To Day is the 63Rd Anniversary of the Forgotten War and the Men that Served.This is for the under 30Yr old Boys....NO peeking.

[99explorer]

Honker - Of all the shoulder patches, I believe the Second Division is tops for good looks. A red Indian head with feathers, centered in a white star on a black shield.
I think the World War One Victory Medal is the most colorful, with a double rainbow on the ribbon. I once knew an old career soldier who had both the World War One Victory Medal and the World War Two Victory Medal, with the NDSM added for Korea.

[LostLure]

I can shed some light on the unit awards. While assigned to a specific unit you are entitled to wear every unit award awarded to your unit. If you were assigned to a specific unit while that unit was awarded a unit award you are entitled to wear that award for your entire career no matter what unit you serve in. Hope this makes sense and helps.

Honker- didnt realize you served, Thank You for your service

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Thanks for clearing that up LostLure. I couldn't remember. My dress greens in the cedar chest do not have the unit ribbons from Korea but my khakis do. Khakis seem to be fitted out as they were when I was overseas. Greens as when I finished up stateside. Both have the MP armband but khakis with 8th Army patch and greens with 8th Army combat patch on left shoulder. And guess what? I can still fit into my uniforms. Easily. Almost forty years later.

LostLure, I presume you have earned the award in your avatar? I salute you for that. Without reservation and in all humility. I'm disabled vet 20% but not combat related. On the job though.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

99, 2nd Division patch (which of course I saw quite a bit in Korea) is very nice but I guess I have always been partial to 1st Cavalry and screaming eagles (101st Airborne). At first I never cared for the appearance of "flaming arseholes" patch (9th Division) but it eventually grew on me.

[ozarkghost]

OH, not being argumentative but MacArthur was never Commander-in-Chief. He disregarded direct orders from that artillery Captain from WWI who was C-in-C and knew the chain of command very well. Truman did the right thing in relieving him.

Instead of using the term self aggrandizing I should have said self promoting. At that level politics takes over and unfortunately if you step on the wrong toes or something else with golf cleats you will not be promoted. Yes I agree MacArthur was abrasive and an egomaniac but so was Patton and both delivered in WWII.

Lostlure, you are entirely correct about the Presidential Unit Citations. If you were in the unit when it was awarded or in the unit at the time of the action taken to win the citation you were it for the length of your service. If assigned to the unit, you only wear it for the duration of your assignment.

[ozarkghost]

jhjimbo, many generals can check their egos and do. Sounds like he was one of the better ones who lead by example and held his officers to the same standard he expected from himself. Not all that familiar with Air Force brass except LeMay, Dolittle, and some of the other WWII flyers. On a side note, actor Jimmy Stewart was a decorated WWII bomber pilot and retired, I think, in the grade of Brigadier.

[LostLure]

Honker- yes sir, I recieved it in Baghdad back in 2007 from an IED. Lost one of own that day.

[99explorer]

I just finished reading "Stuka Pilot," by Hans Ulrich Rudel, the most decorated German soldier in World War Two. He was the German Audie Murphy raised to the power of ten.
During a six year period serving on the Russian front, he flew 2,530 combat missions, in which he destroyed 800 enemy vehicles, 519 Russian tanks, 150 artillery pieces, 70 landing craft, 9 aircraft, 4 armored railroad trains, and several bridges. Flying over water, he sank a Russian destroyer, two cruisers and the Soviet battleship Marat, with about 3,000 men aboard.
He was shot down 32 times, sometimes behind enemy lines, and was wounded five times. He finished the war flying with his right leg amputated below the knee.
He was awarded the highest decoration in the German military several times, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (our Congressional Medal of Honor), the last time with gold oak leaves, crossed swords and diamonds, representing multiple awards of the Knight's Cross, all presented by Hitler himself.
A fantastic story. It is out of print, but copies are still available on ebay.