Medal Rules Had ‘em Buffaloed

The Army has restored a Medal of Honor that was among 911 stripped from recipients when Congress retroactively tightened the rules for the award in 1917. Buffalo Bill, whose real name was William F. Cody, had won the medal in 1872 for valor in leading a cavalry charge against a band of Sioux Indian raiders. “We’ve always contended that once he was awarded the medal, they shouldn’t revoke it--especially after he was dead,” said Buffalo Bill’s grandson, Bill G. Cody, 76. Buffalo Bill, who was an Indian scout, buffalo hunter, Pony Express rider and later became a famous Western showman, was stricken from the Medal of Honor rolls a month after he died. In doing so, Congress held that only enlisted men and officers could receive the award. A scout was considered a civilian, and four other scouts also lost their medals. The award’s reinstatement was announced jointly by GOP Sens. Alan K. Simpson and Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming. “Today’s action by the Army sets the record straight . . . the Army has decided that Buffalo Bill clearly deserves our nation’s highest honor,” Wallop said.

--Anne Droid has recently joined the ranks of store detectives. She’s a mannequin that fights shoplifting with a miniature camera behind one eye, a microphone in one nostril and connections to a monitor and possibly a videotape machine to record offenses as they occur. Inventor F. Jerry Gutierrez said he got the idea for the undercover prop after seeing a miniature camera used for surveillance in a jewelry store. At the time, he was restoring ordinary mannequins. Retailer Eric Freehling went into partnership with Gutierrez. The basic model costs about $2,400, but items such as time-lapse video recorders are extra, Gutierrez said. The product is available in male and female versions, and Gutierrez said a major Denver retailer has ordered 10 mannequins. He would not identify the company or reveal the total mannequins sold. “This is covert surveillance,” he said.

--The 63-year-old charter boat captain said to have been the inspiration for the shark-hunter character in “Jaws” forgot to renew his license and must pass a Coast Guard exam to get it back, after 45 years on the water. “It’s bloody embarrassing,” said Frank Mundus, who has only a ninth-grade education and works out of Montauk, N.Y. “I’m scared to take that test . . . . But I’ll just have to knuckle down and study.” However, Coast Guard spokesman James McGranachan said the service would help Mundus by reading the questions to him. “He doesn’t have to study,” McGranachan said. “He knows everything.”