https://www.stripes.com/news/europe...-15-000-at-german-auction-house-1.631610AUSTIN, Texas – A German auction house sold a U.S. Medal of Honor on Thursday at triple the expected price after Sen. Ted Cruz called for the sale to be stopped.
Hermann Historica, an auction house in Munich, Germany, expected to take in about $5,000 for the medal, which was awarded to Army Pvt. Thomas Kelly for his actions during the Spanish-American War. Instead, the medal sold for nearly $15,500, said Bernhard Pacher, the managing director of Hermann Historica, which specializes in military-related items.
“People appreciate these things,” Pacher said, adding he doesn’t understand why Cruz finds selling the medals disrespectful. Most buyers spend the money on the items because they hold them in high regard, he said.
On Tuesday, Cruz, R-Texas, wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking for him to intervene in the sale. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award and selling military medals awarded by Congress is illegal in the United States. Federal law authorizes fines of up to $100,000 and a year in jail.
A day later, Joe Daniels, president and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum, joined Cruz in his efforts by writing to a number of U.S. federal government officials to stop the sale.
