Do Your Awards Still Mean Something To You After Leaving The Service?

Everything that I wore on my uniform means something to me and they are all very special to me.

I don't really look at them anymore. They bring back memories some good others bad.

Of course my awards give me a feeling of pride and accomplishment. My BSM while serving in a MP Co. in Vietnam, is an award of great pride. As well my MSM's remind me of very hard work completed with excellence and received recognition thereof upon departing those assignments.

The memories of the actions associated with each one is very vivid in my mind. I find it nice to walk back there once in a while...

I am extremely proud of my service and for what I was recognized for her. Granted, I have only been out in years, but it seems as if I am increasingly proud.

To be Honest Every decoration I have are still in the original box they came in. I took the orders to the clothing issue and bought the ribbons or appropriate device and the appropriate bar I needed and use it. Now the whole thing is in a brief case in my attic. In my unit ribbons didn't mean anything. Some had to bust a hump to get ribbons some just had to get out of their rack it depended on who you were and who liked you. For the most part I am proud of what I accomplished while I was in service but the metals were tarnished by the ones that put their buddies in for any thing they could just for being there and not necessarily putting in the the ones that did the work to deserve them.

My medals somewhat lost their luster after a bad experience. My end of tour award, along with many other Soldier's awards, were arbitrarily downgraded by my own Brigade. I ended up getting a lower award than what I successfully got for my PSG and SLs.

I am proud of my Order of Saint Maurice however. To be awarded that as a Lieutenant is rare. I'm also proud of my Pathfinder Badge. Less than 1% of the Army is Pathfinder qualified.

I'm marine I served in a peace time military, the only thing I'm proud of is my jump wings. My Uncle Danny on the other hand was Marine too , he was on Iwo Jima and like thousands a Purple Heart veteran. Can't imagine losing 20,000 Marines killed and wounded in a month. I'm proud of his service,

I never did anything in my career for a medal...sometimes someone thought I deserved one and made a recommendation. After seeing the disparity of how they are awarded, based on rank or some other test having little to do with the achievement itself...I became quite cynical about the hunks of metal and colored ribbons. in no way am I downplaying those that have received valor awards, but when it comes to PCS, deployment, and retirement awards...I have seen some very good people get stiffed. My SFC was awarded not one, but 2 Soldier's Medals...he retired with an MSM instead of a LOM because he was a SFC. He had risked his life twice in Kosovo while a flight medic, navigating a mine field to rescue a fellow soldier...and he gets an MSM when he retires. I'm sure he didn't care about the award (like most of us), but it chaffed me.

No, not really. Out of everything, I do like the GAFPB, it looks cool, and the one that I do take pride in is my first FWS-SSI. The rest of it was just something else to measure, and add to the headache for Class A's/ASU. I think the most it did was to get people to leave you alone at the center of the universe, the land of tabs, and badges. Alice? Who the f...

Today, it's on a bookshelf, because my wife made a display, after finding it in an old demo box. I think friends, and family get more of a kick out of it than I ever did.

Now, if we're talking prized possessions, please allow me to direct your attention to exhibit A.