THE ROMANCE OF MILITARY IXSIGXIA 



479 



decorations on members of the military 

 and naval forces of our Allies. 



THE VICTORY MEDAL AND ITS CLASPS 



The last act in this evolution occurred 

 on the question of the Victory Medal 

 (see illustration, page 464, and descrip- 

 tive text, page 507), which is given to 

 commemorate the war with Germany. 



Heretofore it has been our custom to 

 bestow war medals only on those who 

 participated in the campaigns. Those 

 who had the misfortune to remain in the 

 United States received no recognition, 

 even though engaged on work vital to the 

 success of the oversea forces. Soon after 

 the armistice it became evident that the 

 sentiment of the country was against such 

 a discrimination, and a bill was intro- 

 duced into Congress to award a medal to 

 all who served in the Army and Navy, 

 regardless of whether or not they had 

 oversea service. 



This bill, due to the press of business 

 in the last session of Congress, never 

 emerged from the committee, but the 

 principle was accepted by the War De- 

 partment and the order establishing the 

 Victory Medal gave it to all who served 

 on active duty during the war, and the 

 British system of clasps was adopted to 

 denote participation in battle operations. 



This custom, as already noted, has been 

 in force in Great Britain since 18 13, and 

 under it a much more complete recogni- 

 tion is given for services performed in 

 wars than is possible by a medal alone, 

 because the medal itself is given to all 

 who in any way contributed to the mili- 

 tary operations, and, in addition, clasps, 

 to be worn on the ribbon above the medal, 

 show in which battles or campaigns of 

 the war the wearer participated. Thus 

 the medal, with its clasps, gives a fairly 

 complete record of the services rendered. 



DECORATIONS NOT SOUGHT BY UNIFORMED 

 SERVICES 



Notwithstanding our recent adoption 

 of European customs regarding decora- 

 tions and medals, we have not followed 

 blindly in the footsteps of other nations, 

 but have succeeded in developing at least 

 three features not possessed by any other 

 country. These will be referred to and 



explained in due course, but the subject 

 is mentioned here to show that our pres- 

 ent system, while based on methods al- 

 ready existing abroad, is distinctly Amer- 

 ican and not merely an imitation. 



It will be observed that in this evolu- 

 tion of decorations in the United States 

 the principal role has been played by civ- 

 ilians, not by the Army or Navy. Almost 

 every step was taken in response to an 

 act of Congress or to meet the demand 

 of public opinion. 



It is not intended to convey the infer- 

 ence that Army and Naval officers are op- 

 posed or indifferent to these matters. A 

 soldier is merely a citizen in uniform and 

 has the same general ideas and aspirations 

 as any other citizen, and the gradual 

 growth of the feeling in favor of decora- 

 tions was shared by the Army and Navy 

 as well as by civilians ; but it was due to 

 the activities of the latter that the present 

 system was established, not to the soldier 

 and the sailor, who are the direct bene- 

 ficiaries thereof. 



MEDALS, DECORATIONS, AND BADGES 

 DEFINED 



In its broad conception, a medal is a 

 metallic ornament used for commemora- 

 tive and decorative purposes and usually 

 given as a reward. The word decoration 

 is somewhat broader in its meaning, as it 

 is not confined to metallic, but embraces 

 ornaments made of any material. In a 

 technical sense, however, it has been 

 found necessary to restrict the meanings 

 of both these words, and a decoration can 

 be defined as an ornament of honor be- 

 stowed for some individual act or service, 

 in contradistinction to a service medal, 

 which is for general distribution, com- 

 memorative of some war, campaign, or 

 other historical event, to all those who 

 honorably participated therein, irrespec- 

 tive of the value of their individual serv- 

 ices. 



For example, a "Medal of Honor" is a 

 decoration, as it is conferred for some 

 signal act of heroism performed by the 

 individual. But the Victory Medal is not 

 a decoration, as it is for general distribu- 

 tion to all who served honorably in the 

 war with Germany, no individual act 



