A neighbor of ours claimed he deserved a purple heart from his service in Italy in 1945. He did not bring this up until about ten years ago. He was shot in the leg. But everyone knew that he most probably did it himself, and most of those people who knew had passed away by then. He got his pastor to vouche for him and he sent in the paper work...ta da! A purple heart ceremony by the VFW! The problem was there were a few old vets who knew the story better and they were angry about it; but without offical records nobody could disclaim it.
David