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Why do US military soldiers/officers have a chest full of medal ribbons when they probably haven't been in a combat situation? Are the medals for attendance, good behaviour, or long service perhaps?

15.06.2025 06:58

Why do US military soldiers/officers have a chest full of medal ribbons when they probably haven't been in a combat situation? Are the medals for attendance, good behaviour, or long service perhaps?

And while I have seen more than a few officers and NCOs who, in my opinion, don’t deserve a lot of their chest candy - the vast majority do.

Ugh. I am so tired of this question. I put in 33 years by the time I retired - 5 as an NCO in the Army, and 27 as an officer in the Marines (it’s complicated). I have a lot of ribbons,and with the exception of 2 ribbons, I earned the hell out of the rest.

The exceptions are one of my Purple Hearts, because we were all running away, and we were probably taking friendly fire (and yes, I know that technically that qualifies, but it still bugs me). And my NDSM for very complicated reasons that I don’t want to detail here.

What is better, 4 more years of Trump with the media trying to hurt him, or 8 years of DeSantis with the media licking booty, or 4 to 8 years of RFK with the media hating on him all the time? (Biden is not an option, he can't win)

Finally, I think that most in the military have mixed feelings about at least some of their awards - I think that is normal. Some of what we did to “earn” those awards was ugly and painful, we would rather not be reminded of what ...