# how common were bronze stars in Vietnam **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797 "2013-08-09T12:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/1 "2013-08-09T12:37:49Z")
Friend of mine was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He was talking with my wife looking over some items at the VFW, then pointed to some bronze stars and said he had about 10 of them. I was under the impression that these were fairly important medals to get so I was surprized that he said he had ‘about 10.’ I also found out that these aren’t given out for conduct related to flying, though he may have earned them in other (non-flight) capacities. Its also possible he misidentified the bronze stars as something else when he spoke with my wife. His eyesight is shit. Its also possible my wife mis-understood him. So, how common was it to be given bronze stars for service in Vietnam? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/2 "2013-08-09T13:37:25Z")
> **[Air Medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Medal)** > > The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. > The Air Medal was established by Executive Order 9158, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 11, 1942. It was awarded retroactive to September 8, 1939, to anyone who distinguishes himself by meritorious achievement while serving with the Armed Forces in aerial flight. > The original award c... Air medals can be collected en masse. Bronze stars are higher and not very frequently handed out, and not handed out for flying. Air medals are for flying. Also the 2nd and further don’t look the same as the first. “Additional awards of the Bronze Star Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters in the Army and Air Force and 5/16 inch stars in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.” ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/3 "2013-08-09T13:49:22Z")
Glad to hear they’re not just handed out. My grandfather is a WWII vet and got 2 of them. A VERY big deal, from what I can gather (and to me, personally). But he is humble and just plays it off like it’s nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/4 "2013-08-09T13:53:29Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > [Air Medal - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Medal) > > Air medals can be collected en masse. > > Bronze stars are higher and not very frequently handed out, > and not handed out for flying. Air medals are for flying. > Also the 2nd and further don’t look the same as the first. > > “Additional awards of the Bronze Star Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters in the Army and Air Force and 5/16 inch stars in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.” So are you saying he probably referred to the Air medals (and subsequent ones). I scanned the link…sorry didn’t understand it all…It seems that subsequent Air medal awards are smaller bronze looking five pointed stars. Is that correct? Which would verify what he was saying and confirm, yes indeed, his eyesight is shit. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/5 "2013-08-09T15:38:26Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > So are you saying he probably referred to the Air medals (and subsequent ones). I scanned the link…sorry didn’t understand it all…It seems that subsequent Air medal awards are smaller bronze looking five pointed stars. It’s a small pin that’s added to the ribbon, like this: i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss261/frankeaton01/USMF/Medals/3e23d062.jpg ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/6 "2013-08-09T15:57:43Z")
Maybe he was referring to air medals…or maybe he was full of shit. There are a LOT of people out there who will overstate their military service. They’re unfortunately very common. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/7 "2013-08-09T16:13:58Z")
The easy way to distinguish is to look at the ribbon; The Air Medal’s is gold and blue, while the Bronze Star’s is red, white and blue. Air Medals are basically given out for completing a certain number of missions, and then you get a little number to affix to the ribbon for every subsequent award of the medal. IIRC, the Army gave out oak leaf clusters originally, not little numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/8 "2013-08-09T16:22:17Z")
I had a boatload of bronze stars and eventually traded them in for silver stars. They were, of course, the small “repeat award” stars for things like years of service (every four years), sea service, Vietnam tours, humanitarian awards, expert rifle and pistol, etc. Whenever you reached five awards, you exchanged the bronze stars for a silver. I had two of those, one for 20 years service and one for expert rifle. Ten Bronze Stars of the major award sort is a ridiculous claim. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-were-bronze-stars-in-vietnam/665797/9 "2013-08-09T17:33:00Z")
> [@Orionizer](#): > > Glad to hear they’re not just handed out. My grandfather is a WWII vet and got 2 of them. A VERY big deal, from what I can gather (and to me, personally). But he is humble and just plays it off like it’s nothing. Heh, I knew my dad had a bronze star, I played with it as a kid. It took dealing with his estate to find out he had 2 bronzes and a silver :eek: