Italy
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Ah yeah that’s right. He was in that entire Japanese-American unit that fought in Italy and ended up being the most decorated unit of the entire war.
For some weird reason I was think about John Basilone.
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I’m pretty sure it takes the approval of the first flag officer in the recipient’s chain of command to award the Bronze Star. It takes that to receive an MSM, and I can’t believe that a Bronze Star would have a lower approval level than an MSM.
As for the Gov, I am confident that award was downgraded by the approval authority, probably to an MSM. He admits he knew he didn’t receive the Bronze Star. He just never figured that he would get caught.
Bronze Star and MSM are the same exact criteria. You don’t downgrade to a MSM. The only difference besides the V device is one is earned in combat zone the other in normal operations.
Europe. 442nd
Those dudes were real badasses in Italy. They never had to withdraw from their positions and they destroyed several entire German divisions.
Italy was a bit of a side show for European allied command though so they never put in enough reserves to exploit breakthroughs when they happened. The Germans there certainly weren’t bad either. Wehrmacht plugged the holes quickly with units taken from elsewhere and they were well trained units. Better than the ones in France.
Just another never-has-been leftist pretending to be somebody. It’s a recurring pattern, top to bottom. 
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The reason why if you win the Medal of Honor, your fighting career is over. 
I know, but the MSM doesn’t carry the weight of Honor that a Bronze Star carries. I figure there is a good chance that the approval authority changed the award to an MSM. And I am very familiar with the award, mine has 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, but I don’t have a Bronze Star.
I am not following. If the award was for duties while deployed only then it could not downgraded as you say to MSM, not allowed. It would be downgraded to a Achievement or one of the Service medals. If it the award was for stuff deployed and at home then it couldn’t be a BS to start with and then could become a MSM as you said. I was under the impression that it was for being deployed.
The MSM can be awarded instead of the Bronze Star even if the soldier is deployed to a combat zone. What I suspect is that the award justification didn’t justify the Bronze Star, in the eyes of the approval authority, even though the soldier was deployed at the time of the actions listed in the justification. I have no reason to believe he wasn’t submitted for a Bronze Star, just that the recommendation wasn’t tied to a specific engagement, or operation, against enemy forces meeting Bronze Star criteria…
Mmmmm. There are of course, exceptions.
https://sogsite.com/colonel-robert-l-howard/
He was one of my commanders. He never stopped being a Warrior.
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Lieutenants get MSMs.
Captains and above…
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During the 1900’s, there was an exception or two.
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Not sure about other services but it can not be awarded in AF.
“This decoration was established by Executive Order 11448 on Jan. 16, 1969. This award was established as the counterpart of the Bronze Star Medal for the recognition of meritorious noncombatant service.”
Great read, thanks for sharing.
Question: while serving under Colonel Howard were you aware of his experiences and did they transcend into his command approach. Just curious.
Chesty should not be mentioned in the same topic as politicians or any other neerdowell, unless it’s to exemplify contrast between superior men and worthless meat sacks.
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In the Army you can get either one. This is why I suspect the approval authority, the first flag officer in the chain in the Army’s case, apparently didn’t think the supporting acts met the combat action requirement. An MSM is still a significant award, they don’t just hand them out, but it isn’t a Bronze Star. More importantly, this governor knew he never received one. Just like the other governor knew he didn’t retire as a CSM.
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Yes, we were aware. “Transcend”?
