I posted this in the Army Infantry forums and want to post it with my fellow service members so we can get the word out.

Two bills were introduced into Congress to authorize a Cold War Service Medal to eligible veterans who served during that period (1946-1991). The first is Senate bill (S. 2743). Here is a short press release:

"WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) today introduced the Cold War Service Medals Act of 2009, bipartisan legislation to authorize the secretaries of the military departments to award Cold War Service Medals to American veterans. To date, no medal exists to honor the men and women who served and defended the United States during the Cold War.

The second companion bill is in the House of Representatives. It is bill (H.R. 4051) which was introduced by Rep. Steve Israel (NY-2). It also calls for the authorization of a Cold War Service Medal to eligible service members.

For over a decade Cold War Vets have been fighting for the creation and authorization of a Cold War Service Medal to honor their service. Over the years legislation has been introduced in Congress only for it to be later stripped out in conference committee.

November 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are hoping that this legislation will finally become reality so that all Cold War Vets can receive the proper recognition they deserve.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor senate bill (S.2743) Also contact your congressman and ask them to co-sponsor house bill (H.R. 4051). We need as many co-sponsors as possible to make this a reality!

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

John

right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

With all due respect the guys serving on nuclear subs shadowing Soviet subs, the guys flying constant 24/7 bomber patrols, and the lowly grunts patroling the West German border might take offense at that comment.

How soon we forget the threat posed by the Soviets and the roll the Cold War played in American history!

quote:

Originally posted by rocketman69:

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

With all due respect the guys serving on nuclear subs shadowing Soviet subs, the guys flying constant 24/7 bomber patrols, and the lowly grunts patroling the West German border might take offense at that comment.

How soon we forget the threat posed by the Soviets and the roll the Cold War played in American history!

And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:

quote:

Originally posted by rocketman69:

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

With all due respect the guys serving on nuclear subs shadowing Soviet subs, the guys flying constant 24/7 bomber patrols, and the lowly grunts patroling the West German border might take offense at that comment.

How soon we forget the threat posed by the Soviets and the roll the Cold War played in American history!

And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

Besides a humanitarium ribbon I got, what else did they offer us for the carnage we saw in Africa among some places? Or some of the not so popular fire fights that took place on the DMZ? NOTHING. Although I served through the Cold War and these current conflicts, many of my brothers and sisters that served were facing the same threats yet have not recieved anything.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

I agree that some Cold War vets recieved a campaign medal if they served in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, etc. However, if they didn't serve during one of those conflicts they would not be entitled to the NDSM. I know several Cold War vets who fall into this catagory. They served inbetween Korea & Vietnam or after Vietnam when no NDSM was authorized.

quote:

Originally posted by rocketman69:

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

I agree that some Cold War vets recieved a campaign medal if they served in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, etc. However, if they didn't serve during one of those conflicts they would not be entitled to the NDSM. I know several Cold War vets who fall into this catagory. They served inbetween Korea & Vietnam or after Vietnam when no NDSM was authorized.

Exactly if you did not serve during a time when a "national emergency" had been declared you didn't get it. Otherwise you did your job. If your duty was significant then you're eligible for a service medal.

I like my geedunk ribbon!

I want a CWS award so I can even out my rows.

So long as they don't try to authorize it as a campaign ribbon, I don't see the harm. I've seen guys get AAMs for showing up for AT. IMHO it's the designation of campaign or V device that makes a difference.

The Cold War was a "national emergency".

Guys who sat on the Czech border reading their 'red book' learning how to say "Drop your weapons" in Russian by flashlight earned a little extra color just as much as some of the troops who served in smaller but louder campaigns.

Ribbon snobs... what next?

While I support these Bills because they will honor so many Cold Warriors that currently have ZERO in the way of recognition for their Service during the Cold War, I'm very disappointed that, unlike every other previous Cold War Medal Bill, it excludes the Service of Reservists and Guardsmen.

quote:

Originally posted by shuman14:
While I support these Bills because they will honor so many Cold Warriors that currently have ZERO in the way of recognition for their Service during the Cold War, I'm very disappointed that, unlike every other previous Cold War Medal Bill, it excludes the Service of Reservists and Guardsmen.

Good point...but DOD wont authorize this for anyone...as we know...

The language of the Bills dooms it to failure...DOD cant spend on this vs the two front war efforts...

AND everyone knows that Cold Warriors don't deserve a Medal...hell they didnt see combat or hardship did they?

Not to mention you Folks got that certificate the same as the federal civilian employees...applauding your efforts...

The SAC squadrons...and the Submarine Squadrons..didn't exist...

SssHhhhhh...

They never happened...

Don't know about this. It's not like I'm still in promotable status where I need a couple of more points but I do remember quite well the freezing cold and the old C rations, the very early morning alerts, maneuvers, Graf (14) and Wildflecken (1). Being in an 8inch nuke Bn and in the short tube battery sorta brought the reality FWD all the time for nine years. Alot of guys bought the farm over there but I look at the Iron Curtain days as being the same on the Korean DMZ, duty wise but we still had it better than those on the DMZ but the threat was the same.
This has come up before and it was shot down. I really expect it will again.

quote:

Originally posted by crackerjacks61:
I want a CWS award so I can even out my rows.

