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Post by samSForce on Dec 14, 2007 1:09:44 GMT -5
There are quite a few US medals and ribbons that the United States' Military can earn for the War on Terror. Do you think this is too much, too little or just right?
United States Military National Defense Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Afghanistan Campaign Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
US Department of Transportation 9-11 Medal 9-11 Ribbon
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Post by Erwin Rommel on Dec 14, 2007 13:03:11 GMT -5
Not sure why there are 'expeditionary' and 'service' medals because if you get an 'expeditionary' medal you must be serving... So you should get a 'service' medal as well. Or maybe I just have no clue what I'm talking about lol. But yeah, outside of that it seems like enough, maybe too little. European armies get so many more awards and are way more highly decorated than our own army is. Granted, just because Europe has many doesn't mean we need to as well, but when you compare, we definitely have less, so I think it's all alright.
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Post by melody on Dec 15, 2007 6:55:12 GMT -5
it's honorable to be highly decorated, too many however, i think is bad. keep it simple....LOL what am i saying?...this is military...nothing ever 'simple' about it....
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Post by Erwin Rommel on Dec 15, 2007 11:53:37 GMT -5
Nothing wrong with having a bunch of awesome looking medals to decorate your uniform though And I think if people actually know what they stand for, they will feel even more honored when they thank the military personnel; do you get what I mean? Not sure if I typed that out right, but yeah. Like if you see or read about someone who received the Medal of Honor, you just know.
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Post by melody on Dec 15, 2007 18:15:44 GMT -5
yeah i get that, i think it's great, but i do think having a lot of medals to receive for one "mission" is a bit much...narrow it down to "war on terror"...one medal....etc....it just seems to me that 5 medals for one thing is a lot...granted, they each have their own meaning...ok i retract my previous post...lol isn't funny how the thought process works sometimes?...LMAO!!!
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Post by samSForce on Dec 15, 2007 18:27:01 GMT -5
yeah i get that, i think it's great, but i do think having a lot of medals to receive for one "mission" is a bit much...narrow it down to "war on terror"...one medal....etc....it just seems to me that 5 medals for one thing is a lot...granted, they each have their own meaning...ok i retract my previous post...lol isn't funny how the thought process works sometimes?...LMAO!!! lol.....i don't think that was even ALL of them........those were just basically the medals EVERYONE got.... ......now, I got things like the Army Commendation Medal.... and.............most of the 0-4's and above got Bronze Stars..... Which leads to another question.......lol...........what do you all think of the way Bronze Stars have been handed out?.......I suppose that's another highly debatable issue.....
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Post by Erwin Rommel on Dec 16, 2007 13:34:51 GMT -5
yeah i get that, i think it's great, but i do think having a lot of medals to receive for one "mission" is a bit much...narrow it down to "war on terror"...one medal....etc....it just seems to me that 5 medals for one thing is a lot...granted, they each have their own meaning...ok i retract my previous post...lol isn't funny how the thought process works sometimes?...LMAO!!! lol.....i don't think that was even ALL of them........those were just basically the medals EVERYONE got.... ......now, I got things like the Army Commendation Medal.... and.............most of the 0-4's and above got Bronze Stars..... Which leads to another question.......lol...........what do you all think of the way Bronze Stars have been handed out?.......I suppose that's another highly debatable issue..... What's happening with the way they are being distributed? [Agent:2]
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Post by samSForce on Dec 17, 2007 12:55:16 GMT -5
There was a day where receiving a medal as prestigious as the bronze star was a rarity.....now......MANY people have them....if they are deserving, than I'm definitely all for it.....I guess the controversy comes into play when it just kind of appears like the award is somewhat 'cheapened' when it's handed out so much.....there is value in making something rare....or at least seem like it......haven't those diamond company's been trying to do that for years? lol.... ;D [Agent:1]
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Post by Erwin Rommel on Dec 17, 2007 23:11:46 GMT -5
I'm reading "The Few and The Proud" right now and they actually sort of mention how the Stars are being handed out more frequently now for things that, 30, 40 years ago would never have gotten a Star. I think America is in such a need for a modern day MacArthur or even Rommel that we are trying as best we can to give them that by decorating our service members to a point where no matter where you shoot you're going to hit a medal!
Like 'sam' said if they truly deserve it, nothing wrong. But if they're getting 3 purple hearts for scratches *John Kerry.....* then that is just unacceptable and does degrade the meaning of the medal.
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Post by DougKendig on Dec 17, 2007 23:51:01 GMT -5
We had the same issue come up in both world wars Otto. They were passing out medals like hotcakes, but, look what it cost to get one. People were scoffing at the medals back then too. And yesterday, John Kerry makes an issue of it to scoff once again...
Yeah Sam, today, we got a tragic situation over there..people gettin cut to pieces with both hi tech chit and IED's and gettin patched back up to go right back out... and still people scoff at the thought that these medals might be given too freely.
