The Department of Defense has plans to create a searchable database of military awards and medals.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said the details are not worked out, but the intention is to have a digital record on a range of military awards going back as far as possible, partly to address the growing problem of people lying about military honors.
The move is in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other military decorations. A database would make it easier to check on award claims, and perhaps would deter some who would make false public claims.
Little said no final decisions have been made about the type of government database that would be created, but the goal would be to have it include information not only about recipients of the Medal of Honor, but also those who hold other decorations for valor, such as the Silver Star and Bronze Star.
“There are some complexities involved in looking back into history,” Little said. “We would obviously hope to be able to go as far back as possible, but we also want there to be integrity in the data. So these are factors that are being weighed, and we’re in the process of exploring those options. So the door is open.”
