Marine majors have accomplished plenty in the Corps' 230-year history, but tales from "The Terminator" just didn't add up. He'd been a SEAL, a sniper and a pilot. His stories were larger than life, and no one at the Soldiers & Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial in Oakland believed him. But it was the Navy Cross pinned to his dress blues that proved too much to stomach. "He had more battle activity than eight guys together," Ron Gancas, museum president, said about John Eastman, who faces federal charges of impersonating a military officer. "Why he picked this place to B.S. I don't know. Everybody was in the military here."
Eastman, 58, of New Galilee, Beaver County, is accused of falsely wearing a major's insignia at a Veteran's Day function in 2004. He was indicted this year and, if convicted, would face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
If his outcome is anything like that of another imposter prosecuted this year in Pittsburgh, jail time is unlikely. Albert McKelvey, 68, of Richland, faked being a Marine colonel, presenting neatly folded flags to widows at funerals and delivering inspirational speeches to veterans groups. He paid for his transgressions with a $2,500 fine and probation.
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A bill -- the Stolen Valor Act -- making its way through Congress would increase the penalties for imposters and help prosecutors go after phonies. The bill, introduced last year by Democratic Rep. John Salazar, of Colorado, picked up 127 co-sponsors. A Senate version of the bill got support on June 14 from Philadelphia Republican Arlen Specter, whose support insiders say virtually guarantees the bill will make it out of the Senate judiciary committee he chairs. Salazar has said he expects the bill to move through Congress before the session ends in October. "I feel people should be punished," Gancas said. "There are people out there who paid a price to wear those medals on their chest."
Falsely claiming to be in the military or to have earned a medal is a misdemeanor under current law. Imposters can be charged only if they've worn medals or insignia they didn't earn. The penalty is a jail term of up to six months, a fine or both. The new legislation would make the crime a felony and enable prosecutors to charge imposters for simply claiming -- verbally or in writing -- a rank or medals they didn't earn.
That would not bode well for people like Eastman, whose business card read "The Terminator" and boldly stated he was the recipient of the Navy Cross -- the second highest medal awarded in the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard. Under the Stolen Valor Act, falsely claiming to have received the Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star or Purple Heart would double the maximum penalty to up to a year in prison, bringing those medals in line with the Medal of Honor. "There's more phony recipients out there than real ones," said Joe Marm, the only one of 111 living Medal of Honor recipients who hails from Western Pennsylvania. Marm, a native of Washington, Washington County, received the Medal of Honor as an Army first lieutenant for demonstrating "indomitable courage" during combat in 1965 near Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam.
While attending his son's graduation from Ranger school at Fort Benning, Ga., in the mid-1990s, Marm said, he was introduced along with two other Medal of Honor recipients. One was real. The other -- in full dress blues with the medal around his neck -- was a phony. Marm turned him in to the FBI that afternoon. "Anything they can do to tighten up the laws -- not just for Medal of Honor recipients, but all medals -- is a good thing," said Marm, who now lives in North Carolina. The FBI has investigated more than 100 cases of phonies during the past decade and has about 20 open cases against people impersonating military officers.
Should the Stolen Valor Act become law, investigators would be able to go after many more, said Doug Sterner of Pueblo, Colo. Sterner operates homeofheroes.com, a Web site dedicated to honoring veterans. His work has made him a de facto hunter of phonies. "The problem is, there are scores of people who go unpunished because they slip through the loopholes of the laws as they're written," said Sterner, whose wife, Pamla, helped draft the Stolen Valor Act. "For every one who gets punished, there are hundreds who aren't."
Sterner said thousands of people nationwide falsely claim to be military officers or to have earned ranks and honors. Many of them are smart enough not to don the fake medals or ribbons, he said.
An Arizona newspaper ran a two-page story about a local Army "hero" who captured Saddam Hussein in Iraq, routed the Taliban in Afghanistan and liberated Haiti. A color photo showed his framed medal collection, including two Silver Stars, the Distinguished Service Cross, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. The stories -- and medals -- were lies.
For years, an Illinois district judge displayed two Medals of Honor in a framed case in his chambers. There have been only 18 dual recipients in U.S. history, and Judge Michael O'Brien wasn't one of them. Nor is he one of the 111 living Medal of Honor recipients.
L. Ron Hubbard, the late founder of Scientology, claimed to have earned 27 military medals, including two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. In reality, the Navy says he earned just four -- the same basic medals awarded all sailors who served in the Pacific during World War II.
Falsely claiming to have earned ranks and medals isn't a victimless crime, officials say. A North Carolina college student was prosecuted after claiming military status that exempted her from more than $42,000 in tuition and fees. Meredith College officials believed their honor student was an accomplished Air Force pilot, who flew only on weekends. She wasn't.
A Florida widow lost more than $45,000 to a con who claimed to have led a SEAL unit in Vietnam. He didn't.
Although most imposters don't gain financially, they do get benefits such as access to people and events they wouldn't be privy to otherwise, said Tom Cottone, an FBI agent in New Jersey who has specialized in busting frauds for more than a decade. "They're doing it to garner unearned respect and dignity based on their 'heroic' military exploits," Cottone said. "These people are literally stealing the valor of people who really did it, and they're taking advantage of the trust of the American people."
Cottone hopes the Stolen Valor Act becomes law. "It will close some loopholes and send a message," Cottone said. "You will get charged. Don't do it." 
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