The Medals of Our Fighting Men (Classic Reprint)

Download or read book The Medals of Our Fighting Men (Classic Reprint) written by Stanley C. Johnson and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-12-24 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Medals of Our Fighting Men The custom of awarding medals for military service is supposed to have originated with the Chinese many centuries before the Christian era, but the decorations which our fighting men are given to-day probably owe their origin to the badges which the armies of England wore after the decline of armour, and before the intro duction of distinctive uniforms. The badges themselves, it hardly need be said, grew out of the coats of arms which emblazoned the liveries of the retainers. There are a number of instances on record of com: manders rewarding men upon the battlefield by giving them regimental badges struck in some valuable metal, and perhaps studded with precious stones. Heroes, who were decorated in this way, removed the common or ordinary metal sign from their coats or hats and wore, instead, the much-prized emblem. In this simple performance we have the germ of medal-granting and wearing as it affects the Navy and Army of to-day. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.