PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents LTC Paul Riley’s legacy of their military service from 1990 to 2014. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
Of all the medals, awards, formal presentations, and qualification badges you received, which one(s) are the most meaningful to you and why?:
My initial battery commander humorously referred to the collection of awards on an Army dress uniform as a ‘sausage.’ The term resonated with my fellow platoon leaders and me, as it vividly captured the mishmash of colors, textures, and symbols resembling a chaotic mosh pit when adorning the chest.
During my time in ROTC, cadets sported extensive racks of awards reminiscent of a Russian Field Marshal post-Battle of Moscow, fostering a sense of accomplishment. However, upon graduating college and ROTC, the slate was wiped clean. After completing the Officer Basic Course, new officers were granted the privilege to wear the Army Service Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal, offering a modest start to their uniform embellishments.
Upon joining our first units, we often lacked substantial awards for our dress uniforms. Our battery commander, known for injecting humor into payday activities, playfully teased the new lieutenants about their lack of ‘sausage’ on their chests, promising to remedy the situation.
In the formation, I, 2LT Spiffy Light-Rack, faced the challenge of inspecting soldiers with minimal awards. The condescending glances from experienced soldiers were palpable as I critiqued their uniform details. Credibility was hard to establish without the weight of experience, a reality that ‘sausage’ vividly illustrated.
The life of a 2LT is defined by inexperience and shouldering significant responsibilities without the corresponding background. To gain credibility, I jumped into my duties with both feet. A year later, during another payday formation, I inspected soldiers with newfound respect. Having shared hardships and gained valuable experience through deployment in Operation Desert Storm.
The once-concealed condescension and incredulity had evaporated. But to me, the significance of the ‘sausage’ on my chest became secondary; what truly mattered was the respect earned through shared hardship and experiences. While my battery commander aimed to adorn us with awards, my pride lay in the knowledge and experience gained rather than the quantity of ‘sausage’ on my uniform.
In the end, a little ‘sausage’ never hurts, but the true measure of accomplishment lies in the bonds formed and the lessons learned along the way.
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I recently completed a shadow box displaying the service ribbons, medals, awards and insignia earned during my Dad’s 23-year US Army career. As his service ran from the start of WWII through the beginning of the Vietnam Era and included posts in Asia and Europe as well as the USA, I spent a lot of time gathering the official replicas of the collection. As I researched the history I was also surprised to learn that he had recognition for several important assignments he had not been aware of before he passed and even years afterwards. Looking at the DoD regs concerning eligibility for the decorations which include official citations I found a number authorized retroactively for stints in Korea, Japan and Germany. For example, a Korean PUC for service in 1948 but not acknowledged until 1971 and US Army Korean Service in the 1960s, but not offically awarded until 30 years later. Another was the bronze star device allowed for the National Defense Service ribbon and medal beginning with Vietnam. I didn’t realize until then that we shared that same recognition, but my award was without that tiny star. I hope that anyone who sees this might also make sure they look at those DoD regs which are easily found online.