Hi All - not a vet here, but my grandpa is. He is 95 and was in WW2.
He has told me many war stories for years (and this is something he enjoys, as I also do enjoy hearing them!) but never had made mention of any medals.
Anyway, I never thought anything of it until my dad said that he had looked at my grandpa's (his FIL's) discharge papers/card. He said it showed 3 bronze stars and some other stuff! He was amazed, and well I was too. So I asked my grandpa the other day if he could tell me how he got the medals (what I meant was, what was the story behind earning them).
He replied, "I never got 'em." I said, "what do ya mean? It says right here that you got em." He said, "it was a funny thing, you had to buy the medals, they didn't just give them to you."
Anyway, I thought this sounded odd - any medal I ever earned I never had to PAY for directly, nor could they be bought or sold.
Is this true? Do (or did) war vets legitimately have to BUY their medals? It sounds fishy to me. I wonder if maybe some of the folks involved figured they could make a little extra cash by making the men "purchase" the medals they earned?
Anyone else know of anything like this or experience this? I would like to help him get the medals he earned. 73 years is 73 years too many IMO.
He has told me many war stories for years (and this is something he enjoys, as I also do enjoy hearing them!) but never had made mention of any medals.
Anyway, I never thought anything of it until my dad said that he had looked at my grandpa's (his FIL's) discharge papers/card. He said it showed 3 bronze stars and some other stuff! He was amazed, and well I was too. So I asked my grandpa the other day if he could tell me how he got the medals (what I meant was, what was the story behind earning them).
He replied, "I never got 'em." I said, "what do ya mean? It says right here that you got em." He said, "it was a funny thing, you had to buy the medals, they didn't just give them to you."
Anyway, I thought this sounded odd - any medal I ever earned I never had to PAY for directly, nor could they be bought or sold.
Is this true? Do (or did) war vets legitimately have to BUY their medals? It sounds fishy to me. I wonder if maybe some of the folks involved figured they could make a little extra cash by making the men "purchase" the medals they earned?
Anyone else know of anything like this or experience this? I would like to help him get the medals he earned. 73 years is 73 years too many IMO.
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