xzins wrote:
You must see post #46. The chaplain who is the focus of this article is a Freeper, and he posts at #46.
It had been during the entirety of my career the military’s practice to award 2 types of bronze stars, one for valor with a “V” device and one for service with no device. That has not changed.
The bronze star is parallel to the peacetime award known as the Meritorious Service Medal. The Silver Star is parallel to the Legion of Merit.
I always preferred they award, for exceptional service in war zones, the MSM with some kind of “C” device (combat?) rather than a bronze star, but they don’t. It would certainly make more sense given the nature of modern warfare in which some via satellite/cyber-world/etc. thousands of miles from the combat zone have been awarded bronze stars for service. Make no mistake, though, the service rendered is important with a real impact on the effort in the combat area.
The Silver Star can only be awarded for valor, and I would prefer they have the same standard for the Bronze Star. But, they don’t.
That isn’t the fault of this chaplain who is A FREEPER and who posts at #46 on this thread the real basis of the award.
As a retired chaplain, I guarantee that the description given of a full tour with combat zone responsibility as a trainer for an entire region would legitimately qualify for a service bronze star. We must not succumb to the notion that the only ones giving everything they have during wartime are only on the front lines. To pretend that staff and support roles are not taken seriously, are not sacrificially pursued 24/7 by dedicated troops, and are not deserving of recognition is to pretend that 9/10 of the military does not exist, since that is the historic tooth/tail ratio describing the number of troops it takes to support one combat soldier on the firing line.
I have always valued the service of our military chaplains but I do take exception to the casual attitude evidenced by the award of a Bronze Star as an “end of tour award”. I don’t care how meritorious support services are, some awards should only be for direct combat service - and the Air Force is infamous for award inflation. I got a Bronze Star too - for running into an open field while several machine guns were firing at me to rescue a badly wounded Marine. I dragged him 75 meters and was shot just as I got him to cover. I spent over a year in the hospital recovering but that guy’s alive today. Same medal. Just like a Meritorious Service Medal?