The Army of Occupation of Germany Medal

The Army of Occupation of Germany Medal. Obverse.

Time Period: The Great War
Institution: 21 November 1941
Country: United States

The Army of Occupation of Germany Medal is a United States military service medal created by Congress on November 21, 1941 to recognize members of the United States military who served in the European occupation force following the close of World War I. The decoration was awarded for honorable service (occupation garrison duty) in Germany or Austria-Hungary between 12 November 1918 and 11 July 1923.

The first Army of Occupation of Germany Medal was presented to General of the Armies Pershing, with retroactive presentations made to any service member upon application to the United States War Department. While the obverse includes the dates of the U.S. Occupation of Germany, the three stars on the reverse symbolize the Third Army, which comprised the occupation forces of Germany.

The medal was established by Public Law 322, 77th Congress on 21 November 1941, and announced in War Department Bulletin 34, dated 10 December 1941, and War Department Circular 176 dated 6 June 1942.

The Army of Occupation of Germany Medal Design

The medal is struck in Bronze and measures 1 ¼ inches in diameter. It was designed by Mr. T. A. Rovelstad, Heraldic Division, Office of the Quartermaster General, in June 1942, and was approved by the Secretary of War on 8 July 1942.

The obverse shows the profile of General John J. Pershing encircled by four stars indicating his insignia of grade as Commanding General of the Field Forces. In the lower-left is the inscription “GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING” and on the right is a laurel wreath superimposed by a sword with the dates “1918” and “1923” enclosed by the wreath.

The reverse bears the American eagle perched with outspread wings standing on the Castle Ehrenbreitstein, encircled by the words “U.S. ARMY OF OCCUPATION OF GERMANY” and three stars at the bottom of the medal.

The ribbon included initially a wavy blue edge stripe to signify the Rhine River, but this design proved impractical to mass-produce and was later changed to a straight line. It’s 1 3/8 inches in width and consists of the following stripes: 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue 67118; 1/16 inch Scarlet 67111; 3/16 inch White 67101; ¾ inch Black 67138 (center); 3/16 inch White; 1/16 inch Scarlet and 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue.