The Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest individual military award and the ninth-highest
by order of precedence in the US Military. It may be awarded for acts of heroism, acts
of merit, or meritorious service in a combat zone. When awarded for acts of heroism, the
medal is awarded with the "V" device. The medal is sometimes referred to as the
Bronze Star. Foreign soldiers, as well as officers from the other federal uniformed
services are also eligible to receive the decoration when serving with or alongside
a service branch of the United States Armed Forces.
General information The Bronze Star Medal was established by Executive
Order 9419, 4 February 1944. The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded by the Secretary of a
military department or the Secretary of Homeland Security with regard to the Coast Guard when
not operating as a service in the Navy, or by such military commanders, or other appropriate
officers as the Secretary concerned may designate, to any person who, while serving in any capacity
in or with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard of the United States,
after 6 December 1941, distinguishes, or has distinguished, herself or himself by heroic
or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight—
(a) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(b) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
(c) 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 acts of heroism are of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Silver
Star. The acts of merit or acts of valor must be less than that required for the Legion
of Merit but must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction. The Bronze
Star Medal is awarded only to service members in combat who are receiving imminent danger
pay. The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded to each
member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, after 6 December 1941, was 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. For this purpose, the US Army's Combat Infantryman
Badge or Combat Medical Badge award 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 cannot be used as the basis for an award under this paragraph.
Effective 11 September 2001, the Meritorious Service Medal may also be bestowed in lieu
of the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in a designated combat theatre.
History The Bronze Star Medal was conceived by Colonel
Russell P. "Red" Reeder in 1943, who believed it would aid morale if there was a medal which
could be awarded by captains of companies or batteries to deserving people serving under
them. Reeder felt another medal was needed to be a ground equivalent of the Air Medal,
and proposed that the new award be called the "Ground Medal".
The idea eventually rose through the military bureaucracy and gained supporters. General
George C. Marshall, in a memorandum to President Franklin D. Roosevelt dated 3 February 1944,
wrote
The fact that the ground troops, Infantry in particular, lead miserable lives of extreme
discomfort and are the ones who must close in personal combat with the enemy, makes the
maintenance of their morale of great importance. The award of the Air Medal has had an adverse
reaction on the ground troops, particularly the Infantry Riflemen who are now suffering
the heaviest losses, air or ground, in the Army, and enduring the greatest hardships.
The Air Medal had been adopted two years earlier to raise airmen's morale. President Roosevelt
authorised the Bronze Star Medal by Executive Order 9419 dated 4 February 1944, retroactive
to 7 December 1941. This authorisation was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 3,
dated 10 February 1944. The Executive Order was amended by President
John F. Kennedy, per Executive Order 11046 dated 24 August 1962, to expand the authorisation
to include those serving with friendly forces. This allowed for awards where US service members
might be involved in an armed conflict where the United States was not a belligerent. At
the time of the Executive Order, for example, the US was not a belligerent in Vietnam, so
US advisers serving with the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces would not have been eligible
for the award. Since the award criteria state that the Bronze
Star Medal may be awarded to "any person...while serving in any capacity in or with" the US
Armed Forces, awards to members of foreign armed services serving with the United States
are permitted. Thus, a number of Allied soldiers received the Bronze Star Medal in World War
II, as well as U.N. soldiers in the Korean War, Vietnamese and allied forces in the Vietnam
War, and coalition forces in recent military operations such as the Gulf War, Operation
Enduring Freedom and the Iraq War. A number of Bronze Star Medals with the "V" device
were awarded to veterans of the Battle of Mogadishu.
World War II infantry award As a result of a study conducted in 1947,
the policy was implemented that authorised the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal
to all soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge
during World War II. The basis for doing this was that the badges were awarded only to soldiers
who had borne the hardships which resulted in General Marshall's support of the Bronze
Star Medal. Both badges required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders.
Appearance The Bronze Star Medal was designed by Rudolf
Freund of jewellery firm Bailey, Banks & Biddle. The Bronze Star Medal is a bronze star 1 1⁄2
inches in circumscribing diameter. In the center thereof is a 3⁄16 inch diameter superimposed
bronze star, the center line of all rays of both stars coinciding. The reverse has the
inscription "HEROIC OR MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT" and a space for the name of the recipient
to be engraved. The star is suspended from the suspension ribbon by a rectangular shaped
metal loop with the corners rounded. The suspension ribbon is 1 3⁄8 inches wide and consists
of the following stripes: 1⁄32 inch white 67101; 9⁄16 inch scarlet 67111; 1⁄32 inch
white; center stripe 1⁄8 inch ultramarine blue 67118; 1⁄32 inch white; 9⁄16 inch
scarlet; and 1⁄32 inch white. Devices
Additional awards of the Bronze Star Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters in the Army
and Air Force and 5/16 inch stars in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
The "V" device may be authorised for wear on specific decorations awarded to any service
member. In the Army and Air Force the device denotes that a specific individual decoration
resulted from an act of combat heroism. In the Navy and Marine Corps, the Combat "V"
may be authorised for wear to denote valor or being exposed to personal hazard involving
direct participation in combat operations. Only one "V" device may be worn on the suspension
and service ribbon of specific medals and or specific unit award ribbons depending on
each service branch's regulations for use of the device.
