United Nations Service Medal
Encyclopedia
The United Nations Service Medal for Korea is an international military decoration which was established by the United Nations
on December 12, 1950. The decoration was the first international award ever created and recognized the multi-national defense forces which participated in the Korean War
.
The United Nations Service Medal is awarded to any military service member, of an Armed Force allied with South Korea
, who participated in the defense of South Korea from North Korea
between the dates of June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.
The ultimate award authority of the United Nations Service Medal is United Nations Commander-in-Chief of military forces in Korea. Most countries consider the United Nations Service Medal an automatic decoration, if some other Korean service award was bestowed, and generally award the medal without requesting permission through United Nations channels. For instance, in the United States Armed Forces
, any service member awarded the Korean Service Medal
is automatically granted the United Nations Service Medal.
On November 22, 1961, the United Nations officially changed the name of the United Nations Service Medal to the United Nations Service Medal Korea. This was as a prelude to the creation of a large number of subsequent United Nations Medal
s which are granted for various operations around the world.
Some countries, the United States among them, continue to refer to the decoration as the United Nations Service Medal in an effort to maintain consistency with older military files referring to the decoration by its original name.
As the UN has no medal for brave or lifesaving actions, UN military personnel can be awarded a UN Commendation by the Force Commander. In several cases UN Observers and UN forces soldiers have been awarded this highly esteemed commendation.
During the war between Hezbollah and Israel
, three UN Observers performed life saving first aid on an Italian Observer that had been shot in the back. Even though the team was caught in a cross fire they managed to arrange a medical evacuation to the Israeli side of the blue-line. The Observers were Marc Van Cauwenberghe, Xang Xinjian and Lars Hawaleschka Madsen. The unfortunate Observer that got shot in the back was the Italian Observer Roberto Punzo.
For this life saving and brave action Marc Van Cauwenberghe and Lars Hawaleschka Madsen received United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation's Chief of Staff Commendation.
During the same war all four Observers also saved the lives of 36 civilian Lebanese refugees that were caught in the fire.
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http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/org1477.doc.htm
http://www.untso.org/UNTSONews/UNTSONews%202006%2002.pdf
The medal is made of bronze alloy but it is not bright as shown in some photographs; it is almost the same colour as the Victoria Cross which is manufactured out of gunmetal. It depicts coolness and calmness in the face of hostile action and self control and the colours blue and white are not exaggerated and suggest calmness and clear thinking.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
on December 12, 1950. The decoration was the first international award ever created and recognized the multi-national defense forces which participated in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
The United Nations Service Medal is awarded to any military service member, of an Armed Force allied with South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, who participated in the defense of South Korea from North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
between the dates of June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.
- Military forces of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
are awarded the medal for service to January 1, 1955 - The militaries of ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
grant the award to July 27, 1955.
The ultimate award authority of the United Nations Service Medal is United Nations Commander-in-Chief of military forces in Korea. Most countries consider the United Nations Service Medal an automatic decoration, if some other Korean service award was bestowed, and generally award the medal without requesting permission through United Nations channels. For instance, in the United States Armed Forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
, any service member awarded the Korean Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
The Korean Service Medal is an award of the United States military and was created in November 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary United States medal for participation in the Korean War and is awarded to any U.S. service member, who...
is automatically granted the United Nations Service Medal.
On November 22, 1961, the United Nations officially changed the name of the United Nations Service Medal to the United Nations Service Medal Korea. This was as a prelude to the creation of a large number of subsequent United Nations Medal
United Nations Medal
The term United Nations Medal refers to one of several international decorations which are issued by the United Nations to the various militaries of the world for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief...
s which are granted for various operations around the world.
Some countries, the United States among them, continue to refer to the decoration as the United Nations Service Medal in an effort to maintain consistency with older military files referring to the decoration by its original name.
Related medals
Other Korean War service medals include:- The South Korean Presidential Unit CitationPresidential Unit Citation (Korea)The Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation is issued by the government of South Korea to both Korean military and foreign units. The last major issuance of the decoration was during the Korean War when the decoration was bestowed to several U.S., U.K., and Commonwealth military units...
and the Korean War Service MedalKorean War Service MedalThe Korean War Service Medal is a decoration of South Korea which was first authorized in December 1950...
. - The Korea Defense Service MedalKorea Defense Service MedalThe Korea Defense Service Medal is a United States military award that was first created in 2002 when it was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The bill to create the proposal was introduced and championed by Rep. Elton Gallegly and Sen. Ben "Night Horse" Campbell...
is a United States military decorationAwards and decorations of the United States militaryAwards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...
awarded to those American service members who have performed armisticeArmisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
duty from 1954 to the present. - The Korea MedalKorea MedalThe Korea Medal , sometimes referred to as the Queen's Korea Medal to distinguish it from the United Nations Service Medal, was a campaign medal created in 1951 to recognize troops from the various Commonwealth realms, except South Africa, who had given either one day's service in Korea or 28 days...
awarded to British and Commonwealth Forces.
Related Commendation
UN Commendation.As the UN has no medal for brave or lifesaving actions, UN military personnel can be awarded a UN Commendation by the Force Commander. In several cases UN Observers and UN forces soldiers have been awarded this highly esteemed commendation.
During the war between Hezbollah and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, three UN Observers performed life saving first aid on an Italian Observer that had been shot in the back. Even though the team was caught in a cross fire they managed to arrange a medical evacuation to the Israeli side of the blue-line. The Observers were Marc Van Cauwenberghe, Xang Xinjian and Lars Hawaleschka Madsen. The unfortunate Observer that got shot in the back was the Italian Observer Roberto Punzo.
For this life saving and brave action Marc Van Cauwenberghe and Lars Hawaleschka Madsen received United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation's Chief of Staff Commendation.
During the same war all four Observers also saved the lives of 36 civilian Lebanese refugees that were caught in the fire.
http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291979085&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/org1477.doc.htm
http://www.untso.org/UNTSONews/UNTSONews%202006%2002.pdf
Description
- The UN Korea Medal is a circular medal of bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
alloy. The obverse depicts the ‘World-in-a Wreath' emblem of the United Nations. - The reverse has the inscription: ‘FOR SERVICE IN DEFENCE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS'. The wording shown may be written in any one of the following languages: Amharic, DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
or TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. - The ribbon has alternating stripes of UN blue and white.
- A clasp with the inscription ‘KOREA' is worn on the medal ribbon.
See also
- United Nations MedalUnited Nations MedalThe term United Nations Medal refers to one of several international decorations which are issued by the United Nations to the various militaries of the world for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief...
The medal is made of bronze alloy but it is not bright as shown in some photographs; it is almost the same colour as the Victoria Cross which is manufactured out of gunmetal. It depicts coolness and calmness in the face of hostile action and self control and the colours blue and white are not exaggerated and suggest calmness and clear thinking.