courage and coolness in the face of a vastly superior force averted possible disaster to the troops and was an inspiration to all those about him.

Van Cook retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1964. In addition to his Silver Star, Van Cook also was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, ETO Campaign Medal with four battle stars and arrowhead, and World War II Victory Medal.

Wilkerson, Earl F., Sr. Sergeant, 116th Infantry

Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. Enlisted in Army

National Guard, 1939; inducted into Regular Army in

February 1942. Landed with the third wave on Omaha

Beach, June 6, 1944; fought in France and Germany until

linking up with Red Army forces on the Elbe River, May

1945. Wilkerson’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal

and Purple Heart.

Willstatter, Richard. Lieutenant, United States Navy. Served as engineering officer, navigator, executive officer and commander of LST 133. On D-Day, was aboard first landing ship troops (LST 133) to land on Omaha Beach; subsequently served in invasion of Okinawa in April 1945.

Yevich, Steven C. 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th

Infantry Division. Born June 11, 1918 in Berwick, Pa.

Arrived in northern France in July 1944; wounded in

action at Bastogne. Yevich’s awards include a Bronze

Star Medal with oak leaf cluster and a Purple Heart.

Yoder, Charles Allen. Private First Class, United States Army. Served asa medic in Patton’s Third Army from 1944 to 1945. Yoder’s awards include the Silver Star (for rescuing wounded men under fire), a Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster and a Bronze Star Medal.

Conclusion

The decision to award the Legion of Honor to 103 United States veterans of World War II reflected the French Government’s gratitude toward the United States and a recognition that these former soldiers, sailors and airmen had performed "eminent merit" in the service of France. But the process is not yet complete: the French Government intends to award another 100 Legions of Honor to United States veterans in 2005-and is likely to continue making such awards in future years. The stories of these future recipients are certain to be as fascinating as those of the first 103 awardees.

In the News

First Combat Action Badges Presented

The Army made its first awards of the new Combat Action Badge (CAB) to five soldiers on June 29, 2005. Army Chief of Staff, General Peter J. Schoomaker, and Sergeant Major of the Army, Kenneth O. Preston presented the Combat Action Badge, an award created to recognize soldiers who engaged in combat with the enemy, but who are not infantrymen and therefore ineligible for the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB), regardless of branch or specialty. Soldiers engaged in the war on terrorism since September 18, 2001, are retroactively eligible to receive the award.

The badge design, announced earlier this summer, depicts a bayonet and a hand grenade surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves. The purpose, design and award criteria for the Combat Action Badge are similar to the German General Assault Badge, created to recognize non-infantry troops engaged in combat, many of whom see more action than some infantrymen eligible for the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. This award corrects an inequity of recognition that has plagued soldiers of the other combat arms, combat support arms (including Combat Engineers) and Combat Service Support soldiers who must fight the enemy in non-linear combat operations.

"Warfare is a human endeavor," said Gen. Schoomaker.

"Our intent is to recognize soldiers who demonstrate and

live the Warrior Ethos." The effective date of eligibility

for the award is September 18, 2001, the date President

George W. Bush signed Senate Joint Resolution 23,

authorizing military force in the Global War on Terrorism.

Contributed by Alex Bendyna

Vol. 56, No. 5 11

The Medals of Saddam Hussein

John Strandberg

succession of kings, until a military coup in 1958. A second coup in 1963 resulted in the Ba’ath party assuming political control.

Figure 1: Lieutenant Colonel John Strandberg in Iraq.

Like so many other members of the U.S. Army Reserve, in November of 2003 1 found myself called to active duty and preparing for a deployment to Iraq (Figure 1). As a long-time OMSA member I also looked at this deployment as an opportunity to perhaps add a few Iraqi medals to my collection as souvenirs of my deployment. As luck would have it, about a month into my deployment I met an Iraqi translator working for the United States military who knew a well-connected antique dealer who had a shop in downtown Baghdad. To make a long story short, the three of us developed a six-month friendship that resulted in my ability to learn Iraqi customs, eat several home-cooked Iraqi meals, and to acquire an extensive collection of Saddam-era Iraqi awards. Among the items I was able to acquire is the subject of this article: one of Saddam’s medal bars. Before going into the details of the medal bar, a brief history of Iraq, and the Saddam regime is in order.

