The following book covers the history behind the development and distribution of U.S. Army Force medals since the year that the U.S. became independent. These include service ribbons and specific badges which recognize military service and personal accomplishments while serving as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Such awards are a means to outwardly display the highlights of a service member's career.

The campaign and commemorative medals of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps frame an interesting evolution in our country's military development and willingness to use this power on a worldwide basis. It traces their roots from our own Civil War to assuming the stature of the world's super power. This work provides an in depth overview of not only the history and development of each campaign medal, but also the historical significance of the events surrounding the establishment of each medal. Informative and insightful glimpses of some of the main characters in this history, like Dewey, Sampson. DeLong, Butler, Hanneken, Peary and Byrd are threaded through this work. The book traces the events and their corresponding medals through our current involvement in the Bosnia peacekeeping mission. The book also covers, in great detail, several of the more important commemorative medals which were often struck on a limited basis to account for the lack of appropriate official federal awards. In many cases, these commemorative medals reflect exacting craftsmanship and unusual design features when compared to the campaign medals. All medals are exquisitely photographed in color with the exception of a few of the rare commemorative medals, which are reproduced in black and white. The work also covers a number of interesting foreign awards which have accompanied the award of a number of U.S. campaign medals. This work, which is well organized and easy to read, proves to be an interesting and informative reference work for the collector of these Navy and Marine Corps medals. A value guide is included. Ed Emering is also the author of Orders, Decorations and Badges of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

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