PHILADELPHIA –
The highest military honor awarded by the United States, is procured by a team of logisticians at Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support in Philadelphia.
DLA Troop Support procures three distinct versions of the Medal of Honor for the Army, Air Force and Navy, respectively, and does not procure any replicas, said John Fricker, integrated supply team supervisor of Clothing and Textiles’ heraldic team in the Dress Clothing Division.
More than 3,500 recipients have earned the Medal of Honor since it was first presented in 1863, according to the Library of Congress. Every year, National Medal of Honor Day, March 25, commemorates the service and legacy of recipients.
Every Medal of Honor is presented by the U.S. president, in the name of Congress, and is conferred only upon members of the Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, according to the Department of Defense website.
The Army’s Institute of Heraldry maintains the specifications for the medal and ribbon for the Army, Air Force and Navy. While the design and inscriptions of each medal vary, they all include a five-pointed star tipped with trefoils and hang from the same ribbon, including a shield with thirteen white stars, arranged in the form of three chevrons.
“Only authorized personnel are allowed to order medals, including designated Pentagon staff,” Fricker said. “DLA Troop Support procures the ribbon from a specialized vendor, then provides it to a manufacturing vendor to produce the medals.
“Normally what we do are small purchases for the ribbon and the [medal sets], themselves,” Fricker said. “We haven’t done any purchases for the Army, Navy and the Air Force as of recently. We have a lot in stock for the actual sets, as well as the ribbon.”
A local vendor in Pennsylvania supplies the ribbon, including applying a moiré process to give it a wood-grain effect, Fricker said.
“Basically, the way the etching works, an old-fashioned machine almost scratches the surface of the ribbon to create the moiré effect,” Fricker said. “It is a pretty old and specialized piece of equipment used to do this.”
When a vendor does need to make the medal set, they are provided with the ribbon as government furnished materiel, Fricker explained.
By federal law, the medals must be stored in locked storage containers, which DLA does at a warehouse facility in Arizona, he said.
To maintain the legacy of Medal of Honor recipients, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society is hosting several events on Medal of Honor Day, including annual ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and another at the USS Yorktown, South Carolina, home to the Society’s Headquarters and the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point. Recipients also participate in community outreach and host the Society’s annual Citizen Honors Awards.
The Society is comprised only of Medal of Honor recipients, and there are 61 living Medal of Honor recipients whose acts of military valor were performed during the following conflicts: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the War on Terrorism, according to its website.