The ribbon is the "Europe, Africa, Middle East" for service in that theater of operations. The one bronze star signifies that the recipient was credited with participating in one campaign in that theater.
The arrowhead indicates the person who earned it paticipated in an invasion - ie: D-Day landing. A bronze star indicates the wearer earned it in a major battle. ie: Battle of the Bulge.
Normally it means Bronze Star Medal & Purple Heart. In Vietnam, a Bronze Star Medal could be given for EITHER Meritorius or Heroism. If it was awarded for Heroism, then the medal comes (on written orders) with a "V" device (which is attached to the cloth portion of the medal or attached to the ribbon). Most US servicemen always wore the ribbon; they seldom if ever wore the medals.
Battle stars indicate campaign battles
Bronze Stars on a World War II Campaign RibbonEach bronze star on the ribbon of a campaign medal or ribbon bar represents a campaign that the wearer served in. When the wearer has been in five campaigns they turn in the four bronze stars & replace it with a silver star, silver represents five campaigns. For example, three stars on an ETO ribbon would mean the veteran served in three campaigns in the European Theater of Operations.The EAME or E.A.M.E. (European, African, Middle Eastern) Theater Ribbon was a way for the U.S. Military to recogize where a person served during WW 2. It was given to all who participated in the European, African and Mediterranean theatres.As for the EAME ribbon itself, The colors of the ribbon have their own significance: the brown stripes on the outer edges represent the sands of the North African desert. The wide green stripes in the middle represent the forests of Europe. The narrow green white and red stripes on one side represent Italy and the narrow black and white stripes on the other side represent Germany. The narrow red white and blue stripes in the center represent the United States.Bronze Stars worn upon it are Campaign Stars, NOT to be confused with the Bronze Star Award for Valour. The two CAMPAIGNS mentioned here are:Rhineland: Sept. 14, 1944 - Mar. 21, 1945Central Europe: Mar. 22 - May 8, 1945For one example, a pilot might have these for piloting a B-17G based at Deenethorpe, England, on strategic bombing missions over Europe, Sept. 14, 1944 to V-E Day.Campaign Medals (theater ribbons) are on page 3 of United States Army Service MedalsNote that you need to be careful on the Internet. I just read that EAME stands for European/African/Mediteranean theater, but the ME really stands for Middle Eastern.More input:My late husband, a Chief Gunners Mate, had 13 stars on this ribbon, and he told me that each star stood for a different campaign. In addition he had the following: American Defense; 1 star. Philippine Lib. 2 stars; World War II Victory Medal; American Area (Good Conduct Medal); Commendation Ribbons.***********Here is a quote from the US Army website.A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service medals, ribbon awards, and certain military badges. Service stars are different from award stars, which are issued for multiple awards of meritorious and combat decorations. The United States military issues bronze and silver and gold service stars, with a silver service star issued "in lieu" of five bronze. For instance, six campaigns, served on a campaign medal, would be annotated by one silver and one bronze service star. In some situations, service stars are only issued after the second award of a decoration. For instance, three awards of a Sea Service Ribbon would be annotated by the ribbon with two bronze service stars. The United States Army also occasionally issues award numerals, instead of service stars, to denote multiple awards of certain ribbon decorations. In addition to award numerals, the United States Army uses the same Gold award star that is worn on many Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard decorations to denote the tenth and final award of the Army Sea Duty Ribbon. Service stars issued for actions in which a United States Navy vessel participated are also placed on campaign streamers, which are affixed to the U.S. Navy flag. The regulations for this originated in 1942, which defined naval campaign areas and designated engagements. Participation in such engagements, by ships and by individuals, was then denoted by service stars. The United States Army followed a very similar practice with ground campaigns and battle engagements. A common point of confusion is to confuse bronze and silver service stars with the Silver Star Medal and Bronze Star Medal. The main difference between the two is that the Bronze and Silver Star Medals are individual decorations while service stars are worn on awards and are not individual decorations or medals.
They represent combat engagements or additional awards of a medal. The specifics vary a bit from award to award and service to service. My best guess would be that the stars on the Bronze Star represent combat engagements and that the two on the campaign ribbon represents the second and third award. If they are truly gold, they could actually represent ten awards, but that is doubtful.
