military awards

These are not examples of awards being given to non-primary family members--in other words, a non-primary family member asking for and receiving copies of a family members medals. These are upgrades or presentations of awards which were never originally made. There's a difference.

In the case of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Army stated that no award had ever been made for that action, which was the first time the US Army Air Force (not the actual term they were using at the time) was to engage in combat in World War I. The Distinguished Flying Cross itself wasn't even established until 1926, although it was available to be awarded retroactively to April 17, 1917--the day the US entered World War I. So somebody, somewhere, decided it would be a good idea to right a wrong and award this pilot a SFC for his actions in World War I--actions he had not been recognized for in 108 years--and then went to track down a family member to participate in the award ceremony. Now, perhaps a historian, or members of the family, had be3en advocating for the award--it happens--but it wasn't just a great grandson being issued a copy of the medal.

In the case of the Chaplain, it was correcting an injustice. He had been awarded the Sailor's Medal. That is an award for non-combat heroism and was clearly inappropriate for his actions in the midst of an enemy attack. But it was also early in the war, and they probably hadn't sorted out the rules yet. But again, someone, someplace, took up the fight--probably when his remains were identified by DPAA as part of their years-long project to use DNA to identify the remains from the Oklahoma--and somebody, perhaps a family member--said "This is the wrong award." You can get an award reconsidered if a Congressman will intercede on your behalf--and, according to the article, that's what happened in this case--otherwise, there's a two-year window to request reconsideration, which had long passed. So in this case, again, it wasn't the case of a distant relative receiving a copy of the Chaplain's award, it was his closest family member receiving the posthumous award on his behalf.

Thanks for the interest and reply.  KUDOS on the chaplain find, much appreciated!  Perhaps we could have made it a bit clearer, but one would think “retroactive, posthumous” means exactly that.  In these type cases the award, when recommended and approved, is NECESSARLY “given to” someone in the deceased service member’s name.  Or if there are no descendants (it happens!), or none can be located, the issue ends with the update of the SM’s record.  The question had nothing to do with copies of medals.

Putting all that aside, the first problem arises since DoDM 1348.33 restricts authority TO RECOMMEND awards and decorations on behalf of a deceased veteran to PRIMARY NOK. Hence, if one is not a primary, and would like to recommend, the first hurdle is proving ALL primary are deceased or remarried.  It’s a situation we (the Legion) have come across in spades given that most incidents meriting examination are many decades old.  If the event deserving the award is more than 2 or 3 years old (Army & AF) then Title 10 USC § 1130 kicks in, which presents another hurdle.

But in any case, we’ve been in touch with Byron Derringer, and trust me when I say, for him it was a years-long slog!  The AF in particular plays hard-ass with these requirements!  Again thanks, and if you come across other examples like the chaplain, please let us know.

If there are no surviving kin, they usually find someone to receive the award. I remember seeing one, years ago--probably one of the World War I Medal of Honor upgrades--where there were no surviving relatives who could be located, and they had the unit's current commander and command sergeant major accept the award on the individual's behalf. I assume it went straight to the state National Guard's museum.

Kapaun wasn't that hard to find. My wife is a reservist, and commanded a battalion in Dallas when he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Since she's Catholic and on the road to Sainthood (I am neither ), I bought her a book on his exploits before and after he was captured, and she was boarding a plane on her way back from drill, and tossed the book on her seat as she was putting her backpack in the overhead compartment.

An older gentleman in the seat next to her picked it up and started thumbing through it. She said "Oh, do you know the story of Father Kapaun?"

And he flipped to the photo section and POINTED TO HIS OWN PICTURE IN THE BOOK. He'd been a POW with Kapaun. Captured as a 2LT fresh out of West Point. Said Kapaun was the only reason he'd survived the camp. And he had been the one who had led the campaign to get Kapaun's award upgraded for 60 years. They spent the entire three-hour flight talking about Father Kapaun and all he had done, and this guy's fight to get the award upgraded.

So how awesome was that?

And then DPAA identifies his remains in the Punchbowl? Tell me that there's not a higher power at play here . . .

Yes, amazing running into that former POW!!  Although yes, perhaps a lucky hit on the remains, but they’ve been working on those 8-900 KW UNK’s in the Punchbowl for many years now.  Based on associated data, remains are being disinterred, examined and tested when possible and appropriate.  I was assigned to the original DoD POW/MIA Office when it stood up in ’94.  Those UNK’s eventually became an issue by ’96 when the powers that be finally came to terms with the fact that most all of them were of course KW MIA’s.  It was the Vietnam MIA’s that opened up that can of worms, along with a few others!

Oh, I agree with you on the awards, but keep in mind the MoH is in a class by itself!  It gets plenty of attention and lots of publicity.  More so since Congress “ordered” the services through the Def Auth Act to reexamine certain “classes” of SM’s specifically for the MoH.  And they go to great lengths to find descendants, primary or otherwise!  I doubt if Kapaun’s case fell among them, but I’m thinking everyone may be getting some attention.  Perhaps I missed it, but his case (upgrade to the MoH) may have originated from the descendants and/or the men who knew him??  Or the Army maybe?? 

Unfortunately, all this type of activity and the waiver of regs is often not the case with posthumous lower-level awards!  If you come across any others like Kapaun, please let me know.  OH, and sorry about the sainthood road, maybe in the next life!

Apparently Kapaun's fellow prisoners had been pushing for it since they had been released. But at the time, they said that you couldn't be given an award for valor if you were a prisoner, because you were in a non-combatant status.

Of course, since then, they had realized that this wasn't the case--witness the awards for valor given to several POWs of the Vietnam War, the most famous being Admiral Stockdale and Senator McCain. But there were others as well. They now call it "the battle within the wire."

Then there was the matter of documentation--and apparently the Catholic Church helped out there as well--they had gathered so many witness statements that they were willing to turn over to the Army that they had the evidence of what he did (there's a new biography out on him, called "No Bullet Got Me Yet"), which helped a lot.

In my "day job," I work a lot with the Armed Forces Medical Examiner (well, not so much now as I did at the time Kapaun's remains were identified), and the work they are doing with old chest x-rays (to look at shoulder blades and collar bones, and DNA, and how sophisticated their technology is getting, it's remarkable. Their work on the Oklahoma, the Arizona, the Ploesti raid, European theater unknowns in general, and Korean War unknowns is just remarkable. Especially when you read the accounts of family members when they are told their family members have been identified. Given the (small) size of their budget, it's money well spent.

Apparently Kapaun's fellow prisoners had been pushing for it since they had been released. But at the time, they said that you couldn't be given an award for valor if you were a prisoner, because you were in a non-combatant status.

Of course, since then, they had realized that this wasn't the case--witness the awards for valor given to several POWs of the Vietnam War, the most famous being Admiral Stockdale and Senator McCain. But there were others as well. They now call it "the battle within the wire."

Then there was the matter of documentation--and apparently the Catholic Church helped out there as well--they had gathered so many witness statements that they were willing to turn over to the Army that they had the evidence of what he did (there's a new biography out on him, called "No Bullet Got Me Yet"), which helped a lot.

In my "day job," I work a lot with the Armed Forces Medical Examiner (well, not so much now as I did at the time Kapaun's remains were identified), and the work they are doing with old chest x-rays (to look at shoulder blades and collar bones, and DNA, and how sophisticated their technology is getting, it's remarkable. Their work on the Oklahoma, the Arizona, the Ploesti raid, European theater unknowns in general, and Korean War unknowns is just remarkable. Especially when you read the accounts of family members when they are told their family members have been identified. Given the (small) size of their budget, it's money well spent.