Following the end of World War I, Iraq came under British control and soon sought to become an independent monarchy. Finally, in 1932 under King Faisal I, Iraq gained its independence. The monarchy lasted, under a

Figure 2: Saddam Hussein wearing his ~nedal bar.

Saddam Hussein’s (Figure 2) rise to power began in 1968 when his mentor, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, assumed the presidency of Iraq. A1-Bakr appointed Saddam as his Vice-President. Saddam began maneuvering for more power almost immediately. Within a few years A1-Bakr’s position as President was largely that of a figurehead devoid of actual power. A series of subtle and not-so subtle moves resulted in Saddam Hussein assuming the Presidency in 1979. In reality, Saddam’s rule began long before he officially assumed dictatorial control over Iraq in 1979.

As with other dictators, Saddam also saw himself as the military leader of Iraq and appointed himself as the supreme commander of all Iraqi forces--complete with rank insignia and, of course, the requisite inspiring array of medals. Although many orders were created specifically for Saddam, when in military uniform he only wore his medal bar and the first class of the military

version of the Wisam al-Rafidain or Rafidain Order.

12 JOMSA

The medal bar (Figure 3), that is the subject of this article, came into my possession in May 2004 while stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. While this is the only Saddam medal bar I have seen, there are undoubtedly others in existence. Saddam was known to have 19 palaces prior to the 1991 Gulf War and at least 25 additional palaces were built (or partially completed) in the decade that followed. Given Saddam’s habit of traveling between his various palaces on a frequent basis, it is not unreasonable to assume that he had duplicate uniforms and medals at a number of these palaces.

Ramadan, (Medal for the 8 February 1963 Revolution), Nut Thurath 17 Tamuz (Medal for the 17 July 1968 Revolution), Nut al-Taawin (Medal of Cooperation - 1 st Class), Nut al-Salam (Medal for Peace, 1 st Class), Iraqi Army Golden Jubilee Medal, 1 st Class, Medal for the 1973 War with Israel.

As most of the medals on this bar are partially hidden by other medals, when discussing each medal, photographs of individual medals will be used to allow the reader to see the design details of each medal.

With this background, lets examine the Saddam medal bar. The bar in question consists of eleven medals. With the exception of the first medal, the First Class of the Wisam al-Jadara (al-Jadara Order), none of the medals are exclusive to Saddam. While the remaining medals are not in themselves unique, their presence in the combination displayed on this bar is quite unique.

1. Wisam al-Jadara (Figure 4).

This order was established by Law No. 46 of 1972. The order is in the form of a standard military breast badge, and is awarded in three grades. Only the First Class award has been observed by this author. The First Class of the order is a silver pendant plated in gold with enameling.

Figure 3: Saddam Hussein’s medal bar.

The Medals

The eleven medals on the Saddam Hussein medal bar (Figure 3) are Nut al-Shujat (Bravery Medal), Nut al- Khidmat al-Amma (General Service Medal- 1959 type), Nut Herb Filistin 1948-49 (1948-49 Palestinian War Medal), Nut Qami al-Isyian fi al-Shimal (Medal for Crushing the Kurdish Rebellion), Nut Thurath 14

The medal is suspended from a gold ribbon with light blue outer edges and a black center stripe. By examining other medals awarded in three similar classes, it can be speculated that the pendant for the Second Class award is silver and that for the Third Class is in bronze.

Because both the Peace Medal and the Army Golden Jubilee Medal also come in three classes (gold, silver,

Vol. 56, No. 5 13