SwiftVets.com

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:44 pm Post subject: So, are they interchangeable?

I do not know the answer to this question, so I ask you vets. Kerry maintains that medals and ribbons are interchangeable. I was told that one can can always get new ribbons but one is given only one medal.

Anyone who knows please advise.

Thanks!

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:55 pm Post subject:

Take a look at the site, they seem to have any award ever presented to anyone, any time, for sale.
http://www.usmedals.com/medals.html?s=navy&p=all

Is this what you meant? Wink

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:10 pm Post subject:

Good grief- can anyone buy these?

I am dumbfounded. I was thinking more or less in terms of what the Service awards you, but....gee.... Confused

carpro · Admin Joined: 10 May 2004 Posts: 1176 Location: Texas

Another Kerry cover-up. They are not "interchangeable." Any fool that has been in the military knows that.

When you receive an award like the Silver Star, you receive the actual medal itself, a ribbon to match the ribbon on the award to be worn as a "symbol" of the actual award on your uniforms, and a lapel pin that matches the ribbon on the medal itself.

No one would ever mistake the medal itself for the ribbon symbolizing the medal that you wear on your uniform.
_________________
"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject:

Dr. John:

When I was in the service (72-76) all medals and ribbons were available for sale in the local PX/BX. Putting them on your uniform, if you were not authorized to wear them, was where the problem would occur. I bought some ribbons myself (for extra uniforms, saves you from moving them around, which is a pain). I didn't need to show any paperwork to buy them, and I was wearing jungle fatigues at the time with no visible awards.
Also, Kerry is a Congressman with an office a mile or so from the Pentagon. I'm quite sure you can get any medal/ribbon you are looking for by sending a note or calling the Pentagon under those conditions. Does that make sense?

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:42 pm Post subject:

So someone can just go and buy a MOH?

I appreciate your input. It is helping a lot.

Thus, in theory Kerry could throw away all his stuff and still buy more- yes?

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:45 pm Post subject:

If you mean MOH, that's one I'm not sure about. I saw them available, though.

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

I am going to presume that when one says that he threw his MEDALS away that that is precisely what he meant. Otherwise one might say "I threw my symbols away" or "I threw my ribbons away."

Especially when one says it over and over.

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

Everything Kerry threw over the fence, I can buy from home over the Internet. (Thanks for changing your post from MOE to MOH and making me look like an idiot, by the way Laughing

)

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:47 pm Post subject:

Thank you, sir.

You know what we need?

An emoticon that salutes.

drjohn · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:49 pm Post subject:

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:53 pm Post subject:

I was just kidding, buddy. Hey, the ONE award not available on that medal site is the MOH. I think you need paperwork to get that one, even from the Pentagon. It's a pretty involved award and your name is on a MOH list, etc.
http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/airforib.shtml

BB Stacker · Seaman Joined: 20 Aug 2004 Posts: 150 Location: Eustis Fl

Ribbons and medals are interchangeable to this extent. Both represent an award. The thing that matters is the award, which is the acknowledgement of some type of meritorious service. This could be a group award or an individual award.

A medal is a physical representation of the award. And as medals tend to be somewhat bulky to wear on one's chest, (especially when there is a lot of them to wear), another smaller version of the award is the ribbon which represents both the medal and the award.

So I see them as interchangeable. If one throws ones ribbons over the fence, one is throwing away the awards they represent, which is the only thing that really matters.

W.P. Wily · Lt.Jg. Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 101

Wing Wiper · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:08 pm Post subject:

Yes, that's what I was saying, you could purchase anything you wanted in the PX/BX on the 'honor system", but if you placed anything not authorized on your uniform, you would most likely get caught, and they didn't consider it a joke. I don't know anyone who actually did it, but I could have easily gotten myself a few Air Medals, a Silver Star and some general's stars if I had wanted. I bought a complete set of ribbons for a second uniform, no questions asked. Kerry's story about having to fill out replacement paperwork just to receive the medals is total BS.