I'm not going to encourage or discourage anyone from donating their money to this, but I do have a couple questions and a couple suggestions.
Q1. Why does this particular soldier not have enough money to make ends meet, such that he decided (of all things) he had to pawn his purple hearts? Why is he so in debt or overcommitted that he did this? Doesn't he get paid twice a month? His creditors can't wait? He can't invoke the Soldier's and Sailor's Act (the one which precludes suits and judgments against servicemembers by their creditors) against his creditors? Why didn't he "lose" his TA-50 (or even just his rain parka) - he'd have gotten more for that than he could for a purple heart or two?
Q2. Why would any pawn shop want to loan against these medals? You can buy just about any medal (save a Medal of Honor) on EBay or from the various sutlers and Army-Navy surplus outfits for well under $100. The value involved is minimal - doing the paperwork would make it unprofitable.
Q3. You mean to tell me his first sergeant or sergeant major didn't have a little slush fund set aside in the company to loan to soldiers who are coming up short? Every first sergeant and sergeant major I've ever known either had one or could point to someone who did. Not a lot of money - a couple hundred at most - but enough to tide over a soldier who had a bad series of events hit him all at once. And it was for legitimate debts or problems - which this situation does not strike me as being.
This strikes me as the kind of public relations stunt that gets sprung just in advance of the holidays to get everyone talking about it over the holiday dinner and, in so doing, guide the discussion for the coming months or year or so. We're about due to have this pop up now, because stories like this are the kind of thing that takes a couple days to propagate. I remember the Great Ebonics Scandal of 1995 or 1996, which got sprung right before the holidays, set off angry conversations over many holiday tables, and you still remember today. It was also total bullshit. This is more of the same thing. "Oh, the poor soldiers" we're supposed to feel, and genuflect while reaching for our wallets. He volunteered for the privilege of serving and, if he's so irresponsible or feckless with his money that he decided to pawn his medals, he should be chaptered to make room for a better, more responsible replacement.
Oh, and this pawn shop now has its name, address, phone and contact info spread all over the web in front of many, many eyes and the soft minds behind them. Pretty effective free advertising spread for free, no?
Second suggestion: This belongs on the odds-and-ends thread until such time as it disappears from the web.
Last edited by Dave in Maine; 12/23/11 10:39 AM.
