Criteria The Auxiliary Commendation Medal (ACM) is given to Auxiliarists in recognition of outstanding assistance that furthers any of the Auxiliary's authorized activities, except operations (since the Medal ... The Auxiliary Commendation Medal (ACM) is given to Auxiliarists in recognition of outstanding assistance that furthers any of the Auxiliary's authorized activities, except operations (since the Medal of Operational Merit is for operations). The Auxiliary Commendation Medal may be awarded by any Coast Guard Commanding officer (06 or above) of an operational unit or serving as DVC or higher at a district office, MLC, HQ, or serving as a Director. MoreHide
Criteria The Coast Guard Unit Commendation may be awarded by the Commandant and designated subordinate awarding authorities to any unit which has distinguished itself by valorous or extremely meritorious servi... The Coast Guard Unit Commendation may be awarded by the Commandant and designated subordinate awarding authorities to any unit which has distinguished itself by valorous or extremely meritorious service not involving combat (but in support of Coast Guard operations), which renders the unit outstanding compared to other units performing similar services. MoreHide
Criteria This ribbon recognizes qualifications in the various operations program areas. Auxiliarists who qualify as an Auxiliary crew member, air observer, AtoN verifier, Coast Guard watchstander, Coast Guard ... This ribbon recognizes qualifications in the various operations program areas. Auxiliarists who qualify as an Auxiliary crew member, air observer, AtoN verifier, Coast Guard watchstander, Coast Guard boat crewman, or Coast Guard boat engineer may wear the Operations Program Ribbon. Watchstanders and boat engineers are defined as Auxiliarists who have been designated in writing by a Coast Guard unit, or the Director, as qualified in that position. Auxiliarists show multiple qualifications by adding 3/16-inch bronze or silver stars. The ÒEÓ device is authorized to be worn on the Auxiliary Operations Program ribbon by Auxiliarists who are currently appointed, or have been appointed, as a QE. No miniature ÒEÓ device for miniature medals is authorized. MoreHide
Criteria This ribbon recognizes qualifications in various examiner program areas. Auxiliarists who qualify as a VE, RBSV, or a CFVE may wear the Examiner Program Ribbon. Auxiliarists show multiple qualificatio... This ribbon recognizes qualifications in various examiner program areas. Auxiliarists who qualify as a VE, RBSV, or a CFVE may wear the Examiner Program Ribbon. Auxiliarists show multiple qualifications by adding 3/16-inch bronze or silver stars. MoreHide
Criteria This award is given annually to one flotilla in each district or region. The winning flotilla is subjectively judged by the DCO and Director to have made the most significant contributions to the Auxi... This award is given annually to one flotilla in each district or region. The winning flotilla is subjectively judged by the DCO and Director to have made the most significant contributions to the Auxiliary program that year. Auxiliarists, who have been flotilla members for at least six months and a day during the award period, are eligible to wear the award's ribbon and receive the award's certificate. Auxiliarists indicate multiple awards by adding 5/16-inch gold or silver stars. MoreHide
World War II killed more people, involved more nations, and cost more money than any other war in history. Altogether, 70 million people served
in the armed forces during thOverview of World War II
World War II killed more people, involved more nations, and cost more money than any other war in history. Altogether, 70 million people served
in the armed forces during the war, and 17 million combatants died. Civilian deaths were ever greater. At least 19 million Soviet civilians,
10 million Chinese, and 6 million European Jews lost their lives during the war.
World War II was truly a global war. Some 70 nations took part in the conflict, and fighting took place on the continents of Africa, Asia,
and Europe, as well as on the high seas. Entire societies participated as soldiers or as war workers, while others were persecuted as
victims of occupation and mass murder.
World War II cost the United States a million causalities and nearly 400,000 deaths. In both domestic and foreign affairs, its consequences
were far-reaching. It ended the Depression, brought millions of married women into the workforce, initiated sweeping changes in the lives of
the nation's minority groups, and dramatically expanded government's presence in American life.
The War at Home & Abroad
On September 1, 1939, World War II started when Germany invaded Poland. By November 1942, the Axis powers controlled territory from Norway
to North Africa and from France to the Soviet Union. After defeating the Axis in North Africa in May 1941, the United States and its Allies invaded
Sicily in July 1943 and forced Italy to surrender in September. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in Northern France. In December, a German
counteroffensive (the Battle of the Bulge) failed. Germany surrendered in May 1945.
The United States entered the war following a surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. Pacific fleet in Hawaii. The United States and its Allies halted
Japanese expansion at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 and in other campaigns in the South Pacific. From 1943 to August 1945, the Allies hopped
from island to island across the Central Pacific and also battled the Japanese in China, Burma, and India. Japan agreed to surrender on August 14, 1945
after the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Consequences:
1. The war ended Depression unemployment and dramatically expanded government's presence in American life. It led the federal government to create a
War Production Board to oversee conversion to a wartime economy and the Office of Price Administration to set prices on many items and to supervise a
rationing system.
2. During the war, African Americans, women, and Mexican Americans founded new opportunities in industry. But Japanese Americans living on the Pacific
coast were relocated from their homes and placed in internment camps.
The Dawn of the Atomic Age
In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt, warning him that the Nazis might be able to build an atomic bomb. On December 2, 1942,
Enrico Fermi, an Italian refugee, produced the first self-sustained, controlled nuclear chain reaction in Chicago.
To ensure that the United States developed a bomb before Nazi Germany did, the federal government started the secret $2 billion Manhattan Project.
On July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert near Alamogordo, the Manhattan Project's scientists exploded the first atomic bomb.
It was during the Potsdam negotiations that President Harry Truman learned that American scientists had tested the first atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945,
the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress, released an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. Between 80,000 and 140,000 people were killed or fatally wounded.
Three days later, a second bomb fell on Nagasaki. About 35,000 people were killed. The following day Japan sued for peace.
President Truman's defenders argued that the bombs ended the war quickly, avoiding the necessity of a costly invasion and the probable loss of tens of thousands
of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives. His critics argued that the war might have ended even without the atomic bombings. They maintained
that the Japanese economy would have been strangled by a continued naval blockade, and that Japan could have been forced to surrender by conventional firebombing
or by a demonstration of the atomic bomb's power.
The unleashing of nuclear power during World War II generated hope of a cheap and abundant source of energy, but it also produced anxiety among large numbers of
people in the United States and around the world.... More
Criteria The American Campaign Medal was awarded for For thirty days service outside the Continental United States but within the American Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946; or,... The American Campaign Medal was awarded for For thirty days service outside the Continental United States but within the American Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946; or, an aggregate service of one year within the Continental United States during the same period under the following circumstances: On permanent assignment outside the continental limits of the United States; or, On permanent assignment as a member of a crew of a vessel sailing ocean waters for a period of 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days; or, For service outside the continental limits of the United States in a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non consecutive days; or, For service in active combat against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat; or, For service within the continental limits of the United States for an aggregate period of one year. MoreHide