CJ,

Good one! LOL. Never thought of that!

Jack

quote:

Originally posted by EAG154:
I like my geedunk ribbon!

Terry,

Congratulations! Friend of mine was in the Medical Corps during the 60's (MD) for less than three years. His only medal is/was the Nat'l Defense Service Medal. At his 50th Anniversary, there were photos of him in uniform with his one ribbon.

You can imagine how he took a ribbing from those of us who were vets. It didn't help that one of his best friends grabbed the mike and announced "everyone, make certain you look at his photo in uniform and examine his one ribbon".

Jack

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:

quote:

Originally posted by rocketman69:

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

With all due respect the guys serving on nuclear subs shadowing Soviet subs, the guys flying constant 24/7 bomber patrols, and the lowly grunts patroling the West German border might take offense at that comment.

How soon we forget the threat posed by the Soviets and the roll the Cold War played in American history!

And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

Sand Flea,

I've cut-and-pasted some info (about the applicability of the NDSM to Cold War era service) from a post that I had written on the Cold War Service Medal thread over in the General Discussion section of this Forum. I'm not certain how much you fine people get over to that section of the Forum, so I thought it would be OK to post over here as well. Not trying to spam anyone, but my typing skills leave a lot to be desired (and hence, the cut-and-paste). Hope this info helps the discussion. Anyway, here it is:

quote:
Originally posted by Dave_M:
They could just add those of us who served during the cold war to the National Defense Service Medal eligibility. That way those who served during overlap periods would already have the medal.


Dave_M,

Excellent suggestion, and one that has been made by a great many people. However, a proposal to award a NDSM to address the gaps in coverage during the Cold War peiod (1946-1991) has three major problems:

1) It would directly contravene the initial directive's/subsequent legislation's clear intent of what was envisioned as constituting a period of "national emergency." The NDSM has only been awarded for the time periods assigned to the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and GWOT, so it seems quite evident that the concept of "national emergency" is to be equated (more or less) with what is commonly termed a "shooting war." Fair enough, and I don't think most people have a particular problem with this equation. One's only recourse would be to argue that the entire Cold War period constituted a single, overarching "shooting war," like an Orwellian concept of eternal war/conflict. Even if one could pull off the argument, there is still...

2) DoD's anticipated objections that expanding the NDSM would "cheapen" the award to those who already received it, as well as "cheapening" the other awards within the wider awards system. Certainly in the case of the NDSM, and given the context that was provided in the preceding paragraph, I would have to agree with DoD. This is working on the assumption that, even if you were not actively engaged in a shooting war, there certainly existed the possibility that you could sent to one if indeed you served during the four authorized periods for the NDSM. (As an aside, DoD's claims regarding the impact of an award on the wider awards system have always failed to convince anyone, especially since it happily went along with the plethora of medals created during the GWOT). In any event, in my humble opinion, there is simply no way you're going to get an expanded-period coverage past DoD, and even if you could...

3) It would still fail to recognize the Cold War as a unique conflict; a conflict that was waged for almost a half-century, with the approval of numerous U.S. Congresses and 9 American Presidents, which marshalled an array of military, intelligence, diplomatic and economic resources of the Western democracies in a number of treaty organizations, and which culminated in the collapse of one of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen, with the result that tens of millions of people were freed from tyranny, and the world's geo-political framework was changed as fundamentally as it had been at the end of WWII. Instead of subsuming the Cold War into an expanded, and woefully generic NDSM, it would be better to recognize the manifold accomplishments entailed in winning the Cold War with an actual Cold War Service Medal (as some of our NATO and SEATO allies are considering).

USMC_Kinda_Guy

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:

quote:

Originally posted by rocketman69:

quote:

Originally posted by Sand_Flea:
right up there with the firewatch ribbon, mo geedunk

With all due respect the guys serving on nuclear subs shadowing Soviet subs, the guys flying constant 24/7 bomber patrols, and the lowly grunts patroling the West German border might take offense at that comment.

How soon we forget the threat posed by the Soviets and the roll the Cold War played in American history!

And no disrespect to you or them but from 1945 to 1991 there were a number of conflicts that resulted in various campaign and service ribbons. In addition to service badges for doing your job during that period. Frankly the National Defense Service Medal already covers what you're asking for.

BULLSCHIDT!!!...
Respectfully, SUNLINER81

quote:

Originally posted by strobelvets:

quote:

Originally posted by shuman14:
While I support these Bills because they will honor so many Cold Warriors that currently have ZERO in the way of recognition for their Service during the Cold War, I'm very disappointed that, unlike every other previous Cold War Medal Bill, it excludes the Service of Reservists and Guardsmen.

Good point...but DOD wont authorize this for anyone...as we know...

The language of the Bills dooms it to failure...DOD cant spend on this vs the two front war efforts...

AND everyone knows that Cold Warriors don't deserve a Medal...hell they didnt see combat or hardship did they?

Not to mention you Folks got that certificate the same as the federal civilian employees...applauding your efforts...

The SAC squadrons...and the Submarine Squadrons..didn't exist...

SssHhhhhh...

They never happened...

........ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Unofficial Cold War Commemorative Service Medal. You can't wear it on a uniform, but it's something you can toss in a drawer to remember your service.

"http://www.foxfall.com/cwm.htm"

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