World War II Pacific Service Medal - Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - 2012-05-15

The Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

military award of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which was awarded to any member of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

who served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945. The medal was created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

. The medal was designed by Thomas Hudson Jones; the reverse side was designed by Adolph Alexander Weinman which is the same design as used on the reverse of the American Campaign Medal and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. There were 21 Army and 48 Navy-Marine Corps official campaigns of the Pacific Theater, denoted on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal by

service star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s which also were called "battle stars"; some Navy construction battalion units issued the medal with

Arabic numeral The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numerals. ...

s. The Arrowhead device is authorized for those campaigns which involved participation in amphibious assault landings. The Fleet Marine Force Combat Operation Insignia is also authorized for wear on the medal for Navy service members who participated in combat while assigned to a Marine Corps unit. The flag colors of the United States and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

are visible in the ribbon. The Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal was first issued as a service ribbon in 1942. A full medal was authorized in 1947, the first of which was presented to

General of the Army Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

. The

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

equivalent of the medal was known as the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. Boundaries of Asiatic-Pacific Theater. (1) The eastern boundary is coincident with the western boundary of the American Theater. (2) The western boundary is from the North Pole south along the 60th meridian east longitude to its intersection with the east boundary of Iran, then south along the Iran boundary to the Gulf of Oman and the intersection of the 60th meridian east longitude, then south along the 60th meridian east longitude to the South Pole.

US Army campaigns

The 16 officially recognized US Army campaigns in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations are: * Pacific Ocean Areas Command: ** Central Pacific: 7 December 1941 – 6 December 1943, allied landings on Tarawa and Makin during the

Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific War, Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Empire of Japan, Japan. They were the first battl ...

** Air Offensive Japan: 17 April 1942 – 2 September 1945 **

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

: 3 June 1942 – 24 August 1943, the

Aleutian Islands campaign The Aleutian Islands campaign () was a military campaign fought between 3 June 1942 and 15 August 1943 on and around the Aleutian Islands in the American theater (World War II), American Theater of World War II during the Pacific War. It was t ...

** Northern Solomons: 22 February 1943 – 21 November 1944, part of the

Solomon Islands campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major military campaign, campaign of the Pacific War during World War II. The campaign began with the Empire of Japan, Japanese seizure of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island, B ...

** Eastern Mandates: 31 January - 14 June 1944, allied landings on Kwajalein and

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...

during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign ** Western Pacific: 15 June 1944 – 2 September 1945, the

Mariana and Palau Islands campaign The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Campaign Plan Granite II, was an offensive launched by the United States against Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The campaig ...

** Ryukyus: 26 March - 2 July 1945, the allied landings on Okinawa * South West Pacific Areas Command: **

Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

: 7 December 1941 – 10 May 1942, the Japanese conquest Philippines ** East Indies: 1 January - 22 July 1942, Japanese conquest of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

** Papua: 23 July 1942 – 23 January 1943, part of the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

: 7 August 1942 – 21 February 1943, the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

: 24 January 1943 – 31 December 1944, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

: 15 December 1943 – 27 November 1944 **

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

: 17 October 1944 – 1 July 1945, allied landings and liberation of Leyte **

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

: 15 December 1944 – 4 July 1945, allied landings and liberation of Luzon ** Southern Philippines: 27 February - 4 July 1945, allied liberation of the Southern Philippines during the Philippines campaign

US Navy - Marine Corps campaigns

The 43 officially recognized US Navy campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations are: * Pearl Harbor:

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

- Midway: 7 December 1941 *

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

: 8–23 December 1941 * Philippine Islands operation: 8 December 1941 – 6 May 1942 * Netherlands East Indies engagements: 23 January – 27 February 1942 * Pacific raids (1942): 1 February – 10 March 1942 *

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

: 4–8 May 1942 * Midway: 3–6 June 1942 *

- Tulagi landings: 7–9 August 1942 (First Savo) * Capture and defense of Guadalcanal: 10 August 1942 – 8 February 1943 *

Makin Raid The raid on Makin Island was an attack by Marine Raiders of the United States Marine Corps on the Japanese-controlled Makin Island from August 17–18, 1942. Aims of the raid included destroying local installations, acquiring prisoners of wa ...

: 17–18 August 1942 * Eastern Solomons: 23–25 August 1942 * Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid: 5 October 1942 * Cape Esperance: 11–12 October 1942 (Second Savo) *

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately to the southeast of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are con ...

: 26 October 1942 *

: 12–15 November 1942 (Third Savo) * Tassafaronga: 30 November – 1 December 1942 (Fourth Savo) * Eastern New Guinea operation: 17 December 1942 – 24 July 1944 * Rennel Island: 29–30 January 1943 * Consolidation of Solomon Islands: 8 February 1943 – 15 March 1945 * Aleutians operation: 26 March – 2 June 1943 * New Georgia Group operation: 20 June – 16 October 1943 * Bismarck Archipelago operation: 25 June 1943 – 1 May 1944 * Pacific raids (1943): 31 August – 6 October 1943 *

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

- Bougainville operation: 27 October – 15 December 1943 * Gilbert Islands operation: 13 November – 8 December 1943 * Marshall Islands operation: 26 November 1943 – 2 March 1944 * Asiatic-Pacific raids (1944): 16 February – 9 October 1944 * Western New Guinea operations: 21 April 1944 – 9 January 1945 * Marianas operation: 10 June – 27 August 1944 * Western Caroline Islands operation: 31 August – 14 October 1944 * Leyte operation: 10 October – 29 November 1944 * Luzon operation: 12 December 1944 – 1 April 1945 * Iwo Jima operation 15 February – 16 March 1945 * Okinawa Gunto operation: 17 March – 30 June 1945 * Third Fleet operations against Japan: 10 July – 15 August 1945 * Kurile Islands operation: 1 February 1944 – 11 August 1945 * Borneo operations: 27 April – 20 July 1945 * Tinian capture and occupation: 24 July – 1 August 1944 * Consolidation of the Southern Philippines: 28 February – 20 July 1945 * Hollandia operation: 21 April – 1 June 1944 * Manila Bay-Bicol operations: 29 January – 16 April 1945 * Escort, antisubmarine, armed guard and special operations: 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945 * Submarine War Patrols (Pacific): 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945

Other campaigns

For members of the U.S. military who did not receive campaign credit, but still served on active duty in the Pacific Theater, the following “blanket” campaigns are authorized for which the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal is awarded without service stars. * Antisubmarine December 7, 1941 – September 2, 1945 * Ground Combat: December 7, 1941 – September 2, 1945 * Air Combat: December 7, 1941 – September 2, 1945

Notable recipients

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

: US PresidentLieutenant Commander Gerald R. Ford, USNR
from th

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References

External links