The current Commander-in-Chief and President of the United States has awarded more Medals of Honor in the time he has so far served in office than any President in our Nation's history. President Obama achieved this noteworthy and commendable record simply because he personally tasked the Department of Defense and its agencies to provide him candidates for MOH presentation. Each of President Obama's MOH awardees are unquestionably deserving of their award. Some of these MOH recipients may not have been recognized had it not been for President Obama's expressed order that MOH recipients be found, authorized and brought to him for presentation. However, there are thousands upon thousands of living American veterans who, for various reasons -- some prejudicial, others due to neglect or oversight, and most through administrative error or laziness -- have fully qualified for medals ranging from low to high in the Order of Precedence that have never been authorized and the mechanism for correcting the problem has never been granted Presidential-level attention simply because publicity for awards less than the Medal of Honor have not received Presidential attention since the presidency of former WWI Artillery Captain Harry S. Truman.
QUESTION 1/8: Were you deprived of a medal authorization you feel you deserved?
QUESTION 2/8: What is the name of that medal ( Do NOT list a medal you were authorized but refused to purchase at the Base/Post Exchange. NOTE: By policy, medals have been sold by Exchanges since the end of WWI.)
QUESTION 3/8: While you were still on active duty did you formally request your Commanding Officer to authorize the above medal you felt you deserved?
QUESTION 4/8: After your discharge did you formally request your military service branch to review your award eligibility, using Form DD-149, for the purpose of authorizing it?
QUESTION 5/8: Do you have documentation from your service that would support authorization of the medal you feel you earned?
QUESTION 6/8: Have you thoroughly studied the Issue Regulations of the medal you feel you deserve to ensure that you are factually eligible?
QUESTION 7/8: If you were now successful in gaining authorization for the medal you believe you earned would you purchase it yourself or would you insist that it be provided to you at the cost of military manhours and taxpayer dollars that would be taken out of the national defense budget intended for military personnel and their essential equipment expense?
QUESTION 8/8: Should President Obama encourage veterans to apply for a medal authorization they feel they earned?
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