Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Pretorius
Medals should be taken with a pinch of salt. The main function is to raise morale. The military will always embellish the stories. Call it marketing.
Most medals are for arbitrary stuff such as long service, served at such n such place, blah blah. Meaningless really.
Then the ones that do count, the medals for valour, well for every guy who gets one there another 100 nameless guys who should also be getting one. So those medals are also meaningless but for different reasons. They aren't a reward for the recipient. They're a confidence boost for the masses.
So the bottom line is just respect what the guy did and don't split hairs about it. And ignore the jam stealers with inferiority complexes who search for negativity to tie to these veterans who got the nod.
This Sarge Dakota guy looks like a tough cookie 
Me personally, the only trinket that I kept from those days is my beret with it's badge and my marksman badge. The rest went in the trash |
Spike, respectfully and strongly disagree with you on this. Medals are not about Morale, despite what Napoleon said. They are given out, usually, for acts that matter. You are right, a lot of guys do not get recognized and I have seen certain branches contribute to award inflation but the USMC is one that is so tight with awards that if they give out anything with a V on it I usually assume it should be at least one award higher. Check out what the USMC did in the Sgt. Rafael Peralta case, they did a bloody autopsy on the guy to make sure it should be a MoH or Navy Cross. I know of few guys in the Navy who should be up for MoHs and I shake my head that they did not get them when you read the citations but it is what it is.