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http://www.philippinemarinecorps.mil.ph/pmcmedal.html
Just want to honor our countries' soldiers who have received the highest honor for bravery in combat and performance beyond the call of duty...
http://www.philippinemarinecorps.mil.ph/pmcmedal.html
Just want to honor our countries' soldiers who have received the highest honor for bravery in combat and performance beyond the call of duty...
post your's to
Hero of Soviet UnionOriginally Posted by warshak
http://www.soviet-awards.com/titles1.htm
http://www.anzacday.org.au/education.../austlist.html
Has a small peice on how they won their medals.
There really is no Medal of Honor equivalent, as criteria for awards differ from country to country. If you refer only to the highest award for valor of a country, some, such as France, have no equivalent. France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, may be awarded for merit as well as valor, and may be awarded to civilians as well as military. Germany, too, has no separate valor award. And the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the premier German award in World War Two, was awarded for leadership as well as for valor; as was the Order Pour le Merite, Germany's (actually Prussia's) highest military decoration in World War One.
The Philippines is a little different, since its awards system was patterned after the US. So a Medal of Valor is roughly equivalent to a US Congressional Medal of Honor.
I trust you are also familiar with Jose Calugas, the Philippine Scout decorated with the Congressional Medal of Honor? Here is his citation: http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/cita...ugas_jose.html
Also worth mentioning is Philippine Army Air Corps fighter pilot Jesus Antonio Villamor. He received two Army Distinguished Service Crosses, the second highest valor award after the Medal of Honor, for his actions fighting the Japanese in the skies over the Philippines in December 1941. He returned to the Philippines in December 1942 to coordinate guerrilla activities. President Magsaysay later awarded him the Medal of Valor. Some more information: http://www.paf.mil.ph/history/villamor.html
Quite a number of Filipino soldiers earned the Distinguished Service Cross during the campaign against the Japanese invaders, but I believe Villamor is the only one to earn two and possibly the only one to receive the Medal of Valor as well.
I guess Germany's would be the Iron Cross, but that can only be instated during a time of war.
yup i'm familiar with them...those i posted though are more of the present day recipients...by the way thanks for the info on different awards...
Polish Virtuti Militari medal
According to the new statute, crosses of each class could be awarded to a different class of soldiers and for various deeds:Note that higher clases can be only awarded to people who earned lowest class first... so you must distinguih yourself in the field first..
- Grand Cross with Star, I Class: "for a commander who has achieved victory in a battle of strategic importance, resulting in total defeat of the enemy, or a successful defense that has decided the fate of a campaign."
- Commander's Cross, II Class: "for a commander who has achieved a notable tactical victory or a valorous and successful defense of a difficult position."
- Knight's Cross - III Class - For officers, NCOs or ordinary soldiers, awarded previously with the Golden Cross, for acts of outstanding bravery, risk of life or outstanding command over his troops
- Golden Cross - IV Class - For officers who commanded their troops with outstanding bravery and valor or for NCOs and ordinary soldiers previously awarded with the Silver Cross, for acts of outstanding bravery and risk of life on the field of battle
- Silver Cross - V Class - For officers, NCOs or ordinary soldiers, for acts of outstanding bravery and risk of life on the field of battle
Virtuti Militari
The Virtuti Militari (Latin: "For Military Valor") is Poland's highest military decoration for valor in the face of the enemy. Foreign decorations equivalent to the Virtuti Militari include Britain's Victoria Cross and the U.S. Medal of Honor. It is awarded either for personal heroisim or sometimes to commanders representing their units.
Awarded in five classes, the order was created in 1792 by Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Soon after its introduction, however, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was destroyed (1795) in the partitions of Poland, and the partitioning powers abolished the decoration and prohibited its wearing. Since then, it has been reintroduced, renamed and banned several times, with its fate closely reflecting the vicissitudes of the Polish people. Throughout the decoration's existence, thousands of soldiers and officers, Polish and foreign, several cities and one ship have been awarded the Virtuti Militari for valor or outstanding leadership in war.
Are they still using the Iron cross......cause ive seen some handed to some german soldiers and they didnt look like an iron cross.....more like some modern bull**** with no piece of history in it!
I believe that the Iron Cross could be worne after the waryears if the swastika was taken off the cross. I Believe that Eric Hartmann was wone of those pilot ho wore wone.
Id assume in a time of war they would use the EK since its like the most traditional medal we have. But it can only be instated during a time of war. I've seen some of the medals that look like the EK but I think they tried to change it up some so that it wasnt a exact replicate of the EK.
the Netherlands
The military Willemsorder is the highest Dutch millitary award; since 1940 this award can also be given to civilians.
The order is granted for acts that display "courage, Leadership and Loyalty". For indigenous from the KNIL there was a "cross for Courage and Loyalty". Many felt this was some form of discrimination. The Military Willemsorder was first created on the 30th of April 1815 and was awarded for the first time in the same year. The MWO is the highest award and can only be awarded in times of war, though this is not a formal demand; it has to be "in battle". After the war in Korea 1950-1954, the MWO has not been awarded. Remarkable abot this braverycommendation is that a soldier can request it for himself.
