American Campaign Medal - WW II Criteria: Awarded to service members performing either one year of consecutive duty between December 7, 1941 to March 2, 1946 within the continental borders of the United States, or performing 30 days consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days of duty outside the borders of the United States but within the American Theater of Operations. The American Theater was defined as the entirety of the United States to include most of the Atlantic Ocean, a portion of Alaska, and a small portion of the Pacific bordering California and Baja California. Service stars were authorized to any service member who was engaged in actual combat with Axis forces within the American theater. This primarily applied to those members of the military which had engaged in anti-U-Boat patrols in the Atlantic.
Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal - WWII Criteria: Awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945. There were twenty one official campaigns of the Pacific Theater, denoted on with a service star. The arrowhead device is authorized for those campaigns involving amphibious assaults. Credible campaigns for the Pacific Theater are as follows: Philippine Islands 7 Dec 41 - 10 May 42; Burma, 1942 7 Dec 41 - 26 May 42; Central Pacific 7 Dec 41 - 6 Dec 43; East Indies 1 Jan 42 - 22 Jul 42; India-Burma 2 Apr 42 - 28 Jan 45; Air Offensive, Japan 17 Apr 42 - 2 Sep 45; Aleutian Islands 3 Jun 42 - 24 Aug 43; China Defensive 4 Jul 42 - 4 May 45; Papua 23 Jul 42 - 23 Jan 43; Guadalcanal 7 Aug 42 - 21 Feb 43; New Guinea 24 Jan 43 - 31 Dec 44; Northern Solomons 22 Feb 43 - 21 Nov 44; Eastern Mandates 7 Dec 43 - 14 Jun 44; Bismarck Archipelago 15 Dec 43 - 27 Nov 44; Western Pacific 17 Apr 44 - 2 Sep 45; Leyte 17 Oct 44 - 1 Jul 45; Luzon 15 Dec 44 - 4 Jul 45; Central Burma 29 Jan 45 - 15 Jul 45; Southern Philippines 27 Feb 45 - 4 Jul 45; Ryukyus 26 Mar 45 - 2 Jul 45; China Offensive 5 May 45 - 2 Sep 45. Additionally, the following Pacific Theater “blanket” campaigns qualify - but without service stars: Antisubmarine 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45; Ground Combat: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45; Air Combat: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45.