The ribbon is awarded to military personnel involved in WWII in the European Theater. The four bronze stars mean the person participated in four campaigns during that war. A campaign is a major operation usually involving many Army divisions. This is not to be confused with the bronze star medal ... awarded to someone for valor on the battlefield.
The Bronze Star is a military decoration awarded to members of the US Armed Forces for acts of heroism, valor, or meritorious service in a combat zone. The bronze star ribbon indicates the individual has been awarded the Bronze Star medal multiple times. The small bronze star ribbon is typically a service ribbon worn on the military uniform to denote additional awards of the Bronze Star medal.
BRONZE STAR ON RED/WHITE/BLUE RIBBON For heroic or meritorious achievement of service, not involving aerial flight in connection with operations against an opposing armed force. Authorized on February 4, 1944 the Bronze Star Medal is awarded to members of all branches of military service and may be awarded either for combat heroism or for meritorious service.
The arrowhead indicates the person who earned it paticipated in an invasion - ie: D-Day landing. A bronze star indicates the wearer earned it in a major battle. ie: Battle of the Bulge.
Bronze Star Medal (BSM)
Normally it means Bronze Star Medal & Purple Heart. In Vietnam, a Bronze Star Medal could be given for EITHER Meritorius or Heroism. If it was awarded for Heroism, then the medal comes (on written orders) with a "V" device (which is attached to the cloth portion of the medal or attached to the ribbon). Most US servicemen always wore the ribbon; they seldom if ever wore the medals.
Battle stars indicate campaign battles
It means the soldier awarded the bronze arrowhead took part in an assault on enemy held territory - either an amphibious landing from the sea if he was a ground-pounder, or an airborne combat drop if he was a paratrooper. These are worn on the ribbon for the EAME (Europe Africa Middle East) or Pacific Theater Medals.
It was awarded for Gallentry in Action.
AnswerWD GO 33 45 refers to a General Order that issued a campaign ribbon(and medal) at the end of the war. A General Order is like a memo from a headquarters. They were identified by the issuing HeadQuarters, the Year they were issued, and the memo number for that year.WD GO 33 45 was General Order #33 issued by the War Department in 1945 that established the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal.The Bronze Star device that was attached to this medal signified 1 campaign. A silver star device inicated 5 compaigns. 6 campaigns in the EAME Theater would be indicated with one silver and one bronze star on the campaign ribbon.The discharge papers usually reference the General Order number for this EAME Campaign medal and it usually lists each campaign that he recevied credit for.CustermenThere was also a General Order GO 40 WD 45 and GO 46 WD 45 and GO 48 WD 45, but these seem to be related to a general campaign medal also.
Bronze Stars on a World War II Campaign RibbonEach bronze star on the ribbon of a campaign medal or ribbon bar represents a campaign that the wearer served in. When the wearer has been in five campaigns they turn in the four bronze stars & replace it with a silver star, silver represents five campaigns. For example, three stars on an ETO ribbon would mean the veteran served in three campaigns in the European Theater of Operations.The EAME or E.A.M.E. (European, African, Middle Eastern) Theater Ribbon was a way for the U.S. Military to recogize where a person served during WW 2. It was given to all who participated in the European, African and Mediterranean theatres.As for the EAME ribbon itself, The colors of the ribbon have their own significance: the brown stripes on the outer edges represent the sands of the North African desert. The wide green stripes in the middle represent the forests of Europe. The narrow green white and red stripes on one side represent Italy and the narrow black and white stripes on the other side represent Germany. The narrow red white and blue stripes in the center represent the United States.Bronze Stars worn upon it are Campaign Stars, NOT to be confused with the Bronze Star Award for Valour. The two CAMPAIGNS mentioned here are:Rhineland: Sept. 14, 1944 - Mar. 21, 1945Central Europe: Mar. 22 - May 8, 1945For one example, a pilot might have these for piloting a B-17G based at Deenethorpe, England, on strategic bombing missions over Europe, Sept. 14, 1944 to V-E Day.Campaign Medals (theater ribbons) are on page 3 of United States Army Service MedalsNote that you need to be careful on the Internet. I just read that EAME stands for European/African/Mediteranean theater, but the ME really stands for Middle Eastern.More input:My late husband, a Chief Gunners Mate, had 13 stars on this ribbon, and he told me that each star stood for a different campaign. In addition he had the following: American Defense; 1 star. Philippine Lib. 2 stars; World War II Victory Medal; American Area (Good Conduct Medal); Commendation Ribbons.