H.M. The Queen is grandmaster in this rare order
There are four grades within the Willemsorder:
* The Grandcross
* Commandeur
* Knight 3e klasse
* Knight 4e klasse
The order was created on april 30th 1815 by King Willem I: "to reward outstanding acts of courage, leadership and loyalty, committed by those, both at sea or on land, in whatever way, and without distinction between class or rank, have served our fatherland. This order may however also be awarded to foreign soldiers, not serving the Netherlands."
The law that accomedates the Willemsorder has after that only been altered once on the 30th of april 1940
Grandcrosses in the Military Willemsorder:
Princsess Wilhelmina
King George VI
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Emperor Haile Sellassie van Ethiopie
Regarding the Iron Cross, a couple of points:
The Iron Cross is not a Medal of Honor equivalent by any stretch. It was, in fact, the basic bravery medal of Prussia. It was held in high esteem by its recipients, at least until late-World War One awards lowered its value, but it was the basic award of the state, not the highest. Over 5 million Iron Crosses 2nd Class were awarded in World War One, along with 218,000 Iron Crosses 1st Class. If you peruse the Navy rank list of 1918, for example, you will see that virtually every Navy officer had the 2nd class and about 80% had the 1st class.
The same was the case in World War Two, even though a lesser award, the War Merit Cross, was created for lesser acts of valor and merit, especially by rear area soldiers. There were about 3 million awards of the 2nd class and between 300,000-575,000 of the 1st class.
Imperial Germany
During the Imperial era, each state had its own awards, so there was no highest "German" decoration. Also, awards were primarily based on rank, so officers would often receive an order while NCOs and enlisted men received a medal. These are the highest military decorations of the main German states:
These were the cream of Imperial German awards and were fairly rare. In World War One there were created 253 knights of the Military Order of Max Joseph, which conferred nobility (a Bavarian received a patent as "Ritter von"). There were about 1,000 awards of Bavaria's Golden Military Merit Medal, but sources differ on the exact number.
- Prussia: Order "Pour le Merite" for officers and Golden Military Merit Cross (Goldenes Militär-Verdienstkreuz) for NCOs and enlisted men.
- Bavaria: Military Order of Max Joseph (Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden) for officers and Golden Military Merit Medal (Goldene Militär-Verdienst Medaille) for NCOs and enlisted men.
- Saxony: Military Order of St. Henry (Militär St. Heinrich-Orden) for officers and Golden Medal of the Military Order of St. Henry (Goldene Medaille des Militär St. Heinrich-Ordens) for NCOs and enlisted men.
- Württemberg: Order of Military Merit (Militär-Verdienstorden) for officers and Golden Military Merit Medal (Goldene Militärverdienstmedaille) for NCOs and enlisted men.
- Baden: Military Merit Order of Karl-Friedrich (Militärischer Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden) for officers and Merit Medal of the Military Merit Order of Karl-Friedrich (Verdienstmedaille des Militärischen Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstordens) for NCOs and enlisted men.
For Prussia, there were 687 awards of the Pour le Merite, and about 122 of the oakleaves indicating a second award. There were about 1,770 awards of the Golden Military Merit Cross.
The Kingdom of Saxony created about 2,728 Knights of the Military Order of St. Henry and awarded just 150 of the Golden Medal of the order.
The Kingdom of Württemberg awarded 2,183 knight's crosses of its Order of Military Merit and about 4,234 Golden Military Merit Medals.
The Grand Duchy of Baden awarded 288 knight's crosses of its Military Merit Order of Karl-Friedrich, along with 1,282 Merit Medals of the order.
Nazi Germany
When Adolf Hitler reestablished the Iron Cross in 1939 as a German rather than Prussian award he did not bring back Prussia's Pour le Meite. Instead, he created a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as a neck badge. Higher grades were later created for those who had received the lower grade already (like the oakleaves for the Pour le Merite). These were the Oakleaves (883 awards), Oakleaves and Swords (159 awards), Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds (27 awards), and Golden Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds (1 award).
Because of the progressive nature of this system, it is hard to compare awards. Someone with the Oakleaves is not necessarily braver than someone with just the Knight's Cross; he just was brave on more occasions.
As noted, there was only one recipient of the Golden Oakleaves - Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Diamonds recipients include some of the more well-known names from WW2 German military history: field marshals like Erwin Rommel, Albert Kesselring and Walther Model and ace pilots like Erich Hartmann, Werner Mölders, Adolf Galland and Hans-Joachim Marseille. Most of the non-aviator awards were to generals, though, indicating that at that level the decoration was more an award for inspired leadership than for bravery.
Modern Germany
As noted, there is no Iron Cross or Iron Cross equivalent today. There is no specific bravery award. The Honor Cross of the Armed Forces (Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr) is more of a long service award than a merit/bravery award. The Merit Cross of the Federal Republic (Bundesverdienstkreuz), like the French Légion d'Honneur, is more of a general merit award, and can be given to civilians.
France
As noted, the Légion d'Honneur is France's highest award, but it is a civilian award as well. The list of recipients ranges from war heroes to celebrities like Martin Scorsese and Jean Reno. The Médaille Militaire is an exclusively military award, and ranks just after the Légion d'Honneur and the Ordre de la Libération, but it is not rare. 1.4 million were awarded in World War One (though a great many of these were posthumous) and 500,000 in World War Two.
Here in Brazil, we also doesn't have an Medal of Honor equivalent... matter of fact, we do not have any bravery medal...
Victoria Cross, but canadians havent earned one since korea. the best part of this medal is that at least 5 people need to witness your actions befor you can get it.
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