Military medal question.

[mmonk]

My son is preparing a project about my father's service in World War II. He was going through his medals I have saved and ran into a European African Middle Eastern Campaign medal that has two stars on the cloth part of the medal and two stars on the matching bar. What do the two stars stand for normally?

[Blashyrkh]

1. Hopefully this provides some help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European-African-Middle_Eastern_Campaign_Medal

"The following campaigns are recognized by service stars to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal."

If I'm correct, the two stars would refer to the two recognised campaigns he participated in. Do you know them, are they on the list in the Wiki article?

[mmonk]

14. Rhineland and Central Europe.

[Blashyrkh]

15. Then the two stars would represent his participation in those threatres

as they are both on the list.

Rhineland 15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45
Central Europe 22 Mar 45 - 11 May 45

[flashl]

2. This may be what you are looking for ..

d. A bronze star is worn on the ribbon to indicate participation in designated campaigns. The designated campaigns for the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater are:

Egypt-Libya 11 Jun 42 - 12 Feb 43
Air Offensive, Europe 4 Jul 42 - 5 Jun 44
Algeria-French Morocco 8-11 Nov 42
Tunisia 12 Nov 42 - 13 May 43
Sicily 14 May 43 - 17 Aug 43
Naples-Foggia 18 Aug 43 - 21 Jan 44
Anzio 22 Jan 44 - 24 May 44
Rome-Arno 22 Jan 44 - 9 Sep 44
Normandy 6 Jun 44 - 24 Jul 44
Northern France 25 Jul 44 - 14 Sep 44
Southern France 15 Aug 44 - 14 Sep 44
Northern Apennines 10 Sep 44 - 4 Apr 45
Rhineland 15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45
Ardennes-Alsace 16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45
Central Europe 22 Mar 45 - 11 May 45
Po Valley 5 Apr 45 - 8 May 45
* Antisubmarine 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
* Ground Combat 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
* Air Combat: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
* These campaigns are not displayed as streamers on the Army flag.

[benddem]

3. Do You have his DD214?

that's his military discharge paper, it should tell you which campaigns he won the stars for. You can make a request to St. Louis for the records.

Nara Military Personnel Records
www.archives.gov

9700 Page Ave
St Louis, MO 63132
[phone]

[mmonk]

5. Yes. After posting, I started reading his discharge papers and

service record. I found he got one bronze star for Central Europe and one bronze star for the Rhineland campaign. Thanks so much for posting the link, address and telephone number. Now I have five other medals to go through.

[razors edge]

8. Two Bronze Stars, Wow.

Salute.

:patriot:

[benddem]

16. No that is

two bronze stars on a campaign ribbon, means he was in two battles. This is different from Bronze star medal. If he had two bronze stars it would have read, bronze star with OLC (oak leaf cluster)

[mmonk]

17. Bronze Service star as opposed to Bronze Star medal

Bronze Star Medal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Star_Medal

Service Star
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_star

[Geoff R. Casavant]

9. Describe the ribbons as detailed as you can.

The base color, and the numbers and colors of any stripes -- I'll see what I can do to identify them.

[mmonk]

12. I think I've got them figured out.

Good conduct medal-Bronze with red ribbon with three stripes down each side.
World War II Victory medal-bronze medal with red center and multi color stripes on each side.
Army of Occupation-Bronze medal with bronze bar accross ribbon with Germany written on it and ribbon in the colors of Germany red, black stripes in the middle and thin white stripes on the outside.
American Campaign-Bronze Medal with large blue stripes and smaller red, white and black stripes.
European African Middle Eastern Campaign- Bronze medal and ribbon with brown stripes on the outside with two dominate green stripes in the middle and separated by red, white and blue small stripes and black with two bronze stars attached in middle of ribbon (and accompanying bar pin).
American Defense Medal-Bronze medal with yellow ribbon and two narrow stripes on either side which are red, white and blue.

I also found two letters, one from my father to the Army about a request for a combat medal concerning Alsace and also one from the commander of the 315th Infantry Battalion to the army requesting a combat medal for the battle at Alsace on his behalf.

[BrotherBuzz]

6. Unfortunatly, a hugh amount of Army records were destroyed by fire in 1973

On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC (MPR) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record collections are described below:

Branch: Army Personnel and Period Affected: Personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960 Estimated Loss: 80%



http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html

[mmonk]

10. Wow. I didn't know that.

Thanks for the link.

[happyslug]

4. Here is an explanation.

From:
http://www.militaria.com/medals.html

EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL- authorized November, 1942 Nicknamed the ETO medal, it was awarded to soldiers who served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater between the dates of 7 December 1941 and 8 November 1945. Soldiers qualify for it upon permanent assignment to a unit in the theater, for temporary duty or passenger status for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days in the theater, or for engaging in active combat. Active combat means either receiving a combat decoration, or receiving a certificate from the commander of a Corps or higher that the soldier actually participated in combat. The vast majority of soldiers would earn this service medal just for being assigned to a unit in the Theater. A bronze star (3/16") is worn on the ribbon for each campaign participated in. A silver star represents 5 campaigns. The stars should be worn in a horizontal row across the ribbon. A bronze arrowhead (authorized December 1944) is worn by men who participated in a combat parachute jump, combat glider landing, or amphibious assault landing while assigned to an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission (i.e. not OSS spy missions). Only one arrowhead is authorized no matter how many invasions the soldier may have participated in. The arrowhead is worn on the right hand side of the ribbon. Silver stars are worn to the wearers right of any bronze stars, and to the left of an arrowhead. The stars are worn with one point up, and the arrowhead with the tip pointing up. The ribbon itself is green with the national colors of the USA, Italy, and Germany. It is properly worn with the Italian green/white/red to the wearers right.

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Is your Dad still alive? If not his veteran's plaque on his gravesite might offer...

...clues as to what unit he served with (that is, if you can't find his discharge papers). If you have his unit, you might be able to Google the unit and find out which campaigns they were in. My Dad's unit, the 551st AAA AW Bn, has a web page that tells of all the campaigns they served in (also in the ETO). Good luck!:hi:

[mmonk]

13. Thanks.

My dad was with the 79th Infantry Division. Also, 68th Armored Infantry and transferred into the 315th Infantry Battalion. He is deceased.

[Parche]

11. Medals

As far as I know, its the number of the same type of medals you have, for example 1star on a
Silver Star medal means you have 2 Silver Star Medals, the star is in lieu of another medal....?



:hi: