Naval medals with silver star devices.

[Duncan]

I picked these two up quite cheaply but was wondering about the silver stars on the ribbons. I assume they're for subsequent awards, with 5 bronze stars being replaced with one silver?

Where these awards issued that often that someone could be awarded them 5 or more times though?

[RAL]

A silver star on a Navy Achievement Medal or a Navy Commendation Medal is, in both cases, indicative of a total of six awards.  Somebody must have really gotten around.  One might note there is no Combat V so neither, apparently, for however many awards, was combat related.

[Duncan]

31 minutes ago, RAL said:

A silver star on a Navy Achievement Medal or a Navy Commendation Medal is, in both cases, indicative of a total of six awards.  Somebody must have really gotten around.  One might note there is no Combat V so neither, apparently, for however many awards, was combat related.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

[Hugh]

RAL is correct about the silver star.  In the '60's and '70's, multiple awards were relatively rare, but recently both the Commendation and the Achievement Medals seem to be awarded much more frequently.  There has also been a proliferation of many new ribbons for various assignments such as deployments, training, etc.  It has resulted in a remarkable assortment of fruit salad on the chests of relatively junior people with mostly routine duties.  

[RAL]

'Agreed.  Reading someone's ribbons in the 50's and 60's was much more interesting . . . now it is "nice" that one can get a gong for just about anything.  I can remember seeing the W on an Expeditionary ribbon/medal . . . pretty damn rare on folks walking around on active duty in the early to mid 1960s.  Not as rare, but enough to be noticed was the Atlantic A for Neutrality Patrol on the American Defense Service ribbon/medal.

Edited February 27, 2021 by RAL

[Duncan]

Thanks everyone, really useful. US medals were a bit of a sideline in my collecting, but now my main area of late.