Recipient Naming: U.S. Medals - 'Offficial' or not?

[David B 1812]

I do not specialize in U.S.A. Military Medals. I have 41 U.S. medals which represents just about 5% of my collection.

Not ONE of these medals is named. I always believed that the naming of U.S. medals, on issue, is NOT standard.

Am I correct. I have read elsewhere that some U.S. medals ARE named. But is this STANDARD procedure?

For example, MOST British campaign medals ARE named, BEFORE issue. Certainly British 1914-1918 medals

ARE officially named. The only general exception to British naming, is that their WWII medals are NOT named.

South African medals for 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are ALL named. South African medals in the modern area

are generally not named but some are numbered, as are some, but not all Soviet medals.

Some US medals - like the WWII Campaign medals have very thin rims, as compared with British medals, that

it would seem to me that naming is. or would be quite difficult. However, I have seen a collection of Purple Hearts

where MANY of them are named - but NOT in uniform style - possibly indicating private naming - just as some

(but certainly not all) Brits had their WWII medals "privately" named.

It would also appear to me that virtually NO European countries named their medals. Again, none of the German,

Italian, Greek, Netherlands, Belgium or Polish medals I have in my collection are named.

So, can someone please tell me what the naming policy (OFFICIALLY) for U.S. medals is please. If this policy

has changed over the years, i.e. from WWI to WWII to Korea, to Vietnam to modern issues, how, and when did

it change?

I would appreciate your advice and input on this question.

Thank you,

David BENNETT

Durban

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Edited July 1, 2014 by David B 1812

[Doc]

Currently, at least, most US medals are not named-- Unlike the UK system, most medals are given at the unit level soon after they are earned. Thus, the units tend to keep stocks of the more common medals on hand for issuance. These are obviously not engraved. Some of the higher awards seem to come engraved before issuance. Soldiers have the option to have the medals engraved at their own expense-- most don't bother.

Many US medals are not designed to be engraved-- as you note, the rims are usually too thin to be engraved, and frequently the reverse sides are fully sculpted, leaving no room for engraving.

That said, if you claim that your medals have been lost or stolen, and request a new set, the replacements tend to come engraved (if it is possible on that particular medal).

Obviously, this has changed over time-- the earlier the medal, the more likely it is to be engraved officially (though still not necessarily engraved). Also, the Higher the medal, the more likely it is to be engraved.

As you have noted, the normal state is for medals to not be engraved. When they are, it is frequently done privately.

[David B 1812]

After a thorough internet search I have found the OFFICIAL U.S. MILITARY AWARDS Regulations : Army Regulation 600-8-22 and dated: 24 June 2013. It may be found HERE:

http://www.apd.army.mil/jw2/xmldemo/r600_8-22/main.asp

These regulations state further:

1-33. Engraving of Awards.

The grade, name, and organisation of the awardee are engraved on the reverse of the Medal of Honor. The name only of the awardee is engraved on the reverse of every other decoration, the Prisoner of War Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. Normally, engraving will be accomplished prior to presentation.

The Regulation goes on to say that if not engraved upon receipt, the awardee may mail the decoration back to a particular Army Department for later engraving.

NOW: These are 2013 regulations. We STILL do not know what the policy (if different) was in earlier times. ie: WWI; WWII; Korea and Vietnam, for example. Furthermore, the 2013 policy SPECIFICALLY refers to the engraving (and naming) of the M.O.H. and OTHER DECORATIONS.

The Regulations define DECORATIONS as:

(1) The Medal of Honor; (2) Distinguished Service Cross; (3) Distinguished Service Medal; (4) Silver Star; (5) Legion of Merit; (6) Distinguished Flying Cross; (7) Soldier's Medal; (8) Bronze Star; (9) Meritorious Service Medal; (10) Air Medal; (11) Army Commendation Medal; and, (12) Army Achievement Medal. AND, for purposes of ENGRAVING, as stated earlier, this list will include, also:

The Prisoner of War Medal and The Good Conduct Medal.

The Regulations are SILENT on the engraving of ALL other Medals - i.e.: Campaign, Service and other medals INCLUDING the PURPLE HEART.

Therefore, one must assume that any modern issue engraved Purple Heart was so engraved OUTSIDE the bounds of Regulation 600-8-22. I read this to mean that although an individual OR his unit / regiment MAY have engraved a Purple Heart, it is not done OFFICIALLY under the Regulations. This may also explain why there are so many different forms of Purple Heart naming and engraving styles to be seen out there. The Regulations cover the Purple Heart under Reg. 2-8. The regulation is silent on any form of official engraving.

And therefore it would seem, unless anyone can show me some OFFICIAL U.S. Army / U.S. Defence Regulation/s that the ENGRAVING or NAMING of U.S. Medals, other than those shown above, IS OFFICIAL U.S. Policy, then we must presume that all other naming shown on ANY OTHER medals, are UNOFFICIAL. (The exception to this, of course is the medals issued in the earlier wars or times described above, and for which I, as yet, have found no official answer or explanation).

Certificates:

There are very long sections within these Regulations which cover the award of certificates which are awarded to recipients of various decorations, medals, clasps, badges and various other sundry insignia and regalia. It seems that certificates are awarded for everything except your tunic buttons !!!!!!

[Doc]

Thanks for the reference-- unfortunately, the link is broken.

