This Marine didn’t earn the medals he wore …

Would you wear someone else’s medals?

One Marine thought it was okay to do so.

In January of this year, a story written by Christine Hauser appeared in the New York Times reporting the outcome of a lawsuit over a former Marine wearing medals he didn’t earn …

A federal court in California has ruled that a former Marine can wear service medals he did not earn, saying that displaying them was a form of free speech.

The case involving Elven Joe Swisher, an Idaho man who enlisted in the Marines after the Korean War, touched on a sensitive issue that has wound through Congress and the courts, and has been scrutinized by groups dedicated to confirming when people, either motivated by profit or status, claim to be military heroes but are not.

On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled that Mr. Swisher, who was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1957, had the right to wear the medals, including the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, even though he had not been awarded them.

Larry C. Kinard, the national president of the Korean War Veterans Association, said bogus claims were an affront to those like his friend, a former Korean War Marine who lost a leg and an eye.

“It is very important that those who wear any kind of decoration earned what they wear,” said Mr. Kinard.

One of the most extensive treatments on the subject is in the book “Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History.” A co-author of the 1998 book, B. G. Burkett, has said he helped expose the fictitious military stories of about 1,800 people.

Upon first reading this story, you may feel yourself provoked to outrage. How dare someone try to take the credit for the bravery and courage of someone else who rightly earned the distinction displayed by the awarding of medals!

But wait.

None of us can claim the courage and bravery of Jesus who steadfastly set His direction for Jerusalem, there to offer up His own life for ours so that we may have victory over sin and death.

We share in His victory!

You might say, we wear His medals!

The Apostle John stated it this way: “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith,” 1 John 5:4.

Through the battle Jesus took up on our behalf, we are overcomers from that which would destroy us. We did not earn this victory we share in, but we enjoy the fullness of it.

“And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God,” 1 John 5:5.

With the medal of the Cross, and the Silver Star of an empty tomb metaphorically pinned on our chests, we now proclaim to the world it has a true Hero …

“But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume,” 2 Corinthians 2:14.

Scotty