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The Air Force is awarding Airman First Class Spencer Stone its highest non-combat honor, the Airman’s Medal, for his heroic actions aboard a Paris train, the Air Force announced Monday. Stone, Alek Skarlatos and college friend Anthony Sadler took down a gunman wielding an AK-47 and box cutter as he began an assault on a high-speed train bound for Paris late Friday. The trio have been hailed as heroes in France, where they were awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honor, on Monday by French president Francois Hollande. “What the gunman did not expect was a confrontation with our...

I need a little help from knowledgeable FR posters. My wife recently came across her father's WWII medals. They were in poor shape. He was a member of Company C, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His company was known as the "Sharpshooters of Munshausen." Anyway, my wife wants to get replacements and we came across a loose clasp that simply said, "1000." Her father was awarded the CIB and also the sharpshooter medal. I am assuming that "1000" means he qualified at 1000 yards. Am I correct?

Hi all-- My wife's family is trying to identify these military medals that belonged either to my father-in-law (post-WWII army) or to his brother-in-law (WWII Navy). We've searched a couple of websites and have identified a bunch of other patches/medals exept for these: and related bar pin? And how about this one?

Medals mean jack. I got a tobacco tin full of them going back a bunch of generations. They made no one's life better. Didn't put food on the table. A lot of them are of the "I was there" variety. Nothing exotic. No life or death charges, just people wanting not to die and usually succeeding. Yesterday I was privileged to watch the awarding of a DSO. It's a rare thing, a bit like the Medal of Honor, except you bleed for it but keep on breathing. Our only higher award is the Victoria Cross. That tends to be given...

President Obama signed an executive order today extending eligibility for the third-highest Defense Department recognition to foreign armies. “Executive Order 12019 of November 3, 1977 (Establishing the Defense Meritorious Service Medal), is amended by inserting, ‘or to any member of the armed forces of a friendly foreign nation,’ after ‘any member of the Armed Forces of the United States,’” said the short order. …

The 2014 Winter Olympic games are in the books, and despite the United States and Russia being tied in the medal count mid-way through Saturday, the Russians pulled away Sunday to win the most medals of any nation. Russia finished with 33 medals overall, including an Olympic-high 13 golds. Launching them to first place were the country's men's cross-country 50 kilometer mass start racers on Sunday. Russia swept that event as Alexander Legkov took gold, Maxim Vylegzhanin took silver and Ilia Chernousov took bronze. The Russians also took gold in the four-man bobsled event. Team U.S.A. was second in overall...

I watched the young American win the Ladies Ski Halfpipe last night. I saw her celebrate with hugs from friends/competitors. I didn't see the Gold being awarded to her.

Did we do it?

All time & each Olympics As you scan the Olympic medal tally, one thing stands out: larger countries tend to win more medals. An obvious exception, especially in 2008, is Australia, who won the fifth largest number of medals with a population of 23 million, 52nd largest of Olympic countries. The obvious next question is: who leads the world in medals per capita? This site, which is updated daily during the Olympics, provides the answer.

Somebody has to cover the cost of Sandra Fluke's contraceptives.  So, with that in mind, government mafia extortionists disguised as the IRS are eagerly awaiting the tally on Olympic gold, silver and bronze.  At the SOTU, Barack Obama said of the Sochi Olympics: "We believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation." Then he said, "Next week the world will see one expression of that commitment when Team USA marches the red, white and blue into the Olympic stadium and brings home the gold."  Translation:  The president...

The almost non existent Obama during all this will suddenly show up and parade all the cops and investigators involved with this terror strike around DC town. The Media will gush about how well Obammy handled this situation, just like he had been there and caught the guy himself! Comparisons will be made between Bush's 9/11 and Obammys. Then the media "analysis" of what is wrong with America and how it turned an innocent little boy into a radical. Ive stocked up on Gin and antacids for the coming gushing media blitz about Obammy and his leadership.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The military has stopped production of a new medal for remote warfare troops as it considers complaints from veterans and lawmakers over the award, a government official said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered a review of the Distinguished Warfare Medal, which was to be awarded to troops who operate drones and use other technological skills to fight America's wars from afar. Announcement of the review is expected at a Pentagon news conference later Tuesday.

The war medals were stolen from a home in Vista sometime between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15San Diego County sheriff’s detectives are looking for the suspect or suspects responsible for stealing several World War II medals from a veteran's home in Vista. According to detectives, the war medals were stolen during a residential burglary in the 1000 block of Prospect Place sometime between November 27 and December 15. They were the only item taken from the home. The medals have no real monetary value, detectives said, but they do hold great sentimental value to the owner, a World War II...

The 2012 London Olympic Games have officially come to a close and, once again, the U.S. sits atop the medal count. In Beijing they did the same thing, but the host nation China made it interesting. America topped the Chinese by 10 in the overall medal count, but China earned 15 more gold medals than America—China had 51 and the U.S. had 36. However, in London, the U.S. reemerged as the dominant athletic country. The United States earned 104 medals, 15 more than any other country—China was second with 87. Plus, the Americans took back their lead in golds, winning...

North Korea's Olympic athletes are thrilling their countrymen with surprising success in winning medals and they are attributing their success to their Dear Leader Kim Jong Un. But others, including former North Korean athletes who have defected, suggest the success of the country's small contingent of athletes at the games may be the result of a policy of training them from a very young age at specialized schools, backed up by rewards like cars and refrigerators for winners and the threat of labor camps for losers. North Korea ranks 14th in the overall medal count, but fifth in terms of...

Because conservatives are scrooges, the good folks at Americans for Tax Reform have gone through the fine print to find out what our Olympians will have to cough up to the IRS should they be lucky enough to win any medals in London. Even by the standards of our government, the numbers are insane.For instance: Americans who win bronze will pay a $2 tax on the medal itself. But the bronze comes with a modest prize—$10,000 as an honorarium for devoting your entire life to being the third best athlete on the planet in your chosen discipline. And the IRS will...

In the second part of our five-part series on The Olympics (Part 1 here) we ponder the impossible to predict - the medal count. As Goldman notes: Economists like to think that the toolkit of their profession helps them explain many things or, as some would claim, everything that is interesting about human behavior. In the context of the forthcoming Olympic Games in London, therefore, the key question is whether economic variables can help explain and predict success at the Olympics itself. At one level, this seems like a daft question even to consider. It is hard to imagine...

Dozens of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans who say NATO's military policies are a failure took their combat medals and threw them away in a symbolic event following a rally and march. The vets literally tossed their medals when the march stopped near McCormick Place where dignitaries, world leaders and NATO brass were discussing world events. Veterans took the microphone one-by-one at a rally after a more than 2-mile march to the summit site from a downtown Chicago park. One veteran was 30-year-old Erica Slone of Cambridge, Ohio. Slone says her service taught her integrity and if she wants to...

In 1997 Wes S. Cooley, a sitting first-term eastern Oregon congressman, was convicted on charges he'd lied about his military service in official state voter guides. Cooley had claimed Korean War service with Army Special Forces. An Oregon newspaper learned that Cooley hadn't finished training until nearly a month after the signing of the 1953 armistice. A judge sentenced Cooley to two years' probation, a $5,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Well-known actor Brian Dennehy often shared stories of his service with the Marines in Vietnam. Burkett verified that the movie tough guy was indeed a former Marine...

My father passed awaythis weekend. Shortly before he passed, he asked my mother to assemble his various medals. Yesterday at the visitation, my brothers asked me about a couple of them, and I was unable to identify them, so I'm asking for some Freeper help here-