Question for you military types...

[Donquix]

I know there's quite a few military folks kicking around here, so I thought I'd ask this..

how prestigious do you consider the Silver Star military award? Just came up and i'm curious on your opinions of it. I've done what reading I can online for it, but just like some direct opinions from actual service men/women (or their families, random basement dwelling military fanbois, etc. )

[Joseph]

During my time in the navy I developed the opinion that chest candy is just that. Medals / Awards are mostly given out due to filling the correct billet at the correct time. I think that the simple fact that someone serves their country is .. "prestigious" enough.

[Drevihyin]

Most military awards share one thing in common some were earned while others were just handed out. The Silver Star usually is not an award that is based on the handed out scenerio.

[Drew]

During my time in the navy I developed the opinion that chest candy is just that. Medals / Awards are mostly given out due to filling the correct billet at the correct time. I think that the simple fact that someone serves their country is .. "prestigious" enough.

I don't think this applies to the Silver Star.

[Joseph]

I don't think this applies to the Silver Star.

Your opinion differs from mine, most of the people that serve will do their jobs when put in a situation where the silver star will be awarded as a result of said situation.. and not everyone that does is awarded one.

[Fallen]

There are awards you can receive outside of combat, and those that can only be earned in a combat scenario. A silver star is one of the latter. I believe there is a fairly involved process in being awarded that medal. The particulars of the situation are investigated. I wouldn't take the medal lightly.

Edited to add: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Star

I'm sure that can provide you with more info.

[Donquix]

There are awards you can receive outside of combat, and those that can only be earned in a combat scenario. A silver star is one of the latter. I believe there is a fairly involved process in being awarded that medal. The particulars of the situation are investigated. I wouldn't take the medal lightly.

Edited to add: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Star

I'm sure that can provide you with more info.

Yeah i checked the wiki and some other places. Just knew there's a fairly strong military contingent here so i was curious from a "man on the street" point of view.

If anyone was curious as to why i asked, it was in regards to my father. He recently passed away (Dec 22 of last year) and yesterday my mother was going through some more of his things he left behind in his office.

She found a file that had all of his commendations and awards he received from work (government employee for 40 years) and his time in the military (vietnam veteran)

He NEVER spoke about his time in the military, at least the actual combat parts. He would share some funny anecdotes about time on leave in Seoul, or on base, but that was the extent of it. All we knew is he was awarded a purple heart for taking a bullet in the ass (side of the ass, so he wasn't running away :P)

She found a letter which detailed an encounter where he, along with 5 other men (4 of them posthumously) were awarded the presidential unit commendation, and he was individually awarded the Silver Star.

It detailed the events that justified the award, if you're really curious i can get the entire letter but some highlights included "while outnumbered 4 to 1", "under extreme munitions and mortar fire", and my personal favorite... "with little to no regard for personal safety"

Knowing next to nothing about his service before reading that, it was pretty eye opening.

And it once again proved my theory, that the badass gene skips a generation

[Fallen]

You should be damn proud of him. You don't need an award for that, but it sounds like your grandfather was a bona fide war hero.

[kgolfer]

Most combat medals that are given for valorous actions (MOH, DSC, SS especially) where given to soldiers who
1. where in the right place at the wrong time
2. were lucky enough to make it out alive (hopefully)
3. experienced said events that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

I do believe that most soldiers will act according to how they were trained, even given the unsurmountable situations some are put in.

With that being said, I've seen the BSM-V, BSM, and ARCOM-V given out for situations that I feel have watered down the awards, given wars in the past and criteria for being awarded them. That is not saying some were not warranted, just not all.

AK

[kgolfer]

BTW, I've always felt that awards and decorations don't define the person. Also, most true soldiers that do what we do don't flaunt or brag about where we've been or what we've done.

Some that are in the military that are in the GS community, you may only know that we've been in the military by our "frequent" breaks from the game.

AK