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Breaking News
Britain - Portsmouth diver presented with medal at the bottom of the poolActing
Petty Officer Andy Coulson received the award at the bottom of a
Gibraltar swimming pool. He
was in the middle of a two-week exercise on the island, which included
stints at the military outdoor swimming pool, when he found himself in
the midst of the impromptu ceremony.The 34-year-old Scot, who is based
at Horsea Island, said: ‘I was not expecting it.
‘I mentioned it in passing several weeks ago that I thought it
would be
good to receive my medal underwater rather than on the parade ground,
but I didn’t expect anyone to act on it. ‘I’d
totally forgotten that I
mentioned it, but it’s something that will live with me forever
–
certainly one of the highlights of my 15-year career in the
navy.’ As well as a long service medal, the award recognises
PO Coulson’s good conduct over the years as well. His
boss, Lieutenant Simon Leightley, the officer in charge Southern Diving
Unit 2, said: ‘Andy’s been selected for promotion and will
soon embark
on his professional qualifying course, so it seemed an appropriate
send-off to present his medal “in the office” so to speak.
I gave a
slightly shorter citation than normal – mostly through
bubbles.’ Joining
PO Coulson and Lt Leightley underwater for the presentation was Warrant
Officer (Diver) Robin Rickard, representing the Southern Diving
Group. He joined the navy at 16 as an Air Engineer Mechanic, but
transferred to the diving branch 11 years ago. WO Rickard said:
‘I have already had a fulfilling career but am looking forward to
continuing my progression.’ bigluetech.net 27 Jun 09
Britain - Hero dog's medal sold at auctionA
medal awarded to a dog which sniffed out survivors of the German
bombing of London in World War Two has been sold at auction. An
anonymous buyer paid just over $45,000 for the medal. The Dickin medal was established to recognise animalswhich showed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Rip, found starving and homeless after an air raid in 1940, more than met the criteria. After being adopted by an air raid warden, he quickly began the job of sniffing out survivorstrapped in the rubble of
the London blitz. In all, he found and saved more than 100
people. Rip was awarded the medal in 1943, and wore the medal on
his collar until his death when he was buried under a headstonewhich bears the simple inscription, We Also Serve. cfdmarket.wordpress.com 21 Jun 09
Britain -Soldiers will get bravery medals
Three soldiers from a north Shropshire-based Army regiment were due to
receive bravery medals at Buckingham Palace today. The 1st
Battalion Royal Irish Regiment soldiers were set to receive military crosses
– two levels down from the Victoria Cross – for bravery in
Afghanistan. Captain Graham Rainey, Colour Sergeant Steven
McConnell and Ranger Alan Owens were set to receive the
medals. Captain
Rainey was set to receive his military cross for actions north of Musa
Kala. Colour Sergeant McConnell was set to receive his for actions
while serving with Ranger Company in Sangin and Ranger Owens was due to
get his for operations near the Kajaki Dam. They will follow in
the
footsteps of three other soldiers from the Tern Hill-based regiment.
Corporal Robert McClurg, Acting Sergeant Alwyn Stevens and Lance
Corporal Jone Toge received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross
– one level down from the Victoria Cross. Their
citations were scrutinised and cleared after their senior officer Major
Robert Armstrong was arrested for allegedly “grossly
exaggerating” his
own heroics in Afghanistan. Major Armstrong, of the Royal
Artillery, was attached to The Royal Irish Regiment in southern
Afghanistan last year. Lieutenant Colonel Ed Freely, commanding
officer, was questioned and released without charge. shropshirestar.com 24 Jun 09
Japan - Senegal Embassador Bouna Semou Diouf has been awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun. Link to acticle is broken The
following
articles will not be archived and are for information
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New Zealand - Medal SurveyThis
is a voluntary survey to assist the New Zealand Defence Force to
support the independent Medallic Recognition Joint Working Group (JWG)
established by the Ministers of Defence and Veterans' Affairs. The NZDF has been asked by the JWG to undertake asurvey on the proposed New Zealand Defence Force Medal.
The JWG has asked the NZDF to engage with all current and ex-military
service personnel on this subject. This survey is open to all
currently serving personnel, ex-service personnel and to their families.
Russian Federation - Moscow Gave Out Four Times More Hero Medals in Chechen War than in Afghanistan In
addition to those in the military receiving this distinction, personnel
from the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of
Emergency Situations also were named Heroes of the Russian Federation.
Like the military until December 2008, few of these organizations have
provided exact numbers.The
FSB has never given them out, but the number of awards there must
exceed 40, the magazine said, given that the names of 34 of them are
known. And for the MVD internal troops, the number is at least 81 for
the fighting in the North Caucasus, of whom 54 received the award
posthumously.Thus,
for the Chechen campaigns, more than 500 Russian personnel received
this award, nearly six times as many that received the distinction of
Hero of the Soviet Union for Moscow’s effort in Afghanistan in
the 1980s but, of course, far fewer than the 11,739 who received that
award during World War II.In
addition to the dramatic increase in the number of awards,
“Sovershenno Sekretno” suggested, two other aspects are
troubling. On the one hand, the percentage of senior people who did not
directly participate in combat seems to have gone up as well, a
situation that recalls the medal mania of Brezhnev’s time.And
on the other, some of the awards went to officials like FSB deputy
director Vladimir Pronichev who was named a Hero of the Russian
Federation for his role during the Nord-Ost terrorist incident, a case
in which, as “Sovershenno Sekretno” recalls, 129 of the 130
who died were victims of the use of lethal gas by people under
Pronichev's command.The
general inflation in the number of medals that the Russian authorities
have handed out is obvious, according to the article, but the exact
numbers are impossible to check given that information about awards
given even during the first Chechen campaign, from 1995 to 96, remain
inaccessible to investigators, with officials refusing all requests for
their release.The
reason for this, the article continues, is that such statistics would
be embarrassing either because they would allow people to see just how
serious that conflict was, something the Kremlin did everything it
could to conceal, or how commanders had used the conflict to hand out
medals and thus advance its members.Despite
official efforts to keep the lid on such information, some of it has
leaked out. There is a reference in one order that in February-March of
1995 alone, “almost 1600” Russian officers and men were
given the Order of Courage, a statistic that suggests that the fighting was extremely intense.That
would mean some 21,500 such orders were given out during the first
campaign. And given that the numbers on the medals for March 2000
ranged from 42,000 to 46,000, there must have been more than 20,000
such awards given between the two Chechen wars, yet another indication
of either the seriousness of the conflict or medal inflation.The
situation with regard to the awarding of medals appears to have become
worse during the Russian campaign in Georgia, even though overall
statistics remain classified. During that effort, which Moscow has
called “the five-day war,” the magazine reported, at least
19 officers and soldiers were named Heroes of Russia and 263 were
awarded the Georgian Cross.But
it is not only in the military were the “golden rain” of
orders appears to be intensifying. Interfax reported, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox
Church, was awarded the star of the Order of St. Aleksandr Nevsky “For Labor and the Fatherland”.While
giving awards to church leaders has become increasingly frequent in
post-Soviet Russia, this presentation is in some ways anomalous. While
he has been declared a saint by the Orthodox Church, Aleksandr Nevsky
in fact formed an alliance with the Muslim Mongols to oppose the
expansion of Catholic influence into Russia. themoscowtimes.com 18 Jun 09
United States - Burglars Steal 9/11 MedalTwo
pins that accompanied a congressional Medal of Valor awarded
posthumously to a New York City firefighter who died when the World
Trade Center towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, have been stolen from a
Carrollwood home, Hillsborough County deputies say. Two people have
been arrested in connection with the March 6 burglary, but deputies say
none of the property stolen, including the pins, has been recovered. The medal was awarded to Richie Muldowney. When
the burglary occurred, the pins were in the possession of Muldowney's
mother. The medal itself was not stolen, Richie's brother Brian
Muldowney said this morning. Richie's widow had the medal. tbo.com 18 Jun 09
Ivory Coast - Decoration French cultural embassador Jacques de Lesquènes and Moroccan cultural embassador Sbihi Mohamed have been made chevaliers dans l’ordre du mérite culturel ivoirien. Article in French news.abidjan.net 17 Jun 09
United States - Heroism honored with Gold Star AwardsSpring had not yet sprung and the sun was yet to rise in the wee, cold hours of April 3, 2008.Sgt. Umberto Silva was having some difficulty rousing himself for another day’s work at the prison.Tired and under the weather, he considered diving back under the warm covers.Not
his style. He dutifully showed up for another shift on the Level IV,
maximum security yard at CCI Tehachapi. “I knew something was
wrong that whole day,” Silva said. “It was unusually quiet
on the yard.” That day prisons across the state were placed on an
unprecedented lock down following an armed attack by two gang members.
The inmates entered an interior office where they stabbed and seriously
injured Officer Steven Cacciola and Sgt. Silva before an alarm could be
raised.Capt.
Patrick Matzen, Sgt. Michael Slankard and Officer Debra Martinez
arrived on the scene, and helped to subdue the inmates with pepper
spray, batons and pure survival instinct.Silva was stabbed seven times, Cacciola, twice.
All five were injured the incident the Department of Corrections deemed
“a pre-meditated plan to assault and injure the staff.” The
two inmates face trial in August for attempted murder. Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger met with the injured officers at his Santa Monica
offices just months after the attack. “Their courage, toughness
and bravery is amazing, I wanted to offer them encouragement and my
support,” Schwarzenegger said. “They are the real heroes of
this state.” A year and three surgeries after the attack, Silva
joined his co-workers for a ceremony at the state Capitol, where they
were awarded one of the Department of Corrections’ highest honors, The Gold Star: “For bravery above and beyond the normal demands of correctional service.” techachapinews.com 15 Jun 09
France -Jarmila Najbrtoya-Lorencova recoit une haute decoration francaise The medal of
Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres has been made to Mme
Jarmila Najbrtová-Lorencová, former employee of
the Bibliothèque française in Prague. Article in
French. radio.cz 16 Jun 09
United States - Twentynine Palms Marine sergeant honored for saving buddy Sgt.
Christopher Phinney was serving as a tank commander June 19, 2008, when
a round misfired, spilling explosive propellant throughout the M1
Abrams tank. Phinney, 25, of Cumberland, Maine, immediately ordered
Marines to evacuate. As the tank burst into flames, one Marine was
trapped inside. "Without hesitation or thought of self-preservation,
Sgt. Phinney reached back through the flames to free his gunner,"
according to the official citation awarding Phinney the Navy and Marine
Corps Medal. An
explosion blasted Phinney 8 feet off the tank. Despite his injuries, he
led his Marines away from the burning tank. After recovering from
his injuries, Phinney deployed to Iraq where he received two achivement
awards. latimesblog.latimes.com 18 Jun 09
The
following
articles will not be archived and are for information
purposes only:
