"Veterans Urged To Where Military Medals"

Shay · **Posted:** Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:23 pm

Passing this along from http://www.Military.com

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,118525,00.html?ESRC=navy.nl

Quote:

Veterans Urged to Wear Military Medals

WASHINGTON - With National Veterans Awareness Week under way and the national Veterans Day observance on Nov. 11, the Veterans Affairs secretary is urging all veterans to show their pride by wearing their military medals.

R. James Nicholson’s “Veterans Pride” initiative calls on veterans to wear the medals they earned while in uniform this Veterans Day to “let America know who you are and what you did for freedom,” he said.

The campaign is modeled after a tradition in Australia and New Zealand, countries that honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or ANZAC, every April 25. The observance originally commemorated more than 8,000 Australians killed during the battle of Gallipoli during World War I, but now honors all Australian and New Zealand veterans.

Last year, while attending ANZAC ceremonies in Sydney, Nicholson said he was struck to see all the veterans and surviving family members wearing their military medals and campaign ribbons.

“It focused public pride and attention on those veterans as individuals with personal histories of service and sacrifice for the common good,” he noted in a message to veterans. “That is why I am calling on America’s veterans to wear their military medals this Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2006.”

Nicholson and leaders of major veterans groups announced the initiative during an Oct. 18 ceremony here at the VA headquarters.

Wearing their medals, he said, “will demonstrate the deep pride our veterans have in their military service and bring Veterans Day home to all American citizens.”

“We expect Americans will see our decorated heroes unite in spirit at ceremonies, in parades and elsewhere as a compelling symbol of courage and sacrifice on Veterans Day, the day we set aside to thank those who served and safeguarded our national security,” Nicholson said at the ceremony.

Nicholson and the veterans group leaders hope to start a new tradition in which U.S. veterans wear their military medals every Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

More information about the Veterans Pride campaign is posted on the VA Web site. The site also helps veterans determine where to go to replace lost medals or to confirm which decorations they’re entitled to wear.

I'm proud to have served and would like to thank all Veterans who came before me.

United States Air Force (Reserves) 1994 - 1997

United States Navy (Active Duty) 1997 - 2005

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Former Member · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:40 pm **Posts:** 1493

Thanks for the posting Shay...unfortunately my medals are hanging next to me in a shadow box on my office wall as I type this and it's too much of a pain to dig them out. Maybe it's time to invest in a set of miniatures for wearing? :?:

John

TimAPNY · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:42 am

jpeters wrote:

Thanks for the posting Shay...unfortunately my medals are hanging next to me in a shadow box on my office wall as I type this and it's too much of a pain to dig them out. Maybe it's time to invest in a set of miniatures for wearing? :?:

John

I need to put mine together and make my "Hero" box :lol:

for my room. I think I have a few sets of Ribbons and Medals in my storage container. One for display and something like this.

Tim

Former Member · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:40 pm **Posts:** 1493

TimAPNY wrote:

I need to put mine together and make my "Hero" box :lol:

for my room. I think I have a few sets of Ribbons and Medals in my storage container. One for display and something like this.

Tim

Yeah, I've heard them being called all kinds of things..."Hero Boxes"..."I Love Me Displays"..."Ego Boxes"..."Rambo Displays"...and the list goes on and on! :lol:

Actually I have mine displayed along with my Bronze Star citation and pictures from the Gulf War, jumping out of aircraft, etc. When clients come into my office they often times go over and look at the awards & pictures and ask questions which is a nice little ice breaker. I work in employment & retraining so many of these people are a bit nervous after having just lost their jobs. It's nice to be able to just sit down and chat with them for 5-10 minutes before getting down to business.

John

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:07 am

Same here. I've got 8 or so hanging in a shadown box along with my ribbons, wings and other such things. I doubt I'd ever wear them in public through or even minis. Too many anti gov't, war, iraq or anything else crazies out there. Just a short while ago some protestors defaced the Veterans Memorial in Corvallis to protest the military slaughter of innocents in iraq and lined it with baby shoes! The guard troopers cleaned it up and mounted a 24hr guard on it on their own time.

Quote:

Yeah, I've heard them being called all kinds of things..."Hero Boxes"..."I Love Me Displays"..."Ego Boxes"..."Rambo Displays"...and the list goes on and on!

Actually the correct term is for your whole wall. The "I love me" wall.

Former Member · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:40 pm **Posts:** 1493

Jack Cook wrote:

The guard troopers cleaned it up and mounted a 24hr guard on it on their own time.

