MILITARY MEDALS
Militaries around the world have awarded medals for over 200 years to their troops for basic service as well as for exceptional dedication and courage. While various badges, pins and patches are used to identify units and ranks many medals tend to cross over divisions and even military branches.
Campaign medals, for instance, are issued to every service member from any branch of the service, who participated in a particular campaign. Participants from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, who fought in or occupied Afghanistan all would have had the opportunity to earn the same type of Afghanistan Campaign medal pictured in this chapter.
Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait in case with ribbon bar, value $22.00.
Good conduct and other exemplary service medals are usually unique to the branch of service, with the designs often differing substantially between the branches. Since these are not tied to a campaign or conflict directly we have not attempted to list them in this chapter. Similarly, we will not be displaying any of the long awarded medals of valor and merit such as Good Conduct, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Bronze and Silver Stars and Medal of Honor.
All United Nations medals look basically the same, but have different ribbons for each peacekeeping operation. For some peace keeping operations bars displaying the acronym of the mission are attached to the ribbon. In our listings we have tried to give accurate ribbon color descriptions for stripes running left to right on U.N. medals.
For all the medals listed in this chapter we have tried to mention any basic requirements or time frame of service required for their awarding. We have also attempted to give a brief description for the more unusual medals listed, especially those of other nations and those few political badges or medals from Iraq that we have chosen to list here.
We have only illustrated full size medals in this section. There are also miniature versions of almost all of these medals, which are sometimes worn for formal occasions. Matching ribbon bars, which are often worn on the regular dress uniform, are not illustrated in this section. While all of these items have value to those who earn them, most are of limited value to collectors.
The United States stopped numbering campaign medals in 1917 and during times of war the services do not normally have time to engrave recipients names, so the majority of medals available to today’s collector market, weather issued or purchased are not named or numbered. Many available medals are excess productions sold privately by the manufacturers. It is important to remember however, that a medal or group of medals will always be more highly prized by collectors if they have been engraved with the recipients name and are accompanied by official documentation. Additional relevant paper ephemera, such as citations, photographs or letters will also increase the group’s desirability and value.
Many military veterans may be entitled to receive medals from the U.S. government. To determine if you have earned any campaign medals, send your branch of service, name, serial number, unit(s), dates of service and a letter requesting any medals to which you are entitled to the following address:
National Personnel Records Center
9700 Page Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
Be patient, as it can take up to a year for your request to be processed.
Afghanistan Campaign medal issued for U.S. participation from October 2001, value $12.50 without ribbon bar.
United States
| Value | |
| South West Asia Service, participation in and support | |
| of Desert Shield and Desert Storm 1991- present, with | |
| ribbon bar | $14.50 |
| Kuwaiti Medal Liberation of Kuwait, participation in and | |
| support of Desert Shield and Desert Storm 1990-1993, | |
| with ribbon bar | $25.00 |
| Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait, | |
| participation in and support of Desert Storm, with ribbon bar | $22.00 |
| Liberation of Kuwait, service and support 1990-2000, with | |
| ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Liberation of Afghanistan, service and direct support, with | |
| ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Afghanistan Campaign, service in Afghanistan from October | |
| 24, 2001 to present, with ribbon bar | $14.50 |
| Global War on Terror Service, service during the Global War | |
| on Terror, in US and overseas, with ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary, Post September 11, | |
| 2001 deployment overseas in support of the Global War on | |
| Terrorism, with ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Global War on Terrorism Service, Post September 11, 2001 | |
| service in US or overseas in support of the Global War on | |
| Terrorism, with ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Operation Iraqi Freedom, service and direct support, with | |
| ribbon bar | $10.00 |
| Iraq Campaign, 2003-present, with ribbon bar | $14.50 |
United Nations
| Value | |
| First Emergency Force Egypt Israel, service to UNEFI, with | $16.50 |
| ribbon bar | |
| Lebanon Observation, service to UNOGIL 1958, blue and | |
| white ribbon | $15.00 |
| Iran & Iraq Military Observer Group, at least 90 days | |
| participation in UNIIMOG 1988-1991, blue, red, white, green | |
| and black ribbon | $16.50 |
| Palestine Truce Supervisory Organization, serive to UNTSO, | |
| blue and white ribbon | $15.00 |
| Secretary General Afghanistan Pakistan, service to OSGAP, | |
| with OSGAP bar | $17.50 |
| Indian-Pakistan Observation, blue white and green ribbon | $16.50 |
| Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission, 90 days service to | $12.50 |
| UNIKOM 1991-present, yellow and blue ribbon |
U. S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY PRISCILLA ROBINSON
Vincenza’s 173rd Army Airborne Brigade Rangers step off of a C-17 at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Feb. 20, 2004, after spending nearly a year deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Global War on Terrorism expeditionary forces, post September 11, 2001, value $14.50 with ribbon bar.
