Over 100 US veterans, clergymen to police officers to CEOs, are claiming medals of valor they never earned

Who's Who to vet U.S. vets after Tribune report
Coming Sunday: Tribune finds hundreds falsely claim medals of valor
By John Crewdson | Tribune correspondent
October 25, 2008
More than 100 American veterans, from clergymen to police officers to CEOs, are claiming medals of valor they never earned.

An investigation by the Tribune found that military records failed to support fully a third of the 333 Who's Who profiles claiming medals for courage in combat.

Who's Who, the country's biographical reference standard since its founding in Chicago 110 years ago, spends up to $1.5 million a year checking the educational and work histories submitted by those listed in the volume.

But military decorations? "We never thought anybody would be dumb enough" to lie about those, said Who's Who publisher Jim Pfister, so Who's Who never vetted those. Now it will.

Pfister, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran, decided to do so after a Tribune investigation discovered that a third of the medals for valor claimed by hundreds of Who's Who "biographees" are not supported by their military records. "We will change some of our processes in scrutinizing the awards section," he said.
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