As a civilian, I never realized the rules for the arrangement of medals were so intricate. You speak of it as if it were a kind of language with a grammar, whose elements must be arranged in a certain way so they can be read correctly. Is this true?
Yes
Can you read a man's career from his medals?
To a degree yes. You can tell where he has been in combat, what awards he received, and what additional special specialties he has.
Can the same medal mean something different depending on its position vis-a-vis the surrounding medals?
To a degree, yes. Some foreign awards can be personal and/or unit awards and are worn in different places based on that. For example I have the RVN cross of Gallantry with Silver Star as a personal award. It is worn in a special designated place with all the others on the right (as you look at the uniform). I also have the RVN Cross of Gallantry with Palm and RVN Honor Medal with Palm as unit awards. they are worn on the left side (left as you look at the uniform from the front).
military awards (medals) are awarded for war service (WWII, Korea, RVN, AFGHAN, Iraq, etc) and for personal war service (MOH, DSC, Silver Star, Bronze Star etc), and for other personal service such as Good Conduct Medal, Army Commendation medal, Meritorious Service Medal, etc.
Note: It usually takes 3 years to earn a good conduct medal - It took me 6.
Personal heroism awards are placed according to the established hierarchy of those awards.
Personal awards are placed on the uniform below heroism awards and according to the award's placement in the established hierarchy.
War service awards are generally placed on the uniform in the order received and below both of the above.
There are also unit awards such as PUC (Presidential Unit Citation), and foreign awards these are worn in different places on the uniform depending on the award and which service you are in.
Then there are badges - Badges generally designate specific specialties and have their own hierarchy.
For example - I have these:
CIB (Combat Infantryman Badge) placed above all the ribbons, denotes personal involvement in the fighting.
Master Parachute badge is placed below all the ribbons. Ditto for Pathfinder badge, HALO badge and combat diver badge. I vaguely recall (many/most of my recalls are getting vague these days) there has been a change and you can wear the (novice, senior or master) Parachute Badge or the HALO badge but not both simultaneously.
I also have the RVN, German, Spanish and Belgian parachute badges and have been authorized by DA to wear all of them - but only one at a time. They go on the left side above the unit awards.
Then there is headgear -
Black Beret is a US Army Soldier
Tan Beret designates Army Ranger
Red Beret is a Paratrooper
Green Beret
There that should make it clear as mud.
EDIT: There are also little pins such as oak leaf clusters and various stars, wreaths and etc, that have special meaning that are affixed to some awards. |