The Bronze Star Medal with "V" device is the United States military's fourth highest decoration
for valor. Notable recipients
Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States.
Rudy Boesch, US Navy SEAL Master Chief Petty Officer and Survivor contestant.
Edward Brooke, US Senator. Sudip Bose, US Army medic
William Derwood Cann, Jr., mayor of Monroe, Louisiana.
Edward M. Carmouche, Louisiana Democratic Party chairman and attorney in Lake Charles,
earned three Bronze Stars in World War II. Ramon Colon-Lopez, US Air Force Chief Master
Sergeant, for valor. Tom Cotton, US Representative.
John Connally, Governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Treasury.
Cordelia E Cook, first woman to receive this military award.
Chuck Daigh, American racing driver. Gray Davis, Governor of California
Bob Dole, US Senator and presidential nominee. Dominick Dunne, author and producer; father
of Dominique Dunne, Griffin Dunne and Alexander Dunne.
Charles Durning, actor. Dale Dye, American actor.
Martin H. Foery, US Army general. Henry Fonda, actor.
Marshall Fredericks, sculptor. Joseph L. Galloway, war correspondent and
author. Salvatore Giunta, US Army soldier and Medal
of Honor recipient. David Hackworth, highly decorated US Army
colonel and critic of US military policy. Oren W. Haglund, Production manager of eleven
ABC/Warner Brothers television series from 1955 to 1961.
Ernest Hemingway, legendary author. John Kerry, US Senator and Secretary of State.
Ron Kovic, anti-war activist and author. Bill Koll, Olympian.
Chris Kyle, US Navy SEAL. Jessica Lynch, US Army soldier and POW in
Iraq. John L. Loos, American historian.
Sandy MacGregor, Australian Army officer who was the first to explore the Cu Chi tunnels.
Donald Malarkey, US Army sergeant who fought in World War II.
Victor Maghakian, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War II.
John McCain, US Navy captain, Vietnam POW, US Senator and presidential nominee.
Timothy McVeigh, US Army sergeant, Oklahoma City bomber.
Hal Moore, US Army general. Audie Murphy, US Army soldier, World War II
Medal of Honor recipient and actor. María Inés Ortiz, US Army captain and first
nurse killed since the Vietnam War. Leroy Petry, US Army soldier and Medal of
Honor recipient. Colin Powell, US Army general and former US
Secretary of State. Rod Serling, television writer and producer
of The Twilight Zone. Lloyd Shapley, 2012 Nobel laureate in economics.
James Peyton Smith, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1964 to 1972
Wayne Smith, member of the Texas House of Representatives from Baytown since 2003; veteran
of Vietnam War. W. E. "Pete" Snelson, member of both houses
of the Texas State Legislature from 1961 to 1983
Oliver Stone, American director. Joseph Wapner, judge on The People's Court.
Dennis Wheatley, British writer and novelist Richard Winters, US Army officer who fought
in World War II. Max Wolff, Brazilian Army sergeant who fought
in World War II. Chuck Yeager, US Air Force general and test
pilot; first American to break the sound barrier. US Air Force criteria controversy
In 2012, two female airmen were allegedly subjected to cyber-bullying after receiving
Bronze Star Medals for meritorious non-combat service. The two airmen, who had received
the medals in March 2012, had been finance NCOICs in medical units deployed to the War
in Afghanistan. The awards sparked a debate as to whether or not the Air Force was awarding
too many medals to its members, and whether the Bronze Star should be awarded for non-combat
service. This prompted the Air Force to take down stories of the two posted to the internet,
and to clarify its criteria for awarding medals. The Air Force contended that meritorious service
awards of the Bronze Star outnumber valor awards, and that it views awards on a case-by-case
basis to maintain the integrity of the award. But this is not the first time that the USAF
has come under fire in the past for offering this award. The Department of Defense investigated
the award of the Bronze Star Medal by the USAF to some 185 individuals after operations
in Kosovo in 1999. All but 25 were awarded to officers, and only 1 in 10 of those awarded
were actually in the combat zone. Five were awarded to officers that never left Whiteman
Air Force Base in Missouri. During this campaign, the Navy had awarded 69 BSMs, and the Army
with 5,000 troops in neighbouring Albania awarded none. In the end, there was a Pentagon
review and decision by Congress to stop the awarding of Bronze Stars to personnel outside
the combat zone. See also
Category:Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal References