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11 May 2008 Edition Welcome to the Orders, Decorations and Medals Website, which we update every Sunday. The website consists of links to the latest news items and websites related to medals. Old news items are transferred to the Medals by Country section. The accuracy of information in news items and websites should only be used as a starting point for research using reliable primary sources. We hope you enjoy your visit.Note: Moving, so updates will be on an irregular basis, if any, until further notice.
Morocco - Hihi, chevalier de l’Ordre du Trône Hassan Hihi has been honoured by His Majesty King Mohammed VI by being made a chevalier de l’Ordre du Trône (Knight of the Order of the Throne), for his 26 years of service and contributions to Royal Air Maroc. Article in French. aujourdhui.ma 5 May 08
Kazakhstan - Kazakh President awards veterans with "Astana's 10th anniversary medal President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev awarded a group of the Great Patriotic war veterans with "Astana's 10th anniversary" jubilee medal. "By awarding you with the jubilee medal "Astana's 10th anniversary" we note, that we always remember your feat. Thanks to it today's generation live in peace, and we built the independent Kazakhstan and its capital," Nursultan Nazarbayev stated. eng.gazeta.kz 7 May 08
United States - Medals awarded to Army unit 2nd Lt. Daniel Garrison stood at attention as girlfriend Heather Rangel pinned a Bronze Star Medal to his uniform. More than 100 visitors, family members and friends from across the state gathered at the Texas National Guard's Kilgore armory to see soldiers receive awards and medals during the Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry regiment barbecue award ceremony. The company spent nearly a year in Iraq. Many soldiers also spent additional months away training. Waving flags, snapping pictures and holding back tears, many family members sat anxiously as 97 medals and more than 100 certificates were handed out to the company of 130 soldiers. Garrison, who provided escorted security for people, weapons and goods, was one of seven soldiers to receive a Bronze Star. Bronze Star recipients - Sgt. 1st Class Derrick Armfield , Cedar Hill - 2nd Lt. Daniel Garrison, Dallas - Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Irvine, Texarkana - Sgt. 1st Class Kenny Lopez, Dallas - Sgt. Randal Pemberton, Lubbock - 1st Lt. Justin Sisneros, Lubbock - 1st Lt. Eric Zepeda, Nixon Most of the Bronze Stars awarded are meritorious and do not have the V device, as are all of the Bronze Stars to soldiers in this unit. Sgt. Cody Mitchell was one of eight to receive the Meritorious Service Medal for his work with the company's medical detachment. Medals- Army Achievement, a medal for noted service and achievement: 6 - Army Commendation, a medal for noted heroism and military achievement: 76 - Meritorious Service, a medal for outstanding non-combat service achievement: 8 - Bronze Star, fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the ninth-highest military award: 7 news-journal.com 9 May 08
The following articles will not be archived and are for information purposes only:
Australia - Remembering bravery in times of war The Victoria Cross, Australia's supreme award for military gallantry, is dead. Yet despite the high regard in which it is universally held, its demise occurred with barely a whimper. As I researched my new book on some of Australia's most outstanding VC winners, I became aware that beneath the surface in military circles there is a rumbling of discontent but no one is prepared to confront the issue publicly. The director of the Australian War Memorial, General Steve Gower, expressed his unease with the wholesale changes to our military decorations when we separated from the imperial system in 1991, but his concerns are more about notions of tradition. Australia's leading authority on the VC, Anthony Staunton, is slightly more assertive. He says the top honour for gallantry now available to Australians is regarded by many servicemen as the "pup" VC. But no one is prepared to break ranks to mourn the loss of something very special in our military history. Australia can claim 96 Victoria Cross winners from the 1353 recipients since the medal's inception 150 years ago. They have all added lustre to the award, which in turn has immortalised their memories. The medal itself has become ever more prized, its story ever more gloriously arrayed in myth and legend. Today at auction medals can fetch up to $1 million from private and institutional collectors. Australia's first VC winner, Neville Howse, won his award in the Boer War when he rescued a trumpeter under fire who had been shot from his mount in open country. Howse, a medico with the unit, leapt on a horse and dashed out to the fallen soldier and had his own mount cut from beneath him. Reaching the wounded man, Howse staunched the flow of blood and lifted him on to his shoulders. Then in a series of short rushes he brought the young man back to the lines, where he discovered he had a perforated bladder. He operated immediately and the patient survived. In World Wars I and II, a parade of true heroes like Albert Jacka, Harry Murray, Joe Maxwell, Tom "Diver" Derrick, Hugh Edwards, Roden Cutler and Charles Anderson brought great distinction to the reputation of the Australian fighting man. No VCs were awarded to Australians in Korea but Vietnam saw four VCs awarded, including that to the only living winner, Keith Payne. Yet very quietly in 1991 the whole system changed. On January 15 of that year the Queen and then Prime Minister Bob Hawke signed a document that ended an era. The VC ceased to be an imperial honour. Even the title was changed. It became "The Victoria Cross for Australia" and its new warrant differed starkly from those for the previous 135 years. The new arrangement provided no particular process for recommendation and review up the chain of command, but made the Defence Minister the final arbiter. The minister would almost certainly take the recommendation to Cabinet, and it would be signed off by the Prime Minister of the day. The decoration would only be awarded for "the most conspicuous gallantry of a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". But those eligible would not only include members of the defence force but "other persons determined by the Minister for the purposes of this regulation". This marks a reversion to the only other time when civilians were permitted to receive the VC: that is, during the Indian Mutiny. But even then they needed to be operating under the command of a military officer. Today not even that condition applies. There may well be a case for non-military bravery to be rewarded with the VC, not least because the George Cross has been abandoned. Nevertheless, by widening the field of eligibility and separating the VC from its traditional roots, the Hawke government can be accused with some justice of devaluing the honour, at least until the new regime develops its own tradition. Some important elements of the VC remain. Hancocks, the London jeweller, will continue to cast and engrave the medals for the Australian authorities; the source of the bronze will probably remain the Chinese canons not the Russian guns, as legend asserts that have provided the metal since the award's inception. But the changes to the VC are part of a larger process which includes the other imperial service awards now abandoned: the DSO, DCM, MC, MM and M-I-D in the Army and their equivalents in the other services: the Distinguished Service Cross in the Navy and the Air Force's Distinguished Flying Cross. In their place, for all branches of the service, have been substituted (in descending order) the Star of Gallantry, the Medal of Gallantry and the Commendation for Gallantry; the new unit awards are the Unit Citation for Gallantry and the Meritorious Unit Citation. War Memorial Director Steve Gower questions the change of designation. "I find them very hard to correlate to the former Imperial Awards," he says. "I think it's important to have our own. But I really don't know why they were not designated the Australian DSO, the Australian MC and MM." Whatever the merits or otherwise of the change, some universal and immutable truths remain: the best VC is the one that is never awarded, because war is the last and the worst resort. Its greatest heroes will always be those who hate it most and wish to end it quickest. And their stories will forever be a treasured part of our national heritage. Robert Macklin's book Bravest How Some of Australia's Greatest War Heroes Won Their Medals is published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $29.95 canberra.yourguide.com.au 25 Apr 08
Britain - Prince Harry awarded campaign medal Prince Harry will be presented with a campaign medal for his service in Afghanistan by his aunt the Princess Royal. The 23-year-old will be among around 160 fellow Household Cavalry troops attending a ceremony in Windsor on May 5 to be honoured for their role fighting the Taliban. Prince Harry secretly flew to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan in mid-December to work as a Forward Air Controller. But his planned four-month tour was cut short after 10 weeks when a news blackout, agreed to prevent his comrades being put at extra risk, broke down at the end of February. Having served well over the required minimum of four weeks in theatre he is entitled to the Afghanistan Medal awarded to British forces who have taken part in Britain's Operation Herrick mission to the country. The Prince, who has recently been promoted from Second Lieutenant (or Cornet) to Lieutenant, will be able to wear the decoration alongside his Golden Jubilee Medal, a gift from the Queen marking her 50-year reign in 2002. He is the first member of the Royal Family to see active service in a war zone since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War 26 years ago. The Princess will present the medals in her capacity as Colonel of the Blues and Royals, part of the Household Cavalry. ukpress.google.com 28 Apr 08
Japan - Land of rising sun honours former premier Former West Australian premier Richard Court has received honours from the Emperor of Japan for his work promoting better relations between Japan and Australia. He has received the Order of the Rising Sun, the second highest honour that can be awarded to foreign nationals in Japan. The Emperor said the honour was to recognise Mr Court's work in strengthening economic ties between Japan and Western Australia. Dr Royall Tyler, the former head of the Japan Centre at the Australian National University also received the honour. abc.net.au 29 Apr 08 Togo - Togo Confers National Honours On Two Ghanaians President Faure Ezzozimna Gnassingbe of Togo conferred his country's highest honour, "The Commander of the Order of Mono," on two Ghanaian officials for their commitment to the deepening of bilateral relations. The Togolese President personally decorated Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of Defence and Mr D.K. Osei, Secretary to President John Agyekum Kufuor. Five Togolese and a Burkinabe were also honoured at the function that climaxed the celebrations that included an anniversary parade. The Togolese officials expressed appreciation for the manner the two officials carried out their official duties in line with Ghana/Togo relations which had led to the creation of an enabling environment for peace, stability and development in Togo. The Ghana Armed Forces Central Band, which was part of the Ghanaian contingent to celebrate the day, thrilled the audience to local songs that drew protracted cheers. allafrica.com 29 Apr 08 Australia - Decision leads to dissent, discord The Rudd Government should reject the findings of the Long Tan review committee. Nobody doubts the importance of the Long Tan battle or the heroism of the Australians who took on and defeated a much larger enemy force nearly 40 years ago. Harry Smith, Dave Sabben and Geoff Kendall should have received their recommended decorations at the time. The review panel consisting of three retired soldiers found the original case for the gallantry awards for the trio should have been upheld. But John Faulkner needs to think carefully about the precedent he will set if he approves the review panel's recommendation. Approval of new gallantry medals will simply open a Pandora's Box that threatens to generate nothing but rancour and ill-will in the ranks of Australian ex-servicemen. In a further complication, the review panel says that Smith, Sabben and Kendall should beoffered the contemporary equivalent of the original imperial awards for which they were nominated. In Smith's case this means substituting the Star of Gallantry for the Distinguished Service Order. So where do we draw the line? Starting with John Simpson Kirkpatrick and Albert Jacka in WWI, thousands of Australian soldiers were unjustly denied gallantry medals. When it comes to decorations, grave injustices have come out of every conflict in which Australia has fought: some the result of official bastardry, others through oversight or plain bad luck. Military historian Peter Stanley says: "The logical implication isthat you have to go back over every decoration recommendation." He adds that acceptance of the review's findings will turn the honours system into a "cause of dissension and division". Stanley sensibly points out that the men of Long Tan are already Australia's most famed Vietnam veterans and singling out a handful of them for special treatment 40 years afterwards won't make a difference. The solution he says is to honour the heroism of our fighting men by writing about them. theaustralian.news.com.au 01 May 08 Philippines - Malaysian armed forces chief gets ‘Philippine Legion of Honor’ President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presented the distinguished "Philippine Legion of Honor" award to the chief of the Armed Forces of Malaysia, General Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Abdul bin Haj Zainal. President Arroyo handed the award "with the rank of Grand Officer" (Maringal na Pinuno) to Tan at Malacanang’s Reception Hall while his Philippine counterpart, General Hermogenes Esperon, looked on. The President “caused to be inscribed in the roster of the Philippine Legion of Honor" the Malaysian general’s name for having “distinguished himself in his chosen career." The general was also cited for having “helped strengthen further the close relations existing between the Philippines and Malaysia, particularly in the promotion of peace, security, and development in Mindanao." gmanews.tv 2 May 08 The following articles will not be archived and are for information purposes only:
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