A Fully Researched Award For Heroic Combat In North Korea.

[CtahhR]

Although quite a bit out of the focus of this forum, here is an perfect example of just what can be dug up with research.

The Bronze Star Medal is a fairly common award of the United States for achievement in the Armed Forces and with the "V" Device the fourth highest Valour award a member of the ground forces can be awarded for heroism in combat. Only around 2.2% of Bronze Star Medals have been awarded with the "V" Device.

The difficulty in researching these American awards is the fact that not only were a great deal issued unnamed (and there is a vast ocean of unissued stock on the market) but when a named example is found it is often to someone with a common name or is unable to be found. Like many other state archives they have had their accidents and losses (not to mention bureaucratic errors).

This example is named to William J. Morrison, this is the first step in revealing a tale of heroism, of an infantryman in North Korean territory, an area now in the Demilitarised Zone of the Democratic People's Republic Of Korea.

Finding a fully attributed, attributable and researched award for combat against Communist forces in de jure Communist territory is an obscure find. This was very much a case of luck and fitting all the pieces together - there are lots of pieces in this case.