However, a caveat-- the regulations are one thing, and the reality may be another. Most Army units (at least) keep a stock of various decorations for presentation. We do NOT normally wait until an engraved medal is available to award it to the soldier (except for the MOH), but we officially present them with an unengraved one. Very few US awards are ever sent back for engraving, even though it is apparently still available. In my experience (and I commanded 4 different Army units), an engraved decoration on this list is still less common than unengraved ones. I have awarded many LOM, Defense Superior Service Medal (the DOD equivalent of the LOM), MSM, PH, BS, and various commendation and achievement medals--- ALL were given to the soldier unengraved. On the other hand, I have seen some officially engraved PHs and other medals, which were provided to the soldier officially upon request for a replacement set after originals were lost or stolen (I do not know if this engraving for replacement medals is still being done-- my experience with this was quite a few years ago.)

I cannot explain why PH is left off this list in this regulation-- it is certainly considered a "decoration". http://www.cufon.org/CRG/memo/1865124.html is an official reference for medals which clearly includes the PH as a "decoration". Unfortunately, this document does not discuss engraving.

Thanks for the confirmation that most campaign medals are not engraved-- I think it would be very difficult to do so, in general.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Doc

[David B 1812]

Thank you, Doc, for your additional useful comments.

I have re-checked the link and it is correct as:

http://www.apd.army.mil/jw2/xmldemo/r600_8_22/main.asp

If it does not work as a link, try typing it in, as above. Between the numbers

600 and 8 and 22 is the symbol "underscore" - i.e. "_" and not a dash: i.e. "-".

All the best,

David B

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[David B 1812]

Hmmmm...... I see that the "link" is not allowed by this system to be typed in the complete form:

So let me try to type it, without it showing up as a 'hyperlink' - I will leave the http and the :

and the // and www OFF the address. So here is the address AFTER www part:

.apd.army.mil/jw2/xmldemo/r600_8_22/main.asp

Try that.

ATB

David B

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[speagle]

You can also use this one.

http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r600_8_22.pdf

[Doc]

Thanks, David and Speagle. That citation is usable. I think, however, that you misread the document (your post #3)-- The PH IS a decoration. See paras 1-14c, and 2-8c.

Para 1-33 is the one noting that official engraving is available on request for all Decorations. That certainly does seem to exclude non-decoration medals, such as campaign medals, etc.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Doc

[IrishGunner]

I concur with Doc's comments. In over 30 years in the Army, I saw very, very, very few "officially" engraved medals presented. The only one I personally ever received already engraved was my retirement LOM.

[David B 1812]

Thank you guys. I think that we are finished with this subject now. The purpose of raising it in the first instance, was to

check some lines of a section, containing eight paragraphs, of a book I am writing, and I merely wanted to check that my

comments made on the medals issued by the U.S.A. were correct.

What I originally wrote was (and these are just partial extracts from the overall section):

The Naming of Military Medals and Medal Research

....................

....................

.............. "The medals of the U.S.A., Russia, Germany and indeed, most European and other medal issuing countries are

most commonly found unnamed." ..........................

(and, later........................)

"The most glaring omission of naming is that the campaign service medals issued to British servicemen for WWII are NOT

named, whilst those issued for WWII to most Commonwealth Countries were named. Of course, the millions of unnamed

WWII service and campaign medals thus issued to British servicemen presents severe problems for medal collectors, as

do the unnamed medals to men from the U.S.A., Germany, Russia, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and so on."

......................................

......................................

These are, as I have said merely small extracts from this section.

HOWEVER. in view of our discussion, above, I will now make mention of the fact that some U.S.A. Decorations, including

the MOH and the PH may be found named, and that the more commonly issued campaign and service medals are not.

I will still firm up the final wording. Of course, as I have said, the above sentences are just small extracts from the section.

I also cover numbered medals, private naming, medals issued with certificates, and many other aspects which fall under

this section sub-heading.

But all I was really trying to do, was to firm up my comments of the U.S.A. aspect of naming.

So, thank you, guys, for your assistance. I think, unless there are some further useful, pertinent comments, we are now

complete with this.

Thank you,

ATB,

David B

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[Doc]

You're welcome. Glad to help.

[Chris Boonzaier]

"I think, unless there are some further useful, pertinent comments, we are now

complete with this."

It may not be useful, or pertinent, but I have never been awarded an engraved US medal.

[Bilco]

Hi Gents,

There are several threads on the US Militaria Forum which have some relevence to this discussion:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/706-numbering-naming-on-us-medals/

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1020-posthumous-wwii-us-navy-air-medals-engraving-styles/

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/10926-wwii-officially-named-aaf-dfcs-and-air-medals-to-pows/

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/212336-original-engraved-wwii-soldiers-medal/

Bill

Edited July 7, 2014 by Bilco

[muckaroon1960]

Found this website recently about names on Purple Hearts:

www.purplehearts.net

Lots of information reference naming etc well worth a look.

[David B 1812]

Thank you, all, including Chris B, muckaroon 1960 and Bilco, for your further comments.

I think that we are pretty much agreed. MOST U.S. medals are NOT named. The higher

U.S. Orders and Decorations (including the Purple Heart) MAY be found officially, but not

always, named.

I will leave it there.

All the best.

David B

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