I have been trying to find out additional information about the medal of occupation. Does any one that has this medal have it listed on their discharge paper work? My great uncle was Honorably discharged from the Army in Nov. 1945 and the medal was not established until 1946. The areas he served were Northern France and Rhineland. Does this qualify him for the medal? If so how do I go about proving or recieving this medal.

I also wondered if he was even issued most of his medals. His only medal that I have in my possession is his Army Good Conduct Medal. He is supposed to have a European African Middle Eastern medal, Asiatic-Pacific medal, American Theater medal and a WW2 Victory Medal. I have read that some veterans were not issued their medals because of metal shortages. Is this true?

http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/aoom.shtml

Click on the above link for more info on the Army of Occupation Medal. I am also listing the criteria here:

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3. Criteria: The medal was awarded for 30 days consecutive service while assigned to:

a. Germany (excluding Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 will count only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

b. Austria between 9 May 1945 and 27 July 1955. Service between 9 May and 18 November 1945 will count only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

c. Berlin between 9 May 1945 and 2 October 1990. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 may be counted only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

d. Italy between 9 May 1945 and 15 September 1947 in the compartment of Venezia Giulia E. Zara or Province of Udine, or with a unit in Italy designated in DA General Order 4, 1947. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 may be counted only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

e. Japan between 3 September 1945 and 27 April 1952 in the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu; the surrounding smaller islands of the Japanese homeland; the Ryukyu Islands; and the Bonin-Volcano Islands. Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 will be counted only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 3 September 1945.

f. Korea between 3 September 1945 and 29 June 1949. Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 will be counted only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 3 September 1945.

My father's Honorable Discharge Papers also contains errors as do MANY of the docs that were issued. One of the major problems at this time, was that millions of men were going through processing and they were in a great rush to get them through. Inheritantly, many of the docs had either wrong info or info that was left off. Most of it was due to sloppy work by the discharge clerk, plain and simple.

It is not listed on my father's either, but it should have been listed too.

They screwed up the dates of arrival and departure on his too. For instance the clerk shows he departed on April 21, 1943, but doesn't show arrival until Sep 2, 1943! Doh! But, my dad fought in Sicily too which was a summer campaign. Also they do show that he took part in the Naples/Foggia Campaign, but do not list Anzio, which he was at the whole time. We even have photos. See how messed up things can get?

How times have changed the application of guidelines pertaining to the specific period of an act or wounds incurred sometimes leading to loss of life. The initial guideline for the Purple Heart during WWII was 22 September 1943. It covered the period "since 6 December 1941."

Today, military personnel and civilian employees of the AF and Army are justifying denials based on guidelines after the act or receiving wound(s).

Case in point, to determine if WWII veterans are entitled to certain awards and decorations i.e. Purple Heart and/or Combat Infantryman badge, AR 600-8-22, dated 11 December 2006, PL 104-106, dated 10 February 1996, and War Department Circulars covering the period after the acts during battles are being used to justify denials to such combatants.

Acts and wounds incurred during WWII met circumstances identified in guidelines participants served under. History was made and cannot be erased or ignored. Yet, WWII and Korean War veterans and/or NOK are experiencing such responses from the military.

ISSUE - APPICABILITY OF LATER POLICY

The identified AR 600-8-22, PL 104-106, WD Circulars 186, and 408 for AFBCMR and ABCMR in these cases purports to consider guidelines developed in analyzing after the fact. The unfairness of this consideration is obvious. If it were to be applied to all cases, it would call for the removal of Purple Hearts and/or Combat Infantryman badges from those veterans previously awarded them. In fact application of a later policy to facts surrounding a WWII event constitutes ex post facto application of law, specifically prohibited in the US Constitution by the prohibitions in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3, against bills of attainder and ex post facto laws. Awards and decorations, like other rights, must be considered as of the date that the benefit was earned. Application of different standards, arising out of different sensibilities in different wars, wreaks havoc on any sense of equal application of laws. The fact that the AF and Army, recently chose to change the policy relating to Purple Hearts and CIB cannot be applied to the facts of these cases.

Robert

Difference between The Bronze Star and bronze service star - re: campaign device

http://www.398th.org/Awards/BronzeStar/BronzeStar_BronzeBattleStar.html

http://militaryreporter.net/whats-the-difference-between-a-bronze-star-and-a-bronze-service-star/