I think, if a Soldier puts on a uniform, he should get his first medal. The one that looks like a UNIT PATCH. And then when he gets his rifle, he should get another one THAT LOOKS LIKE A BOLO BADGE with chevrons to describe his specialty even. And then when he gets his Duty Station, he should get another one...it says "This is where I stand and represent" - call it maybe an OVERSEAS DUTY RIBBON or something weird like that.... and after his first year, hell, give him another ribbon... just cause we like him so far... call it a MILITARY SERVICE RIBBON or some such rather.... But when a man stands and faces an armed enemy, who is not only trying to take his life, he passes a milestone in the mark of what it means to be a combat soldier. There is no medal for this. ...and thousands die Bronze star? Man, I dont think they give out enough medals to my Brothers on the line. Honestly. And it is good that they represent "heroism under fire" ...but why not just one for "Yeah a$$hole, I played that game too" ? It's no game to be shot at. ..and most guys that get decorated for valor will tell you the same thing...it was out of necessity (same as doing a job), not because they saw ribbons raining down on them later. Mark the guy who does this ..certainly, but, I can think where I would like to plant 150,000 medals right now... so, I agree with decorating these guys as much as possible. THEY ARE heros... you ALL are. a Bronze star? Man, give the guys a house and a car when they come home....give the guys a life for risking theirs above and beyond... d**n right. ...and the John Kerry's of the world will be known. They ALL will be known. When you stand beside a guy that claims he did something you know he didn't, that is a POSER and baby NOBODY likes a POSER...not even the DEVIL. They will get based out... let em hang theirselves... sure its disgraceful, but these people disgrace more than this and themselves. They belittle the rest who earned it and they wont stand for it and niether will their Brothers in arms... we take care of our own do we not? Good and bad. Sam, I oughta give you a medal for writing this post bro... MEDAL for SEEKING THE TRUTH..in a world full of LIARS. (Good luck!) I got ya covered bro... SHOOT TO KILL
(and if that hot brass sticks to my A$$ while I'm waitin for you to advance FIRST, so I can sit here on my duff and lay down some supression? -nah brah, the purple hearts in MY DAD's war box aint goin down like THAT!)
[Agent:1]
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Post by melody on Dec 19, 2007 10:52:14 GMT -5
one of my friends used to be a marine...(well, technically still is, due to "once a marine always a marine)...he's a vet now i guess would be better to say...anyway, when he served in iraq, he got shrapnel in his arm and got a purple heart...granted, that's a big deal and could have been serious...but he didn't lose his arm, it still works just fine....i think that the purple heart should go to those that are seriously injured...the loss of a limb, or serious wounds....
when it comes down to it...in my opinion....is that medals or no medals, ribbons or no ribbons....what matters is that you know where you've been and what you've done and are proud of it. you will forever have the priveledge of calling yourself a Marine, An Airman, A sailor, A soldier, A coastie and a United States Military Veteran. ......the name says it all.......medals and ribbons are great....but there will be a point in your life where you won't wear them anymore....glory in what you've done will last forever!
[Agent:1]
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Post by Erwin Rommel on Dec 19, 2007 21:08:16 GMT -5
Very very sticky topic. But I'm going to use an example from the movie "Patton". When Patton was in the tent where he hit the soldier, remember the guy who he patched the Purple Heart to his pillow? The guy was likely in critical condition with a slim chance of surviving. Now he gets 1 Purple Heart for it. This is where it gets sticky because when someone like that gets a Purple Heart and then you get a Purple Heart for shrapnel, it's sort of like...... Yeah. Not trying to in any way shape or form belittle a person's sacrifice because their wounds weren't as grievous as someone else's but I think we really need to revamp our system for awarding medals.
Soldiers know what they sign up for, and after reading many books and watching interviews with soldiers, many who have attained a great medal will say they are just doing there job. And this is true! While we should not stop the giving out of medals, I think we must limit it. We prize things more valuable if they are harder to attain, and as such if Silver or Bronze Star's are awarded more sparingly, their value in the eyes of the nation will increase drastically! Soldiers know when they sign up they run the risk of being injured. Just like a police officer does. Do Police Officer's get Purple Hearts? Last time I checked, no, but I may be wrong.. But I doubt it.
Medals must be given with the greatest care and the utmost respect to the person achieving it. Too many medals diminishes their importance, and someone having a Purple Heart for a scratch and another person has a Purple Heart for a lost leg... Well I think ya'll get my point.
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Post by daboogas94e on Dec 31, 2007 14:41:22 GMT -5
This was very true for me when I was deployed to Iraq in 05-06. The biggest thing was that there were people getting medals for sitting around doing nothing while myself and several other people got nothing. MSM's were being thrown around at the officer's like nothing while us enlisted were being given ARCOM's. What kind of B.S. is that? Another thing, I got screwed on my CAB because my commander conveniently forgot to turn in my paperwork and like before, people who never left camp got them no problem because a mortar just happened to land in the motor pool and they were somewhat close.
This topic really gets me fired up because I saw how messed up the award system is because I deserved more than what I got but that doesn't really matter now because I made it home. My family, my best friend that was there with me, and I know what I went through and how I handled the situations over there and thats really all that matters
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Post by Stan on Jan 1, 2008 21:04:53 GMT -5
There is a difference between the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medals. The service medal is given to everyone that is on active duty during the war on terrorism. Expeditionary you have to serve in an particular area or ship/boat that is directly involved with the war. I got mine for our boats efforts on 9/11
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