Other Nations
| Value | |
| Iraq-Iran War, service 1980-1988, black and red ribbon | $25.00 |
| Russian Invasion of Afghanistan, For Gratitude to the | $65.00 |
| Afghanistan People, 1978-1988, blue ribbon with | |
| cloisonne flags | |
| Russian Invasion of Afghanistan, For International Friendship | |
| - 1978-1988, red ribbon with cloionne star design | $35.00 |
| Russian Invasion of Afghanistan, service in Afghanistan | |
| 1979-1988, with official presentation booklet, blue and | |
| yellow ribbon | $50.00 |
| Russian Afghanistan, For Veterans of International service | |
| including Afghanistan, rainbow ribbon, medal with red | |
| cloisonne | $25.00 |
| Iraq-Iran War, Presented for civilian war assistance 1983, | |
| suspended from bar, woman and child at center | $12.00 |
| Iraq-Iran War, Presented for civilian service during war 1983, | |
| suspended from bar, palm tree at center | $10.00 |
| Iraq-Iran War, Wounded in service 1980-1988, red and | |
| white ribbon | $30.00 |
| Italy Persian Gulf War, participation Persian Gulf War | |
| (manufactured by Spink & Son Ltd.), Yellow, red, green and | |
| white ribbon | $15.00 |
| Saudi Arabian Gallantry Medal, service during Gulf War | |
| 1990-1991, Red, yellow and green ribbon | $20.00 |
| Bahrain Kuwait Liberation, participation 1990-2000, green, | |
| white, black and red ribbon | $25.00 |
| Iraq, al-Baath Party badge, gold colored with cloisonne | $15.00 |
| Iraq, Victory Day badge, painted red, black, blue and white | $10.00 |
| Iraq Nut al-Istihqaq al-'Aail, Given for bravery 1992-1993, | $12.50 |
| white and blue ribbon, cloisonne medal | |
| Iraq Gulf War, service in the Gulf War 1991, Red, black, | |
| white and green ribbon | $28.00 |
| Iraq, service in Sharah 'Umm al-M'aarak (Desert Storm), | |
| cloisonne medal | $15.00 |
| Polish Stabilization forces in Iraq, Polish Command | |
| - Multinational Division Central South, military merit and | |
| service 2004-2005, Red, white and black ribbon | $50.00 |
Global War on Terrorism service medal for U.S. or overseas support, value $10.00.
Iraq Campaign medal, War on Iraq 2003-present, value $12.50 without ribbon bar.
Issued for UN Peace Keepers in Lebanon, 1958 UNOGIL. All UN Peace Keeper medals look the same, it is the ribbon which indicates the mission, time and place of service.
Iraqi al-Baath Party badge suspended from bar and cloisonné flag pendant, value $15.00.
Iraqi medal for service during the Iraq-Iran War 1980-1988, value $25.00.
US ARMY PHOTO BY SPC HAROLD FIELDS
A soldier from the Asadabad Provincial Reconstrution Team of the Combined Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force, is greeted by a little boy in Manoi, Afghanistan on January 14, 2005.
Wounded in service medal for Iraqi participants in the Iraq-Iran War. The medal displays a red and white Russian style folded ribbon, value $30.00.
Italian medal issued for service in the Persian Gulf War, value $15.00.
U. S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY MASTER SGT. ROBERT R. HARGREAVES JR.
A US Army CH-47 helicopter flies over Baghdad, Iraq, during a distinguished visitor flight in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, July 20, 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom is a multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Kuwait Liberation medal issued by Bahrain for participation 1990-2000, value $25.00.
Gulf War service medal for Gallantry issued for Saudi Arabian participants, value $20.00.
U. S. ARMY PHOTO BY SGT. LEE DAVIS
Spc. Lamar Hudson with Bravo Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., play a game of soccer with kids on the first day of the schools’ reopening, Be Summia, for girls and Be Smia, for boys, Feb. 7, 2004, in Ramadi, Iraq.
Awarded to Russian Veterans of International service in North Korea, Cuba, Near East, Vietnam and Afghanistan, value 25.00.
Victory Day badge, awarded during early days of the first Gulf War, value $10.00.
Russian industrial medal issued for Service in Afghanistan 1979-1988, value $35.00.
Nepal overseas service medal, along with a UN Peace Keepers Medal for Lebanon, 1978 UNIFIL service. These two have been privately sewn together onto one board with a single pin on back.
Russian medal created to commemorate International Friendship, which saw distribution during the Communist period in Afghanistan 1978-1988, value $35.00.
Russian medal given to supporters of the pro-Soviet Military coup established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with official booklet, set value $65.00.
Booklet for above medal.