85]

Capt. Fike is all over the net...

[Longhorn92]

I thought it was a well balanced article.

 

Most of you here do not think it was, of course, because you vehemently disagree with this guy Fike and a few other organizations.

 

This is a touchy subject, especially with this group, but I agree with Fike.

[Bluehawk]

What do we expect when such a tiny percentage of us ever serve in uniform... even among us, there is a still smaller percentage who find no value whatsoever in medals.

 

Blessings to the collectors of them, thank you.

[ajbUSWM]

I thought it was a well balanced article.

 

Most of you here do not think it was, of course, because you vehemently disagree with this guy Fike and a few other organizations.

 

This is a touchy subject, especially with this group, but I agree with Fike.

 

 

Fike's contention that "... most Purple Hearts that wind up in thrift shops or in online auctions were not purposely surrendered by families nor meant to be sold but were often lost or misplaced... " is completely false. Most are sold by family members directly (or indirectly) to collectors.

 

So Fike has based his entire movement on a false premise. That said if Mr. Fike wants to buy every Purple Heart on the market and return them to the same family member that just sold it, then that is fine with me and hat's off to him for his passionate endeavor. However, Mr. Fike will eventually end up buying and returning the same Purple Heart mulitple times to the same family that keeps selling it ... maybe then he will reevaluate his claims and run out of funds in the process.

 

What I DON'T accept is that collectors/dealers are "evil" and will not accept legislation banning the sale of such items... which is where Mr. Fike is trying to take us.

 

It is one thing to believe in something... it is yet another when you force everyone else to align with your thinking. That is not America.

 

p.s. I came across a 101st Bastogne WIA Purple Heart that was literally taken from the garbarge of a neighbor (relative) who thought the medals had no value... under Mr. Fike's vision... these medals would be in a city dump instead of in a museum today.

[ajbUSWM]

Capt. Fike is all over the net...

 

Next he will be testifying on Capitol Hill about the evil dealers that must be stopped with new laws limiting their rights and the rights of veterans to sell their own medals... just like the SVA.

[MilitaryWired]

I thought it was a well balanced article.

 

Most of you here do not think it was, of course, because you vehemently disagree with this guy Fike and a few other organizations.

 

This is a touchy subject, especially with this group, but I agree with Fike.

 

Do any of us disagree with what Fike is trying to do? I don't. As a matter of fact, I can't imagine that any true collector would. I think the biggest problem is his attitude towards collectors... he says that some consider him the "No. 1 Enemy". That is no way to start a relationship! Capt Fike is not offering any solutions here... so allow me.

 

1st: Capt Fike needs to publish a list of names of missing Purple Hearts (this seems like the most obvious place to start)

 

2nd: There are more Purple Hearts in collectors hands than anywhere else in the world. Capt Fike needs to establish a good relationship with collectors by working WITH them. If he would just ask for collectors to voluntarily & privately offer the names of the Purple Hearts in their collections, I'm sure many would be happy to do so! From here Capt Fike can find out if there is a family member alive that is interested in the medal(s) and something can be worked out.

 

It's that easy.

 

 

Capt Fike also needs to realize the irony here. He is working AGAINST the group of people that can help him the most. He should not be telling collectors what they need to do with their medals. Instead, he only needs to ask for our help. If he truly cared about his cause, he should do whatever it took to help it. This article & the comments that Fike makes on his Facebook page do more to hurt his cause than to help it because they are so polarizing. Collectors are doing whatever they can to preserve Purple Hearts. From Fike's perspective, this should be considered a good thing for his organization... this will only make his job easier. This common bond is a start... now he just needs to nurture it!

[Bugme]

I thought it was a well balanced article...

 

From the article: Following a Supreme Court decision in June that effectively overturned a seven-year-old ban on the buying and selling of Purple Hearts in this country...

 

Since this sentence is a complete lie, the thought that this article was well balanced has now been negated.

[Longhorn92]

Fike's contention that "... most Purple Hearts that wind up in thrift shops or in online auctions were not purposely surrendered by families nor meant to be sold but were often lost or misplaced... " is completely false.

 

How can you possibly know that?

 

"Completely false?"

 

If he would just ask for collectors to voluntarily & privately offer the names of the Purple Hearts in their collections, I'm sure many would be happy to do so! From here Capt Fike can find out if there is a family member alive that is interested in the medal(s) and something can be worked out.

 

Disagree. Just have a look at the thread about when the "family comes calling."

 

Most collectors I know would rather eat their own arm than give up a medal to a family member.

[tom2001]

From the article: Following a Supreme Court decision in June that effectively overturned a seven-year-old ban on the buying and selling of Purple Hearts in this country...

 

Since this sentence is a complete lie, the thought that this article was well balanced has now been negated.

 

I've been discussing the same fact with the article's author on his Facebook page. I think I finally got through to him, but the article has not been edited as of this morning.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBillBriggs