Bronze Star v. Combat Infantry Badge

You know I never liked the slogan "Army of One". I always thought of
military service as a "Team Effort". In Art's case there was a whole lot of
guys who helped make sure Art was able to put "Bombs on target" Fuelers,
bomb loaders, mechanics, electricians radiomen, supply clerks, medics, cooks
and a whole lot of others I can't think of right now. I'm sure 99% would be
willing to put the lives on the line but unfortunately for them the military
decided they were needed in the "Rear with the Gear". As it is I'm sure a
couple of ME-262's could have come by Art's air strip and "made their Day"
with a couple of 500Lb'ers and they'd be just as dead as a MoH winner.

Being awarded a medal is often a case of being in the right place and doing
what you were trained to do. "Snuffy" Smith come to mind. Does the guy who
spends his whole military career preparing for war but never sees it deserve
less respect than someone who happened to be in the right place at the right
time?

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
If I met two soldiers, one had the Bronze Star but no CIB or battle stars,
the
other had the Combat Infantry Badge but no Bronze Star, I would
immediaetly
give the higher respect to the man with the CIB. Men who have been in
battle
vvould always have higher place of honor than those who have never been in
battle.

If I met a high ranking officer with the Bronze Star but no battle
stars and
a sgt. with the Air Medal but no Bronze Star, the greater honor goes to
the man
with the Air Medal. Battle honors go above all other honors..

Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

"Leadfoot" wrote in message
news:CCtUa.18035$u51.3113@fed1read05...
Being awarded a medal is often a case of being in the right place and
doing
what you were trained to do. "Snuffy" Smith come to mind. Does the guy
who
spends his whole military career preparing for war but never sees it
deserve
less respect than someone who happened to be in the right place at the
right
time?

Not to mention during Art's day, you were "volunteered"...Todays military is
100% volunteer.

"Brian" wrote in message
...
"Leadfoot" wrote in message
news:CCtUa.18035$u51.3113@fed1read05...
Being awarded a medal is often a case of being in the right place and
doing
what you were trained to do. "Snuffy" Smith come to mind. Does the guy
who
spends his whole military career preparing for war but never sees it
deserve
less respect than someone who happened to be in the right place at the
right
time?

Not to mention during Art's day, you were "volunteered"...Todays military
is
100% volunteer.


Aircrew were 100% volunteers in the USAAF and RAF , you could get drafted
into
the service but had to volunteer for flying duty.

Keith

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 07:35:54 -0400, "Brian"
wrote:

Not to mention during Art's day, you were "volunteered"...Todays military is
100% volunteer.

Yep. I enlisted in 1968; but if I hadn't been at some risk of being
drafted anyway, I most likely would not have enlisted.

___
Walter Luffman Medina, TN USA
Amateur curmudgeon, equal-opportunity annoyer

Subject: Bronze Star v. Combat Infantry Badge
From: Walter Luffman
Date: 7/26/03 7:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 07:35:54 -0400, "Brian"
wrote:

Not to mention during Art's day, you were "volunteered"...Todays military is
100% volunteer.

Yep. I enlisted in 1968; but if I hadn't been at some risk of being
drafted anyway, I most likely would not have enlisted.

___
Walter Luffman Medina, TN USA


My greatest fear was that the war would end before I got there. It didn't.

Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

On 27 Jul 2003 03:02:31 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

My greatest fear was that the war would end before I got there. It didn't.

That happened to a friend of mine. He stayed in the USAAF/USAF as a
bomber pilot, became a test pilot (B-57, XB-70), retired as a Colonel,
came to Dryden as a research test pilot (XB-70, NB-52B, 747 SCA,
YF-12), retired from Dryden, flew a little longer as a private test
pilot, and finally retired. Never dropped a bomb in anger while he
was in the military.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

"A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all."
Anonymous US fighter pilot

Subject: Bronze Star v. Combat Infantry Badge
From: "Leadfoot"
Date: 7/26/03 4:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time

eing awarded a medal is often a case of being in the right place and doing
what you were trained to do. "Snuffy" Smith come to mind. Does the guy who
spends his whole military career preparing for war but never sees it deserve
less respect than someone who happened to be in the right place at the right
time?

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
If I met two soldiers, one had the Bronze Star but no CIB or battle stars,
the
other had the Combat Infantry Badge but no Bronze Star, I would
immediaetly
give the higher respect to the man with the CIB. Men who have been in
battle
vvould always have higher place of honor than those who have never been in
battle.


All you had to do was step forward and say " Take me. I'll go" and you would
have been with us. You didn't, therefore you weren't.

Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 04:30:01 -0700, "Leadfoot"
wrote:

You know I never liked the slogan "Army of One". I always thought of
military service as a "Team Effort".

Same here. When I hear "any Army of One", I think of Rambo-type
vigilantes. Warriors almost never fight solo; even pilots in
single-seat fighters generally have wingmen. Not to mention all the
non-warriors who provide necessary support back a the post/base/camp.

___
Walter Luffman Medina, TN USA
Amateur curmudgeon, equal-opportunity annoyer

Walter Luffman ) wrote:
: On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 04:30:01 -0700, "Leadfoot"
: wrote:

: You know I never liked the slogan "Army of One". I always thought of
: military service as a "Team Effort".

: Same here. When I hear "any Army of One", I think of Rambo-type
: vigilantes. Warriors almost never fight solo; even pilots in
: single-seat fighters generally have wingmen. Not to mention all the
: non-warriors who provide necessary support back a the post/base/camp.

When I hear "Army of One", I think of "E Pluribus Unum."
Many people, one army. But maybe I'm just weird.


--
David Benjamin

In article ,
says...
If I met two soldiers, one had the Bronze Star but no CIB or battle stars, the
other had the Combat Infantry Badge but no Bronze Star, I would immediaetly
give the higher respect to the man with the CIB. Men who have been in battle
vvould always have higher place of honor than those who have never been in
battle.

If I met a high ranking officer with the Bronze Star but no battle stars and
a sgt. with the Air Medal but no Bronze Star, the greater honor goes to the man
with the Air Medal. Battle honors go above all other honors..


It's not so cut and dried. My last unit we had a SGT with bronze star
with a V.
He had been a helo mech in DS1 and nver did talk about the whys or
where fors..

But he refused to fly anymore, even just as a passenger...

By just giving the CIB all the credit you will be ognoring all those
tanker/cannon cockers and other sundry soldiers that may be in the
same combat but because of the Reg's are not awarded a CIB.



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