Should U.S. Military Medal Issue Regulations Be More Restrictive to Certain Individuals or Groups?

Should U.S. Military Medal Issue Regulations Be More Restrictive to
Certain Individuals or Groups?

TOPIC: Small groups of American military personnel and veterans have
historically challenged U.S. military medal Issue Regulations on the
basis of sex, race or other criteria. For example, during WW2 no
African-American was permitted to be considered for the Medal of Honor
because white commanders believed bestowing such a high honor on a
black American would adversely harm the morale of white G.I.'s who
believed that no black G.I. was capable of performing an act of
courage or self-sacrifice comparable to a white G.I.

Another example is the recent Combat Action Badge established by the
U.S. Army. Previous to the CAB, the Army planned to create the CCB
(Close Combat Badge). However, during a publicly broadcast press
conference chaired by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and
attended by enlisted military personnel, a female Army corporal
informed SecDef Rumsfeld that because women were not (officially)
permitted to serve in front-line combat units they would be highly
restricted from CCB eligibility. The SecDef agreed. Within 24 hours of
that press conference the CCB was canceled and the CAB was
established, rendering a larger group of personnel eligible, including
females.

Other examples include the demand by some American veterans during the
2004 presidential campaign who called for the revocation of John
Kerry's medals on political grounds. Several Medal of Honor recipients
joined in this demand by asserting through implication that holder's
of our nation's highest medal had the "moral right" to determine the
issue regulations of all lesser ranking medals such as the Purple
Heart, even though many MOH reciepients never received the Purple
Heart (as well as other 'lesser medals'. A similar movement is now
underway calling for the revocation of Rep. John Murtha's wartime
medals because of his criticism of Bush Administration problems in
Iraq. Although this movement is led by people who never served in the
U.S. military it is joined by veterans who were never awarded some of
the medals John Murtha was authorized. Some U.S. veterans believe that
any American veteran who does not share membership in their political
party or support their political beliefs should have their military
medals challenged, if not revoked.

Lastly, some veteran organizations have recently made dramatic changes
in their membership policies. The VFW, for example, permitted many of
its Posts to exclude membership of Vietnam War veterans in the 1960's,
70's and 80's because the VFW did not consider Vietnam to be a
"foreign war". However, due to its current shrinking membership the
VFW is now changing its membership rules to permit a wide range of new
members, including those who served in a non-hostile environment that
had the potential of becoming hostile.

Some American veterans feel strongly that U.S. military medal Issue
Regulations should be changed by Congress to provide a narrower range
of eligibility standards, and that medal eligibility should now
include non-military considerations such as the serviceperson's sex,
race and political affiliation.

Before responding to this Survey you should first familiarize yourself
with the current, official DOD Issue Regulations. The complete list of
medal DeptDef Issue Regulations is available at URL:
http://www.amervets.com/replacement/isr.htm. After reviewing the
official Issue Regulations you may proceed to the Survey website to
state which medal(s) you feel should be restricted from eligibility to
certain individuals or groups of American servicepersonnel... What do
YOU think?

-- Otis Willie (Ret.)
Military News and Information Editor (http://www.13105320634.com)
The American War Library, Est. 1988 (http://www.amervets.com)
16907 Brighton Avenue
Gardena CA 90247
1-310-532-0634

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