As some of you know, I've had two friends, married to each other, both in the 101st Airborne and both currently deployed to Afghanistan since around Dec. of last year.  I heard yesterday that they will be coming back on or about July 15 or so.  I also heard that they both will be receiving the Bronze Star in a ceremony before they leave.

The Purple is when you're wounded, the Silver is for exceptional bravery under fire (right?), what's the Bronze for?

Thanks,

Merlin

[url]http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/armedal/blbsm.htm?once=true&[/url]

Mike

PS - isn't it amazing what 30 seconds on Microsoft search will get ya [:)]

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3-13. Bronze Star Medal
a. The Bronze Star Medal was established by Executive Order 9419, 4 February 1944 (superseded by Executive Order 11046, 24 August 1962).

b. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

c. Awards may be made for acts of heroism, performed under circumstances described above, which are of lesser degree than required for the award of the Silver Star.

d. The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded for meritorious achievement or meritorious service according to the following:

(1) Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or meritorious service. The lesser degree than that required for the award of the Legion of Merit must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction.

(2) Award may be made by letter application to Commander, ARPERCEN, ATTN: DARP-VSE-A, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132-5200 (enclosing documentary evidence, if possible), to each member of the Armed Forces of the United States who after 6 December 1941, has been cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945, inclusive, or whose meritorious achievement has been other wise confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. For this purpose, an award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge is considered as a citation in orders. Documents executed since 4 August 1944 in connection with recommendations for the award of decorations of higher degree than the Bronze Star Medal will not be used as the basis for an award under this paragraph.

(3) Upon letter application, award of the Bronze Star Medal may be made to eligible soldiers who participated in the Philippine Islands Campaign between 7 December 1941 to 10 May 1942. Performance of duty must have been on the island of Luzon or the Harbor Defenses in Corregidor and Bataan. Only soldiers who were awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (Presidential Unit Citation) may be awarded this decoration. Letter application should be sent to the Commander, ARPERCEN, ATTN: DARP-VSE-A, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132-5200.

[url=http://www.americal.org/awards/achv-svc.htm]bs[/url]

[img]http://www.americal.org/awards/moh1.gif[/img]


The Medal of Honor is the highest medal awarded by the United States. It has only been awarded 3,428 times in the nation's history. Below is an excerpt of the Army regulation that describes the eligibility criteria for award of the Medal of Honor...


a. The Medal of Honor [Army], section 3741, title 10, United States Code (10 USC 3741), was established by Joint Resolution of Congress, 12 July 1862 (amended by acts 9 July 1918 and 25 July 1963).


b. The Medal of Honor is awarded by the President in the name of Congress to a person who, while a member of the Army, distinguishes himself or herself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.

From chapter 3-6, Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) dated 25 February 1995
[url=http://www.americal.org/awards/moh.htm]moh[/url]

Sorry to hear about that, Joe.  
It was awarded to my father on Dec. 10, 1970 in the Republic of Viet Nam for heroic achievements in combat at personal risk to his own life.  
He turned down the purple heart they were going to give him for chipping his tooth on his black rifle in combat.
[sniper]
Incidentally, the action in question took place 2 years to the day before I was born.
[:D]

Thanks, I knew I could count on you guys!

Merlin

Maybe things have changed, but when I was in the Army in the late 1960’s, there were two very different Bronze Stars.

One was the regular award, which was for merit.   It was given out pretty freely in combat zones - I’ve actually heard of motor pool sergeants getting them (nothing against motor pool sergeants, of course).

The other is the Bronze Star with “V” device, which was a combat award.  The “V” device stood for “valor” and was a small metal letter “V” attached both to the cloth of the medal and to the ribbon.  IMHO this is the only one that really amounts to anything.  However, based on what was posted above, I’m wondering if it is still awarded.

This is not meant to offend anyone, but the Bronze Star is basically a combat ARCOM. All of out PSG's, PL's, and higher received Bronze Stars for leading troops in combat during the Gulf War. One PFC serving with LRRSD did get rotated into our unit and had a Bronze Star with "V" device (Valor) for duties behind enemy lines.

There are not two types of Bronze Star; The "V" device is simply an annotation, just like bronze service stars, numbers, leaves, etc...