Bronze Star Medal
Awarded by the United States of America
Type	Medal
Awarded for	“Heroic or meritorious achievement or service”
Status	Currently awarded
Clasps	The Valor device identifies the award as resulting from an act of combat heroism
Statistics
First awarded	4 February 1944 (Retroactive through 7 December 1941). The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a Military decoration, Civil decoration, or other Medal. The Valor device, also known as a combat distinguishing device, V-device, "V" device, and Combat V, is an award of the Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Last awarded	Currently awarded
Precedence
Next (higher)	Army - Soldier's Medal Navy - Navy and Marine Corps Medal Air Force - Airman's Medal
Next (lower)	Purple Heart
Reverse side of the Bronze Star Medal

The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration which may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States Awards and decorations of the United States military are Military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the U. S. Armed Forces and the 9th highest military award (including both combat and non -combat awards) in the order of precedence of U. S. military decorations.

General information

The medal may be awarded for Valor (ie a particular instance of combat heroism), in which case it is accompanied with an attached V or it may be awarded for Meritorious Achievement (ie doing one's combat job well over a period of time) in which case the medal does not have a valor component and does not have an attached V denoting Valor. Gallantry redirects here Or see Gallant for other meanings Courage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity Most of the bronze stars awarded are meritorious and do not have the V device.

The medal is awarded to a member of the military who, while serving in or with the military of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished him- or herself by:

• Heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight
• 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 United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

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. The Silver Star is the third highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. Awards may also be made to recognize single acts of merit or meritorious service. The required achievement or service, while of lesser degree than that required for the award of the Legion of Merit, must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction. The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding

To be eligible for the Bronze Star Medal, a military member must be receiving hostile fire/imminent danger pay during the event for which the medal is to be awarded.

As of 30 October 2000, the Bronze Star Medal may not be awarded to Department of the Army civilians. Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The Department of the Army is one of the three Service departments in the United States Department of Defense.

The Bronze Star Medal is typically referred to by its full name (including the word “Medal”) to differentiate the decoration from bronze service stars which are worn on campaign medals and service awards. A campaign medal is a Military decoration which is awarded to a member of the military who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical A service medal is a Military award generally of the lowest degree

History

The award that eventually became 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. Russell Potter "Red" Reeder Jr ( 4 March 1902 - 22 February 1998) was a United States Army officer and Reeder felt the medal should be a ground equivalent of the Air Medal, and proposed that the new award be called the “Ground Medal”. ^[1]

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 Air Medal had been adopted two years earlier to raise airmen's morale. The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States which was established by Executive Order 9158 signed by Franklin D President Roosevelt authorized the Bronze Star Medal by Executive Order 9419 dated 4 February 1944, retroactive to 7 December 1941. executive order in the United States is a Directive issued by the President, the head of the executive branch of the federal government Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This authorization was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 3, dated 10 February 1944. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Executive Order was amended by President John F. Kennedy, per Executive Order 11046 dated 24 August 1962, to expand the authorization to include those serving with friendly forces. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This allowed for awards where U. S. servicemembers 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 U. S. was not a belligerent in Vietnam, so U. S. advisors 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 U. S. 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. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF is the official name used by the U The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign

CIB & CMB Conversion

As a result of a study conducted in 1947, the policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal to soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge during World War II. The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB is an award of the United States Army which is presented to those officers warrant officers and enlisted soldiers in the grade The Combat Medical Badge is a decoration of the United States Army which was first created in January 1945. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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 (1878-1960) of Bailey, Banks and Biddle. (Freund also designed the Silver Star. [1])

The Bronze Star is a bronze star 1½ inches (38 mm) in circumscribing diameter. In the center thereof is a 3/16 inch (4. 8 mm) 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 ribbon by a rectangular shaped metal loop with the corners rounded. The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 1/32 inch (1 mm) white 67101; 9/16 inch (14 mm) scarlet 67111; 1/32 inch (1 mm) white; center stripe 1/8 inch (3 mm) ultramarine blue 67118; 1/32 inch (1 mm) white; 9/16 inch (14 mm) scarlet; and 1/32 inch (1 mm) white.

Devices

Additional awards of the Bronze Star Medal are denoted in the Army and Air Force by oak leaf clusters. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. An oak leaf cluster or oakleaves is a common device which is placed on U The Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard issue award stars to denote subsequent decorations. An award star is a decoration issued by the United States military in lieu of multiple awards of the same award for example a second and subsequent Legion of Merit

The Valor device (or “V device”) is authorized by all services and identifies the award as resulting from an act of combat heroism (as in the case of the army and air force) or signifying that the medal was earned in combat (as in the case of the navy), thus distinguishing it from meritorious achievement awards. The Valor device, also known as a combat distinguishing device, V-device, "V" device, and Combat V, is an award of the However, an accumulation of minor acts of combat heroism does not justify an award of the Valor device. Combat service deserving a bronze star, but not achieved in a particular valorous act, would warrant a meritorious bronze star. The Valor device does not denote an additional award. Only one may be worn on any ribbon.

Legal

Any false verbal, written or physical claim to an award or decoration authorized for wear by authorized military members or veterans is a federal felony offense punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.

Notes

External links

• Air Force Personnel Center information on the Bronze Star
• US Army Institute of Heraldry: Bronze Star Medal