A reader sends the above image:
This portrait of Marshal Zhukov is a good illustration of earning your ostentatious medals. This is how many you get for winning the Eastern Front.
A reader quotes another:
Give servicemembers their medals. They earn them in the service of their country.
As a Marine infantryman who served three tours in Iraq, I say: This is such a typical resort to jingoistic emotional appeal, devoid of any thought or meaning, that would not fly in a discussion about anything but military service. Notice how he refers to his award for graduating from Army basic training. It's essentially an award for being in the Army. At. All.
Below I rate nine awards I've received. Before the invasion of Iraq, I would have been expected to leave the Marine Corps with two in four years – three if I got a Navy Achievement Medal for some fantastic job during a training event. Here's my breakdown in order of precedence from highest to lowest:
Combat Action Ribbon: Officially, this is for taking fire and returning fire in kind. When I was awarded the ribbon, division commanders were given discretion to award the ribbon as they saw fit. I rated the CAR the moment another company in my battalion was mortared so far ahead in the convoy that I didn't even hear the explosion (although in the following deployment I did directly participate in numerous engagements).
Presidential Unit Citation: This is a "good job" to my entire unit from George Bush for participating in the invasion. To my knowledge, most units that invaded Iraq were awarded this irrespective of the details of their efforts.
Meritorious Unit Citation: After I graduated from boot camp, I was placed on "recruiter's assistance" in my hometown because the instructors at the School of Infantry, where I was next scheduled to go, were all on Christmas leave. The recruiting unit was given this award for some distinction I was never made aware of and didn't contribute to.
Good Conduct Medal: I went my first three years without being subject to formal disciplinary measures.
National Defense Service Medal: I served in the military during a time of National Service designated by George Bush. This one is for being in the military at all from 9/11/01 to a future date TBA.
Iraq Campaign Medal with four stars: For three tours in Iraq. In any capacity.
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal: For participating in the invasion of Iraq. In any capacity.
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal: This is for being in a unit that somehow contributes to the "war" effort. Even if it never deploys. It's slightly more exclusive than the National Defense Service Medal.
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with two stars: For three overseas deployments. My deployments were all to fight in Iraq, but I'd have been awarded the same for three stints in Okinawa.
Marines in my unit who performed some exceptional act might be awarded Navy Achievement Medal, or a Navy Commendation Medal, or a Bronze Star. Lots of Purple Hearts floating around too. But that's a ribbon or two on top of the stack of fruit salad we all wear on our dress uniforms. And the Marine Corps tends to be stingier than other branches in awarding medals and ribbons.
Anecdotally, the personal awards are subject to inflation, both generally as the wars have dragged on, and toward higher rank. By the end of my enlistment, Navy Achievement Medals tended to be awarded for acts that would merely have elicited a "nice work" from one's superior when I entered the Marine Corps five years earlier. Also, a company or battalion commander might be awarded a bronze star for his collective actions throughout an entire deployment – essentially for being a good manager – while a private or lance corporal could not hope to receive such an award without charging into a hail of enemy gunfire (and even then it'd be up in the air).
The original reader email that started this mini-thread is here – an email that Peggy Noonan prominently featured in her latest column. To read the entire Dish thread on Petraeus' legacy and related tangents such as this one, go here.
The Dish 