I hope it was an armed guard!!! :snipe:

John

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:20 am

The memorial is next to the armory and some guardsman had to be physicially restrained!

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:40 am

Coffins and shoes (symbolizing iraqiesmurdered by Am. soldiers) around the armory and memorial

More of the same in front of the memorial itself.

Paul Krumrei · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:06 pm **Posts:** 1757

I have all my displayed on my wall, call it what you want, I am proud of all the medals I have and love to display my certifcates and medals. My kids get a kick out of them too.

Shay · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:52 pm

I refuse to live in fear of protestors or feel ashamed to be a Veteran.

The way I look at it is they can protest all they want because it's the Military Service Members who have in the past and will continue to secure them the right to do so.

If they wish to act like idiots and point their aggression in the wrong direction. Then that's fine. Natural selection will weed out the gene pool rejects one way or another.

Nothing they can say will ever shake my resolve or my pride in serving my country.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Former Member · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:40 pm **Posts:** 1493

Around these parts it's kind of difficult to wear medals/ribbons without having rubber-neckers and people gauking at you as if you had the plaque or were from Mars or something.

I found this out first hand when I was assigned as a low-life Army recruiter up here in Northcentral Wisconsin back in the mid 90's. This is a typical small town rural area and there is no military presence (bases, etc) within about a 3 hour drive. Needless to say, when you walked down the street in your class B's or worse yet your class A's, people would just stop and stare at you like you had two heads or something. All the guys in the recruiting station used to joke that this area was full of communists :lol:

since nobody around here ever saw a U.S. servicemember in dress uniform and hardly anyone ever joined the military either.

I agree though...I'm proud of my 9 years of service and if people have a problem with me wearing my awards then they can tell it to my face. :evil:

John

TimAPNY · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:43 pm

Jack Cook wrote:

Coffins and shoes (symbolizing iraqiesmurdered by Am. soldiers) around the armory and memorial

More of the same in front of the memorial itself.

Any of those boots 10.5 W? if so can you pick me up a few pares? I'll pay you shipping cost, just PM me.

Tim

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:47 pm

I agree with both of you. But from my viewpoint drawing attention to yourself brings out the ignorants, wachos and jerks. People who deface memorials to men who died protecting them freedoms are sorts that I don't even want to look upon. Even in disgust! I know what I did and so do the people who matter to me.

Shay · **Posted:** Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:16 pm

jpeters wrote:

Around these parts it's kind of difficult to wear medals/ribbons without having rubber-neckers and people gauking at you as if you had the plaque or were from Mars or something.

when you walked down the street in your class B's or worse yet your class A's, people would just stop and stare at you like you had two heads or something.

John

I've had quite the opposite reaction.

Dayton is typically an Air Force town. So it was very different to see a Squid in his "Cracker Jacks" (Service Dress for you non-Navy types :wink:

). I wore them when I was home on leave doing recruiter assistance duty to save leave days.

I'd go out to lunch and people young and old would stop to talk to me. I had one old Squid (retired Senior Cheif) stop me to see if I had gotten my crow and then gave me a friendly razzing about not having my ESW (Enlisted Surface Warfare) Pin yet. Another old lady stopped a couple of us at Walmart to tell us she hadn't seen one of us "Sailors" since the war. The second World War that is.

In the end all I have to say is "Damn the Nay Sayers"

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Former Member · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:40 pm **Posts:** 1493

Shay,

Glad to hear you had some positive experiences while wearing your uniform out in the civilian world. Every now and then while on recruiting duty I would have some smart-azz jerk walk up to me and ask where I got my CIB (Combat Infantryman's Badge), airborne wings and all my ribbons from...as if I had never earned them.

The best way to handle these losers was to explain that most were acquired during the 1st Gulf War or while assigned in different infantry units. It never failed that these jerks would then make some snide comment like..."man, the Gulf War wasn't a real war...I fought in Nam...". It was about this time I would put the guy on the spot by asking him what unit he was assigned to in Vietnam, what was his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), and what years he was in country, etc. It was hilarious to watch their expressions when I asked these questions because most couldn't give a straight honest answer. They either never served in the military to begin with, if they did...they never stepped foot in Vietnam, and if they did...they were usually some pencil pusher or supply clerk working in a rear echelon job. After I'd get the truth out of these clowns I would just start laughing at them and watch them slither away to whatever rock they crawled out from under. It's unbelieveable the amount of vet imposters that are out there.

John

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