Philippine Defense Medal
Philippine Defense Medals are not US military medals, but foreign awards, and unlike the medals of America which are awarded by United States’ agencies, these military medals are presented by the Republic of the Philippines. These military awards were first created in December of 1944 as military ribbons, followed by corresponding military medals in July of 1945. These military awards commemorated the initial resistance against the Japanese invasion which began in December of 1941.
Philippine Defense Medals are presented to service members, of either the Philippine military or an allied armed force, who participated in the defense of the Philippine Islands from Japanese invasion. Those eligible must have served thirty or more days of duty, or must have been engaged in a combat operation, in which case, the time requirement is waived. Members of the United States Armed Forces entitled to the Philippine Defense Medal were also eligible to receive the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with a bronze Battle Star for participation in the defense of the Philippines.
The Philippine Defense Medal was awarded to the United States and Philippine troops which defended the Philippines at Bataan and would later be captured and forced to endure the Bataan Death March. There are other, similar military awards which include the Philippine Liberation Medal and the Philippine Independence Medal.
The Philippine Defense Medal is worn below almost all the military awards issued by the United States, and above the Philippine Liberation Medals in the general order of precedence that has been established for the proper display of all military medals and ribbons. These military awards can be worn as traditional full size military medals, mini medals, military ribbons and lapel pins. They are available as traditional slide-on, full size military medals or mini-medals, and slide-on military ribbons. In these more competitive days, however, more and more military service personnel are realizing the value to their career goals of always having their uniform decorations looking their best, and have turned to the slimmer and trimmer thin military medals and mini medals and the ultra thin military ribbons to provide them with the smartest looking military award displays possible.
