You may already have had the misfortune to have met the ultra-right-wing, militaristic group "Gathering of Eagles" or "Versammlung Von Aar". It was created to harrass anti-war demonstrators under the guise of "guarding our memorials and their grounds". Oh, please.
They are the modern American equivalent of Hitler's Sturmabteilung or "SA" or "brownshirts", using bikers and some veterans to intimidate dissent and make the Right appear strong. They may not have adopted the SA slogan: "Terror must be broken by terror". But they do make themselves clear: "Where there is no offense, there is no effect."
Here's what you can do when you see them: Photograph them, put the pictures on the Internet and report to the authorities probable violations of federal "Stolen Valor Act".
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006,[ is a U.S. law that broadens the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wearing, manufacture or selling of military decorations and medals. It is a federal offense which carries a punishment of prison time and/or a fine; the scope previously covered only the Medal of Honor.
Versammlung Von Aar are, of course, frauds and bullies. Their executive director Pete Hegseth is possibly the most trumped-up young man in the country. I will be doing a diary about him very soon and it will amaze you.
But looking at the "After-Action Reports" these idiots post on the Internet, I find that their members seem regularly to be sporting arrays of war insignia and decorations that seem impossible to account for as authorized wearings. The Stolen Valor Act was created exactly to deal with this kind of behavior and to make it a crime. Decent veterans were increasingly outraged as they saw more and more medals and service badges and patches hanging off the chests, shoulders, arms and biker vests of participants at Vietnam Veterans events. Disreputable and shameless people have been consistently phonying the war records they wear to give themselves moral authority and probably get a lot of free drinks.
One of the favorite sham insignia is the "Screaming Eagle" insignia of the 101st Airborne.
So if your group is confronted by a self-important biker of Versammlung Von Aar with a huge array of medals and service badges, take a picture, put it up on the Internet and alert the authorities. Because you don't want to do this, now do ya.
Update [2007-10-2 14:39:34 by dlawbailey]: For those of you who didn't get the reference, Petraeus is wearing a phony medal and one which steals valor, but one the he is perfectly authorized to wear....at least for now. I've been blogging about almost nothing but that lately.