Saturday, August 10, 2013

John Hanson, First Sergeant, U.S. Army National Guard (Retired), Legion of Merit Medal Recipient

ABSTRACT:  Today, August 10, 2013, John Hanson was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal “for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements” in San Diego, CA.  Information about the medals awarded to John Hanson, including the Legion of Merit Medal and the Bronze Star, are presented. Five days earlier, on Monday, August 5, 2013, after 26 years in city employment, Building Official and Reserve Carmel Police Officer John Hanson was fired at the Carmel police station. “This week, city administrator Jason Stilwell wouldn’t say why he fired Hanson, and Hanson did not want to comment about anything having to do with the city or his termination, which was done in the presence of CPD Chief Mike Calhoun,” according to reporting in The Carmel Pine Cone.

RELATED NEWS ARTICLE: 
Building official fired after weeks of paid leave
By MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone
Published: August 9, 2013


Service: All Services

Instituted: 1942 (retroactive to 8 Sept 1939)

Legion of Merit Medal Criteria: Exceptionally merit­orious conduct in the per­formance of outstanding services to the United States

Devices: Army/Air Force: Bronze, Silver Oak Leaf Cluster; Navy/Mar­ine Corps/Coast Guard: Bronze Letter “V” Device (for valor), Gold, Silver Star

Notes: Issued in four deg­rees (Legionnaire, Officer, Commander & Chief Commander) to foreign nationals
The Legion of Merit Medal was Authorized by Congress on July 20, 1942 to award to members of the Armed Forces of the United States for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service. Superior performance of normal duties will not alone justify award of this decoration. This military medal is not awarded for heroism, but rather service and achievement while performing duties in a key position of responsibility. It may be presented to foreign personnel, but is not authorized for presentation to civilian personnel. There are four degrees of this decoration that are awarded to foreign personnel only (Chief Commander, Commander, Officer and Legionnaire). The first two degrees are comparable in rank to the Distinguished Service Medal and are usually awarded to heads of state and to commanders of armed forces, respectively. The last two degrees are comparable in rank to the award of the Legion of Merit Medal to U.S. service members. The Legion of Merit was designed by Colonel Robert Townsend Heard and sculpted by Katharine W. Lane of Boston.

The name and design of the Legion of Merit was strongly influenced by the French Legion of Honor. The medal is a white enameled five-armed cross with ten points, each tipped with a gold ball and bordered in red enamel. In the center of the cross, thirteen stars on a blue field are surrounded by a circle of heraldic clouds. A green enameled laurel wreath circles behind the arms of the cross. Between the wreath and the center of the medal, in between the arms of the cross are two crossed arrows pointing outward. The blue circle with thirteen stars surrounded by clouds is taken from the Great Seal of the United States and is symbolic of a “new constellation,” as the signers of the Declaration of Independence called our new republic. The laurel wreath represents achievement, while the arrows represent protection of the nation. The reverse of the cross is a gold colored copy of the front with blank space to be used for engraving. The raised inscription, “ANNUIT COEPTIS MDCCLXXXII” with a bullet separating each word encircles the area to be engraved. The words, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “ANNUIT COEPTIS” (He [God] Has Favored Our Undertaking) come from the Great Seal of the United States and the date, “MDCCLXXXII” (1782) refers to the year General Washington established the Badge of Military Merit. The ribbon is a purple-red called American Beauty Red which is edged in white. The color is a variation of the original color of the Badge of Military Merit.



Service: All Services
Instituted: 1944 (retroactive to 7 Dec. 1941)

Criteria: The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to individuals who, while serving in the United States Armed Forces in a combat theater, distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding achievement or by meritorious service not involving aerial flight

Devices: Bronze Letter “V” (for Valor) Army/Air Force: Bronze, Silver Oak Leaf Cluster; Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard: Gold, Silver Star

Notes: Awarded for meritorious service to WW II holders of Army Combat Infantryman or Combat Medical Badge

Authorized on February 4, 1944, retroactive to December 7, 1941. It is awarded to individuals who, while serving in the United States Armed Forces in a combat theater, distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding achievement or by meritorious service not involving aerial flight.

The Bronze Star was originally conceived by the U.S. Navy as a junior decoration comparable to the Air Medal for heroic or meritorious actions by ground and surface personnel. The level of required service would not be sufficient to warrant the Silver Star if awarded for heroism or the Legion of Merit if awarded for meritorious achievement. In a strange twist of fate, the Bronze Star Medal did not reach fruition until championed by General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II. Marshall was seeking a decoration that would reward front line troops, particularly infantrymen, whose ranks suffered the heaviest casualties and were forced to endure the greatest danger and hardships during the conflict. Once established, the Bronze Star Medal virtually became the sole province of the Army in terms of the number of medals awarded.

Although Marshall wanted the Bronze Star Medal to be awarded with the same freedom as the Air Medal, it never came close to the vast numbers of Air Medals distributed during the war. The only exception was the award of the Bronze Star Medal to every soldier of the 101st Airborne Division who had fought in the Normandy invasion, Operation Market Garden in Holland, the Battle of the Bulge or were wounded.

After the war, when the ratio of Air Medals to airmen was compared to the numbers of Bronze Star Medals awarded to combat soldiers, it became clear that a huge disparity existed and many troops who deserved the award for their service had not received it. Therefore, in September 1947, the Bronze Star Medal was authorized for all personnel who had received either the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) or the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) between December 7, 1941 to September 2, 1945. In addition, personnel who had participated in the defense of the Philippine Islands between December 7, 1941 and May 10, 1942 were awarded the Bronze Star Medal if their service was on the island of Luzon, the Bataan Peninsula or the harbor defenses on Corregidor Island and they had been awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. The Bronze Star Medal also replaced some awards of the Purple Heart from early in World War II when that medal was awarded for meritorious or essential service rather than for wounds.

Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal are entitled to wear a “V” device on the ribbon bar and suspension ribbon if the Medal is awarded for heroism in combat. The “V” device was approved in 1945 to clearly distinguish between awards of the medal for heroism in combat or for meritorious service. Additional awards are denoted by bronze and silver oak leaf clusters or gold and silver stars, depending on the recipient’s Service Branch.

The Bronze Star Medal is a five-pointed bronze star with a smaller star in the center (similar in design to the Silver Star Medal); the reverse contains the inscription, “HEROIC OR MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT” in a circular pattern. The ribbon is red with a white-edged blue band in the center and white edge stripes. The Bronze Star Medal was designed by Rudolf Freund of Bailey, Banks and Biddle.

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