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National Defense Service Medal |
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The National Defense Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States
military and was the brainchild of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Created in
1953, the National Defense Service Medal was intended to be a “blanket
campaign medal” issued to any member of the United States military who served
in a designated time period of which a “national emergency” had been declared.
In the fifty years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal, it has
been authorized for the following time periods.
June 27, 1950 to July 27, 1954 for service during the Korean War
January 1, 1961 to August 14, 1974 for service during the Vietnam War
August 2, 1990 to November 30, 1995 for service during the Gulf War
September 11, 2001 to a date to be announced for service during the War on
Terrorism
The National Defense Service Medal is awarded to anyone who serves on active
duty in the United States military during the above time periods. For service in the
Gulf War and War on Terrorism, it is also authorized for members of the military
reserve provided they are a “military reservist in good standing.” This infers that a
reservist must be in a drill status and also be participating in regular annual
training. The National Defense Service Medal is further authorized to students at
the service academies, but is not granted to discharged or retired veterans who
did not serve in one of the above time periods. The decoration is also not
authorized to members of the inactive reserve.
Since the National Defense Service Medal has no other award criteria, except that
a recipient must simply join the military, it is generally considered a rather
insignificant decoration. A common slang phrase for the award is the “Hear
Thunder and See Lightning Medal” or the "Fireguard Ribbon" (referring to the
nightly fire watches performed during basic training). There is also not a time limit
imposed for the medals issuance, meaning that someone who joins the military
for simply a few days, and then receives an entry level discharge, would
technically be entitled to the National Defense Service Medal.
Multiple awards of the National Defense Service Medal are authorized for
members of the military who served in more than one of the eligible time periods;
such additional awards are denoted by service stars. A second award of the
medal is not granted for reenlisting during the same time period or transferring
between branches of service.
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