Agents bring medals home

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Five dark-suited FBI agents showed up at Patriots Point on Friday with two Civil War-era Medals of Honor.

And while the agents had few details about the investigation it took to bring the medals to their new home, they didn't mince words when it came to describing the kind of people involved in the theft of the nation's highest military honor.

"I can't imagine anything more despicable than taking away the honor of those people who earned those medals," said David Thomas, South Carolina special agent in charge.

The FBI investigates stolen and counterfeit Medals of Honor nationwide. A judge, a police chief and a mayor are among those who have been arrested in these types of cases.

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. James Livingston accepted the star-shaped decorations Friday from Thomas at a reception in the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum, which is housed aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown.

Neither of the two medals was recovered in South Carolina, Thomas said, but he would offer no additional information about where they were or how agents found them.

Livingston recounted the stories behind the medals: Thomas Jenkins, a Navy seaman aboard the USS Cincinnati, continued fighting even after realizing both he and his ship were doomed. George Emmons served in two separate enlistments, each time with one of his sons.

Livingston, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor

recipient who lives locally, said each star "represents the spirit of service of all Americans."

Speaking to the FBI agents, he said, "I think what you've done is bring back a little bit of America to the Medal of Honor Museum."

The FBI began pursuing stolen and counterfeit Medals of Honor even before Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act in 2006. That legislation made it a federal crime to falsely represent oneself as an award recipient and stiffened penalties for those who make or sell unauthorized military decorations.

In 2004, the FBI busted a Canadian man for allegedly selling Medals of Honor on Ebay. In 2007, a Pomona, Calif., water district official faced federal charges for making a false claim that he received the Medal of Honor.

Some of the suspects "displayed them very prominently in their offices," Thomas said. "How do you explain something like that?"

He said sentences vary by case.

S.C. Senate leader Glenn McConnell, who dealt in Confederate memorabilia for decades, said nobody ever brought him a Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor bestowed in the U.S. armed forces.

"On a Medal of Honor, I'd be suspicious," he said. "Why is that out there in the public realm?"

The two Civil War medals delivered to Patriots Point on Friday bring the collection there to 26. The Medal of Honor Museum keeps only one each from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force on display, according to operations director Victoria Kueck. She said the others stay in safes.

In 2004, someone stole seven medals from the museum by prying the top lid from a glass casing. Since then, the museum installed security cameras, motion detectors and glass sensors.

Officials know the same amount about where those seven medals went as where the newest additions came from.

"It's considered an open, pending investigation, and (FBI agents) are not at liberty to share any details about it," Kueck said. "We can just keep our fingers crossed the medals will show up one day."