Page 31 - Anthology

MEDALS NOTES

1. The Badge of Military Merit is considered the first military award of the United States Armed Forces.
Although the Fidelity Medallion is older, after being issued to three soldiers for a specific event in 1780 it
[1]
was never awarded again, so the Badge of Military Merit is often considered the oldest. The Purple
Heart is the official successor decoration of the Badge of Military Merit. Of the Badge of Military Merit,
Washington said:

“ The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and
encourage every species of Military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is
performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a
heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding. Not only instances of unusual
gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due
reward. Before this favour can be conferred on any man, the particular fact, or facts, on which it is to
be grounded must be set forth to the Commander in chief accompanied with certificates from the
Commanding officers of the regiment and brigade to which the Candadate [sic] for reward belonged,
or other incontestable proofs, and upon granting it, the name and regiment of the person with the
action so certified are to be enrolled in the book of merit which will be kept at the orderly office. Men
who have merited this last distinction to be suffered to pass all guards and sentinals [sic] which
officers are permitted to do. The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all.
This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered as a
permanent one.

2. An oak leaf cluster is a miniature metal device worn by members of the seven uniformed
services of the United States on medals and ribbons issued by the United States Army, Air Force, and
Department of Defense to denote subsequent decorations and awards. It is bronze or silver in
appearance, formed as a twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. The bronze oak leaf
cluster represents one additional award, while the silver oak leaf cluster is worn in lieu of five bronze oak
leaf clusters.

3. Pro Patria: “For One’s Country”

4. John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948),was a general officer in the
United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only
person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army—
General of the Armies (a retroactive Congressional edict passed in 1976 promoted George Washington to
the same rank but with higher seniority. Pershing holds the first United States officer service number (O-
1).