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Bronze Star loses its luster in Iraq war
July 24, 2006 8:26 PM / FUBAR .

By CRISTINA RAMIREZ
Scripps Howard News Service
In the hierarchy of military medals, the Bronze Star ranks in the top tier. But
in the war on terror, some troops have been honored with the medal for going
above and beyond the call of duty, while others received it for just getting the
job done. For example, the Bronze Star has been awarded to:

    * Army Lt. Col. Andrew MacDonald, Soldier Systems Center chief of staff, for
leading a team of military and civilians in delivering equipment to troops in
Iraq.
    * U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Patrick Burke for "transporting a hospital" from
Pakistan to Afghanistan with "no pilferage or incident."
    * Marine Cmdr. Alan Hansen, deputy force chaplain, for fulfilling his role
as adviser and confidant to service members of all faiths during his deployment
in Iraq.
    * Navy Yeoman 1st Class Matthew S. Bryan for "repeatedly being under fire in
Iraqi convoys," but also for planning a party the =-- "Seabee Ball" -- in
Baghdad.

As the fourth-highest medal, the Bronze is awarded for heroism or "meritorious
achievement or service." According to the Military Awards Manual, a
"meritorious" Bronze Star medal is given to individuals whose acts are "well
above the expected performance of duty." For particular acts of bravery,
military members receive a Bronze Star for Valor.

In the war on terror, the military has been generous. More than 47,000 Bronze
Star medals have been awarded for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom, the Wartime Award Statistics by the Military Awards Branch shows.

That is substantially more than the 30,000 Bronze Star medals given during the
Korean War-- a war that involved triple the amount of troops and approximately
20 times more casualties.

About 500,000 troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 2,600
U.S. soldiers have been killed.

On the other hand, during the Korean War -- sometimes referred to as the
Forgotten War_ more than 1.7 million U.S. troops served there, and more than
54,000 died, according to the Directorate for Information Operations and Reports
in Washington.