The colors of the ribbon are irrelevant to this explanation
Bronze Star Medal
Many people confuse the Bronze Star Medal with Bronze Campaign/Battle Stars awards to specific campaign medals/ribbons.
The colors of the ribbon are irrelevant to this explanation
Bronze Campaign/Battle Stars
Every service member who served in a
specific campaign or battle was award a bronze battle star, 5 bronze battle
stars were replaced by a silver one. These battle stars are not decorations but
are classified as devices which are worn on a corresponding ribbon. These
devices are commonly listed as Bronze Star on WWII era Report of
Separation, and Bronze Star Medals are listed with the additional wording
"Medal". Another tell tell sign that the award is a campaign star
instead of a Bronze Star Medal is a number of campaigns listed on the Report of
Separation equals the number of Bronze Stars listed. Campaign credits were
awarded by the War Department which published list of all the units entitled to
each credit and the inclusive time frame for which they qualify. The War
Department general order is the award authority for a specific campaign star. The company clerks would annotate these devices on
those soldiers'
personnel files who were present during the prescribed time frame. Infrequently
subordinate commands would publish lists of members of a command that was not listed
in the War Department general order for a specific campaign but were entitled to
the campaign star as the members were attached to another unit, that was entitled to
that campaign credit, during the prescribed
time frame.
To aid you in your search, I'll attempt to compile a listing
of the War Department General Orders for each of the officially recognized
campaigns. This will appear as a link here when it is completed.
The Navy Department's procedures varied from the
War Department in several ways, but at no time has a Bronze Campaign Star
warranted a Bronze Star Medal.
If you feel that an actual Bronze Star Medal was awarded please click on the photo of the Bronze Star Medal.
