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Dale Dye says ‘decoration inflation’ turns medals into participation trophies
In a recent blog post, Dale Dye recalled standing at a base exchange in San Antonio, chatting with a young airman who’s been in for three years. The kid was wearing seven ribbons on his chest. Dye recognized the National Defense Service Medal, but the rest looked like a jumble of Skittles.“There was a ribbon for just being in the Air Force and another one for successfully completing basic training,” Dye wrote. “Another one he said had to do with a year he spent out on Okinawa. About the rest he wasn’t really sure but they represented, you know, just military stuff.”Also Read: How the 7 highest military medals are awarded to troopsDye isn’t some random internet crank with an opinion and a keyboard. He’s a retired Marine Corps officer who built a second career on calling out nonsense and forcing people to take military standards seriously, whether that’s on a film set or in a formation. A Vietnam veteran, longtime actor, and Hollywood military consultant, if anyone is going to throw this punch, he’s the right guy for the job.
You know you’re legit when Superman is introducing your story.
You’ve probably seen Dye at some point, especially if you’re a veteran or film aficionado. Even if they don’t recognize the name, most military movie buffs will recognize his face. His credits include “Platoon,” “Band of Brothers,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “Under Siege,” among others. His most important role in Hollywood, however, was bringing his years of real-world Marine Corps experience to the actors who portray military characters. Dale Dye is the reason you believe that people like Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Hanks have military experience, because he was their drill instructor. So too with Austin Butler, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Depp… the list is long.
Tom Hanks with Dale Dye on the set of “Saving Private Ryan.” (Moviestore/REX)
So when he looks at modern ribbon racks and thinks the system is getting bloated, it isn’t a fashion critique. It’s a standards critique. Dye’s career, both in uniform and after, is basically a long argument that symbols only matter when they’re earned, understood, and not handed out like after-dinner mints.
He calls it “decoration inflation,” and says it makes a junior enlisted troop look like a “trumped up Middle Eastern colonel about to stage a coup.”
He’s not just writing for internet clout. Chances are good that’s the last thing a guy like Dale Dye thinks about. He sees the medals system is blurring the one line the military cannot afford to blur: the difference between showing up and doing something truly dangerous, difficult, or heroic. “In my research of previous military luminaries, I noted a lot of distinguished officers and enlisted men wearing just a few ribbons on their uniforms,” he wrote. “There was a certain admirable modesty to it, seeing even very senior leaders—George Patton was a notable exception—wearing just a few rows of ribbons or often just individual awards for valor even in their most official portraits. I noted that General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower had received only 10 American ribbons during his entire military career culminating with five stars in World War II.”He then looked at photos of today’s generals and admirals, and noted a very distinct difference.
Those are rookie numbers, Patton. (Bettman Archive)
“I found myself staring at men and women with ribbon racks so thick they could have served as flak jackets… And these were not isolated images. Nor were they much good for spotting people who actually did heroic things which, I seemed to recall, was one of the intended purposes of military decorations. What we have here, I determined quickly, was a proliferation of military ribbons of the been there-did that variety signifying not much more than the ability to fog a mirror and avoid court-martial.”His point is not that awards are bad. His point is that too many awards for routine, low-risk, career-box-checking service turn the whole visual language of military merit into noise. When everybody’s chest looks like a fruit salad, it gets harder to spot the people who actually “rolled the dice in combat” and paid for it.“Rewarding really great, out-of-the-ordinary work is an entirely appropriate application of the occasional military medal, particularly for younger folks who get little enough recognition anyhow,” Dye wrote. “… Superior performance by senior military men and women should be expected as a matter of routine. A medal for that just makes it seem like a trophy for participation.”
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