A new Distinguished Warfare Medal medal, (dubbed the “drone strike medal”) was announced by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month, and according to the Army Times, “will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyberwar experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations, but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails.
Gateway Pundit reports:
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) has introduced legislation to require that the Purple Heart occupy a position of precedence above the new Distinguished Warfare Medal. The bipartisan bill has 42 cosponsors including a few Democrats.
The VFW also immediately came out in opposition of the placement of the medal, saying in a statement:
We believe it is very important to properly recognize all who serve and excel, but the new medal could spark internal debate and deteriorate morale as it leapfrogs more than a dozen current medals and ribbons – to include valor and combat injury awards.
Action Needed: Bills have been introduced in both the House (H.R. 833) and the Senate (S. 470) and have the strong support of the VFW. Contact your Representatives and Senators today and urge them to support H.R. 833 and S. 470 - legislation that would prohibut DOD from placing the Distinguished Warfare Medal higher in precedent than the Purple Heart.
Tell them that medals that are earned for valor or wounds in combat must outrank any new medals earned in the rear for combat support.
Via the Army Times
A petition posted on the White House website Thursday asks the administration to lower the precedence of the Distinguished Warfare Medal.
The medal, which will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyberwar experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations, but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails.
“Under no circumstance should a medal that is designed to honor a pilot, that is controlling a drone via remote control, thousands of miles away from the theater of operation, rank above a medal that involves a soldier being in the line of fire on the ground,” the petition reads. “This is an injustice to those who have served and risked their lives and this should not be allowed to move forward as planned.”
The new medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over — and be worn on a uniform ahead of — the Bronze Star with Valor device, awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat.
The petitioner, John Evans appeared on the Keith Larson radio show on Feb 25, 2013 to talk about his petition.
At last count, the petition had 81,790 signatures with 18,210 more to go to reach 100,000 before the March 16 deadline.
UPDATE:
When I refreshed the page, it had 81,786 signatures. How does that happen?
I refreshed again, and it was 81,783.
UPDATE II:
Nevermind, I was reading the numbers backwards!
March, 12, 2013 at 12:50 pm
[...] I posted my story about the medal, yesterday, the petition had 81,790 signatures with 18,210 more to go to reach 100,000 before the [...]