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21-581: No more than one Navy Occupation Service Medal may be awarded to an individual. The Army of Occupation Medal is the equivalent of the Navy Occupation Service Medal. No person could receive both the Army and Navy occupation medals. The medal was designed by A. A. Weinman . It depicts Neptune riding a Hippocampus with the words "Occupation Service". The reverse has the words "United States Navy" (or "United States Marine Corps") and

42-474: A campaign. These medals were often engraved with the names of the major battles the recipient had fought in during the campaign. The main disadvantages of this system were that new medals had to be created for each campaign or war, and that it was impossible to tell at a glance if the recipient was only a participant in the campaign overall, or if he had been involved in one or several major actions. (The first gallantry medal to be awarded to ordinary British soldiers

63-579: A general region or time frame. Bars would be awarded to denote the particular campaign or war the recipient fought in. The 1854 India General Service Medal was awarded to soldiers over a 41-year period. Twenty-three clasps were created for this award, becoming one of the more extreme uses of this system. The British Naval General Service Medal , was authorised in 1847 with some 231 clasps (of which about 10 were never issued) for actions ranging from relatively minor skirmishes to certain campaigns and all full-fledged battles between 1793 and 1840. The Crimea Medal

84-600: A service member to receive the Navy Occupation Service Medal with "Europe" clasp. Service between May 9 and November 8, 1945 may not be considered unless the service member qualified for the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal prior to that date. The "Asia" clasp was authorized for any service performed on shore or on ships in the following geographical duty areas and time frames of eligibility. Service prior to March 2, 1946 would not be credited toward eligibility for

105-522: Is authorized as a device to the Army of Occupation Medal. (If further eligible, persons could also be awarded the Medal for Humane Action .) The medal is bronze measuring 1.25 inches across. On the obverse, are the abutments of the Remagen Bridge with the words "ARMY OF OCCUPATION" inscribed above. On the reverse, is Mount Fuji with a low-hanging cloud over two Japanese junks above a wave and

126-694: Is the same as that of the Dominican Campaign Medal . The medal is authorized two service clasps: "Europe" and "Asia". The clasps are rectangular with a rope border. If eligible, both clasps may be worn on the medal. The Berlin Airlift Device is also authorized to those naval personnel who have served 90 days or more with an accredited unit in support of the Berlin Airlift between 1948 and 1949. The following geographical duty areas, and time frames of eligibility, qualified

147-558: The United States Air Force shortly after that service's creation. The Navy and Marine equivalent of the Army of Occupation Medal is the Navy Occupation Service Medal , which features the same ribbon with its own medallion and clasps. Although authorized in 1946, it was not until 1947 that the first Army of Occupation Medals were distributed. The first medal was presented to General of

168-700: The United States military which was established by the United States War Department on 5 April 1946. The medal was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to recognize those who had performed occupation service in either Germany , Italy, Austria , Japan or Korea . The original Army of Occupation Medal was intended only for members of the United States Army , but was expanded in 1948 to encompass

189-685: The Army Dwight D. Eisenhower , who had been the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Commander during World War II. Because of the legal status of West Berlin as an occupied territory, the Army of Occupation Medal was issued for forty-five years until the unification of Germany in 1990, making it one of the longest active military awards of both the Second World War and the Cold War . In addition, some recipients of

210-483: The Distinguished Service Order was awarded on three occasions. A British convention is to indicate bars by the use of asterisks; thus, DSO** would denote a DSO and two bars. Bars are also used on long-service medals to indicate the length of service rendered. The two terms are used because terms "bar" and "clasp" both refer to two parts of the medal; the indicator discussed in this article, and

231-641: The Navy Occupation Service Medal unless the individual is already eligible for the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal for service prior to September 2, 1945. Service after June 27, 1950 which is eligible towards the criteria for the Korean Service Medal may not be considered for the Occupation Service Medal. Army of Occupation Medal The Army of Occupation Medal was a military award of

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252-516: The award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the recipient has met the criteria for receiving the medal in multiple theatres . When used in conjunction with decorations for exceptional service, such as gallantry medals, the term "and bar" means that the award has been bestowed multiple times. In the example, "Group Captain Leonard Cheshire , VC , OM , DSO and two bars, DFC ", "DSO and two bars" means that

273-562: The award were born two generations after the end of the conflict which the medal was designed to represent. Much like the National Defense Service Medal , the Army of Occupation Medal has come to be considered a "multi-generational" award. Although 30 days in West Berlin was a requirement for issuing the award, it was not unusual for supply sergeants to issue it along with other unit insignia and equipment. If

294-586: The inscribed date "1945". A bronze clasp 0.125 inches wide and 1.5 inches in length with the word "GERMANY" or "JAPAN" is worn on the suspension ribbon of the medal to indicate service in Europe or the Far East. The ribbon is 1.375 inches wide with two thin white stripes at the edges and two thicker stripes in the middle, the first being black and the second in scarlet. A myth was that if a soldier served in Germany

315-645: The name of each additional battle were attached to the medal's ribbon. This method of notation evolved again on the Punjab Campaign medal , where the standard medal was awarded to all that had served during the campaign, with bars produced for the three major battles; the Battle of Chillianwala , the Siege of Multan , and the Battle of Gujarat . The creation of bars led to the development of 'General Service' medals, which would be presented to any soldier serving in

336-542: The part of the medal connected to the ribbon. Prior to the early 19th century, medals and decorations were only awarded to ranking officers ; occasions existed where medals were presented to soldiers ( other ranks or enlisted men ) or seamen ( naval ratings ), but these were often private efforts. One exception was the Army Gold Medal issued to higher ranking participants in the Peninsular War . A medal

357-479: The region in which occupation service had been performed. Campaign clasps were worn on the full-sized medal only with no corresponding device when wearing the Army of Occupation Medal as a ribbon on a military uniform. In addition to the Germany clasp, for those service members who performed 92 consecutive days of military duty during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 1949, the Berlin Airlift Device

378-463: The ribbon's black band was worn to his right and if in Japan the red was to his right. The only approved display was for the black band to be to the wearer's right. Campaign clasp A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration , civil decoration , or other medal . It most commonly indicates the campaign or operation the recipient received

399-452: The soldier questioned it, he would be told "You aren't going anywhere for 30 days! Just wait to put it on your uniform." To be awarded the Army of Occupation Medal, a service member was required to have performed at least thirty consecutive days of military duty within a designated geographical area of military occupation. The Army of Occupation Medal was presented with a campaign clasp , denoting either European or Asian service, depending on

420-455: Was given for service, with a clasp for each battle fought. After four clasps were earned the medal was turned in for a cross with the battle names on the arms, and additional clasps were then added. The maximum was achieved by the Duke of Wellington , with a cross and nine clasps. Over the next 40 years, it became customary for governments to present a medal to all soldiers and officers involved in

441-537: Was the Victoria Cross in 1856.) The Sutlej Medal was the earliest medal to use such bars. It was awarded to British Army and Honourable East India Company soldiers who fought in the First Anglo-Sikh War between 1845 and 1846. The first battle the recipient participated in would be engraved on the medal itself. If the recipient had participated in multiple engagements, silver bars bearing

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