Editor, News-Register:

Once again, our wayward Congressman Riley Moore has introduced a misguided proposal–this time co�’sponsoring legislation to create a campaign medal for military personnel stationed at the Southern Border. At best, this initiative is ignorant; at worst, it amounts to political theater, reducing our troops to props in a publicity stunt.

Campaign medals carry deep and specific meaning in the U.S. military. Historically–from the Spanish�’American War to the present–they have been reserved for service members deployed to combat zones on foreign shores and adjacent waters. Though troops stationed at the border are enduring long separations from loved ones and arduous conditions, the Department of Defense classifies those deployments as non�’combat. As such, these service members are not eligible for hazard duty pay, imminent danger pay, or hostile fire pay. Campaign medals are not only an honor but also a qualification for various state and federal veteran benefits and membership in organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars. To institute a campaign medal for border operations risks diluting the meaning of such honors for those who faced the hazards of war.

Congressman Moore, who has never served in uniform, appears to misunderstand the gravity of military service. He is more than willing to pose for photo�’ops–such as one in El Salvador in front of locked�’up prisoners–but apparently lacks the courage to face his own constituents in a town�’hall setting. Mr. Moore, stick to the cameras–and leave national defense to the patriots who actually bear the burden.

Steven Wendelin

Wheeling

Commander, USN (retired)