***********Here is a quote from the US Army website.A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service medals, ribbon awards, and certain military badges. Service stars are different from award stars, which are issued for multiple awards of meritorious and combat decorations. The United States military issues bronze and silver and gold service stars, with a silver service star issued "in lieu" of five bronze. For instance, six campaigns, served on a campaign medal, would be annotated by one silver and one bronze service star. In some situations, service stars are only issued after the second award of a decoration. For instance, three awards of a Sea Service Ribbon would be annotated by the ribbon with two bronze service stars. The United States Army also occasionally issues award numerals, instead of service stars, to denote multiple awards of certain ribbon decorations. In addition to award numerals, the United States Army uses the same Gold award star that is worn on many Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard decorations to denote the tenth and final award of the Army Sea Duty Ribbon. Service stars issued for actions in which a United States Navy vessel participated are also placed on campaign streamers, which are affixed to the U.S. Navy flag. The regulations for this originated in 1942, which defined naval campaign areas and designated engagements. Participation in such engagements, by ships and by individuals, was then denoted by service stars. The United States Army followed a very similar practice with ground campaigns and battle engagements. A common point of confusion is to confuse bronze and silver service stars with the Silver Star Medal and Bronze Star Medal. The main difference between the two is that the Bronze and Silver Star Medals are individual decorations while service stars are worn on awards and are not individual decorations or medals.
The stars for WWII US military personnel can be confusing.There were medals, the Silver Star and the Bronze Star. The Silver Star was awarded for bravery in combat. The Bronze Star was a lesser award which could also be for bravery in combat, but could also be for "meritorious service". If the Bronze Star Medal was awarded for bravery in combat it came with a bronze "V" device (for "valor") to be worn on the ribbon of the Medal.Then, completely separate, there were bronze "campaign stars". If a serviceman actually left the US and went overseas he went, broadly speaking, one of two places - "Europe" or "the Pacific". Just for going, he got a medal and its ribbon. Those who went to fight the Germans and Italians got the EAME - the "Europe, Africa and Middle East" Medal and ribbon. If the man served in a unit which took part in any campaigns while there, he was entitled to wear a "bronze campaign star" on the ribbon of his EAME for each campaign. The War department defined what the campaigns were in General Orders and further established which units were entitled to have their members wear campaign stars for participation.Your dad's discharge papers would list any campaigns for which he was credited with participation. If you no longer have these, there is a chance he MIGHT have recorded them in the county courthouse of his hometown when he returned. Some states required this; others allowed it, so the veterans would always be able to get a certified copy of their discharge, if they lost the original. There is also a chance the National Archives might have the information, though 90% of WWII personnel files were destroyed in a warehouse fire in St Louis in 1973. I understand the NA is "reconstructing" these records today when someone inquires.If you can determine what unit your dad was in, it might be much less time consuming to do a little research on that unit - where they were, what they were doing, whether they were involved in any campaigns.If your dad was in fact awarded the Silver Star Medal, this might be tough to research. The original citation would have been in his personnel file (likely burned). The army public relations people were very thorough in forwarding copies of medal citations to hometown newspapers, and many newspapers published these verbatim. But to avoid having to search microfilm newspapers for the last year or two of the war day by day (if such microfilms exist and are accessible to you) you'd want some way to narrow the time frame. The Silver Star, though it was the fourth highest award for valor, was awarded many thousands of times among the 16 million who served in the war. It was within the authority of a two-star Major General commanding a division to award the Silver Star to his troops without approval from higher headquarters, and many did whenever possible, to help maintain morale.But since you ask about "battle stars" I think you mean campaign stars, which were bronze, not silver.