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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jwt708, post: 3790682, member: 32619&quot;]First, I think it&#039;s important to discuss stolen valor. I don&#039;t think anyone could possibly claim stolen valor because someone possesses a military medal or decoration that they did not earn. Is someone a counterfeiter because they have fake coins or notes in their collection <i>or</i> is that person a counterfeiter when they commit some act of fraud like selling fake coins as real or trying to pass fake notes at a store? Same with stolen valor. Without someone to preserve military uniforms, documents, medals, etc. that history will be lost. Unless you&#039;re pinning the medals on your chest and going around trying to get discounts or reap some other benefit, no valor has been stolen. In my mind, if an individual can preserve a medal and it&#039;s accompanying order then they have preserved that valor, not exploited it. </p><p><br /></p><p>So for the National Defense medal, it&#039;s awarded to people who served during a conflict. So yes, because we&#039;re in a conflict, anyone currently serving gets it. I don&#039;t know the history of the medal or if has a more noble past, but today it&#039;s a participation award and doesn&#039;t really count for anything. </p><p><br /></p><p>Good conduct can be trickier. Each branch has it&#039;s own rules about good conduct medals, and it will be important to know what rules were in effect when it was issued. For example, about 12 years ago the Air Force got rid of it, only to bring it back a couple years later. I believe as long as a member doesn&#039;t commit a bad conduct offense (break the law) they are eligible to wear it. So NJP (non-judicial punishment) is not necessarily a bad conduct offense. </p><p><br /></p><p>I can&#039;t speak of these medals historic importance, but today in the Air Force, each is&nbsp; a participation trophy and neither imparts any great impact to an Airman&#039;s career, you get them for showing up.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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