Upset vet gives back his medals

[hiley]

By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 8, 2006

And now what?

He had protested. He had become president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans For Peace.

He had helped put up thousands of white crosses around San Diego County to mark the dead in a solemn display called “Arlington West.”

And still . . . .

The war goes on. Three years, two months. With more than 2,300 U.S. soldiers and Marines dead.

What more could David Patterson, an electronics technician from Ramona, do about it?

There was this: He could give up his military medals. Send them directly to President Bush, care of the White House.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060508-9999-1m8medals.html

[BOSSHOG]

1. Its sad that the commander in chief will not understand

nor care about this veterans motives. And if there are any chickenhawks in this man's neighborhood they'll probably harrass him for being unamerican. The "conservative" mind is warped badly. The white house will probably just set the medals out with the trash.

My hate gets more rational with each passing post like this one.

Thanks for the info.

[hiley]

2. agreed

and so true.

[karynnj]

7. What's worse is that it might even be a reason some don't get medals

The young, very impressive Iraq vet who spoke first at the Kerry Faneuil Hall mentioned that his superior said he wouldn't give him a bronze star because he thought that he would throw it on the White House Lawn. (though the 1971 protest threw them on the Capital lawn.)

An article on him:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/printout1076.html

[BOSSHOG]

9. Wow, now thats a leader I'd like to work for

The criteria for awards is very explicit. The superior can find it in the "awards" manual each service has. What the recipient does with it(them) is irrelevant.

[MiniMe]

11. Not only that, he will probably forget where he got them and then start

wearing them. Start telling people how he "earned" it with all of his hard work.

[karynnj]

3. This likely has to be a hard decision for these people

In the article, one thing that seems really strange is:

"Patterson had to order the medals because he didn't have them at hand. The military doesn't award most medals when troops are discharged – just ribbons, he said. It cost him $38 to get the actual ones. "

Pretty cheap.

[Lasher]

4. Vets are entitled to their military medals

In many cases vets were never issued their military medals - only ribbons as the article states. This is particularly true of WWII vets, as the required brass was needed for munitions. But vets can now get their medals from the government, and there is no charge if you have never been issued the medals before. Here is a helpful web site where you can learn how to apply:

http://members.aol.com/forvets/htom.htm

You might be entitled to one or more awards of which you are not aware, because some have been retroactively authorized. Here's an example:

I served for 13 months in South Korea during 1969-1970. I was no war hero, but I did receive 3 medals (Good Conduct, National Defense, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Service) prior to my 1970 discharge.

The Korea Defense Service Medal was authorized on December 2, 2002 and the qualifying timeframe is July 28, 1954 to present.

http://foxfall.com/csm-common-kdsm.htm

If you are still on active duty when a retroactive award is authorized, the military will contact you to make sure you receive the award if it applies to you. If you are not still on active duty they will make no such effort. In that case it is up to the vet to find out about the award and apply for it. I applied for the medal pursuant to instructions in the web site I furnished above, and received it this year. I was not charged for it.

You can also buy medals or get your old ones refurbished. Although I have no affiliation with them, I'm not going to post a link to any of these commercial sites, as Discussion Forum rules prohibit "selling products or services". If you can't find one, shoot me a PM and maybe I'll give you a hint.

[mrcheerful]

5. 1,000's of returning Nam vets did the same thing guess what?

You got it, traitor, chickens and cowards that were high on USSR weed that weakened their will to fight. Said by tricky Dick and the chicken hawks like GW and Company.

[gratuitous]

6. And even if you didn't do it, you got tarred with the same broad brush

Thirty years later by a bunch of folks who either deserted or had "other priorities" at the time, and who mocked your service while cultivating the military vote. Sickening, no?

[anoraksia53]

8. Even if no one seems to be listening

it's an important kind of action.......being true to your own values is maybe the most important thing of all.

It sets an inspiring example for other people to follow, and maybe some war supporters will see things a little differently because of it.

Being a hero can look like many things, and it can be public or private and it doesn't matter who knows about it.

[babylonsister]

10. Well said, anoraksia53, and welcome to DU! nt