Cold War Victory Medal
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The Cold War Victory Medal is an unofficial military medal of the United States of America which can be purchased by any member of the United States military, or civilian employees of the federal government, who served in their positions during the years of the Cold War, specifically September 1945 through 26 December 1991.
In Fiscal year 2002 the United States Congress passed legislation to approve the Cold War Victory Medal; however, language of the act did not “require” the United States Department of Defense to issue the medal. As a result DOD only issued a Cold War Recognition Certificate for both military and civilian service.
The official US Air Force personnel web page [1] states: "The Department of Defense will not be creating a Cold War Service medal" and that any commemorative medals made by private vendors are unauthorized on the military uniform. At present, however, the Cold War Victory Medal remains strictly commemorative and is unofficial.
As of the 109th Congress, two bills have been introduced to adopt the Cold War Victory Medal:
- Senate S1351 [2] was introduced on 30 Jun 2005 and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- House HR2568 [3] was introduced on 24 May 2005 and referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. The provisions of HR2568 were incorporated into section 552, as part of HR 5122, which was passed by the House of Representatives, and sent to the Senate in June of 2006. [4]
The Cold War Victory Medal was designed by Nadine Russell, the Chief of Creative Heraldry at the Army's Institute of Heraldry and the designer of many campaign and service medals, including the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Armed Forces Service Medal, and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
Presently the Cold War Victory Medal is a civilian medal which may be privately purchased but is not distributed by the United States government. As such, the decoration is not presently authorized for wear on active duty military uniforms, but is frequently worn by retirees and civilians. However, the medal is worn as a National Guard award as issued by the Louisiana National Guard. The Adjutant General of the State of Louisiana currently authorizes the decoration as the "Louisiana Cold War Victory Medal". Eligible members, including active duty members, of the Louisiana National Guard are authorized to wear the medal. [5]
The Cold War Victory Medal is also referred to as the Cold War Commemorative Medal, Cold War Service Medal, or simply as the Cold War Medal. There are no devices or attachments authorized for the Cold War Victory Medal.
