# In the US military when you're medal gets "upgraded" do you still keep the old medal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637 "2023-08-16T07:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/1 "2023-08-16T07:24:03Z")
I just read a snippet from an article that said > Only 178 Distinguished Service Crosses out of more than 13,000 issued since 1917 have been upgraded to Medals of Honor. So, when upgraded to the Medal of Honor, does the recipient still get to wear the Distinguished Service Cross on their unform alongside the Medal of Honor? Or is the DSC now considered obsoleted? Do they have to return the DSC? On their DD-214 does it still say DSC alongside the MOH? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/2 "2023-08-16T10:18:58Z")
A DD Form 215 is issued to correct the awards listed on the original DD Form 214. That means the DSC is no longer listed and the awardee wears the Medal of Honor as listed on his now correct separation document. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/3 "2023-08-16T18:39:37Z")
No one is coming to get the old one. You just aren’t authorized to wear it anymore. You can buy them commercially, other than the Medal of Honor the amount of medals made are not regulated. I don’t have anything like a MH or DSC but I bought all new medals when I made my shadow box. The ones I was awarded are in boxes or drawers somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/4 "2023-08-16T19:36:30Z")
Unless I’m mistaken, the upgraded medals are typically ones where someone got shafted out of a higher medal due to their religion, race, etc… The idea is that they _should_ have got the higher medal, but were unfairly treated due to their race, etc… So once that injustice has been rectified, they wear the proper medal as if they never got the lesser one in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/5 "2023-08-16T19:58:45Z")
That was the case relatively recently. There was a review ordered to look at racial disparities in awards. That certainly wasn’t the case all the time. One famous case was Bruce Crandell who was played by Greg Kinear in _We Were Soldiers._ His DSC was upgraded by W decades later. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-military-when-youre-medal-gets-upgraded-do-you-still-keep-the-old-medal/988637/6 "2023-08-17T20:47:00Z")
Slight spelling correction, as I found when I went looking for him: [Bruce P. Crandall - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_P._Crandall)