United States : Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

United States Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, with ribbon. The obverse has two US soldiers carrying rifles with a palm tree and beach scene in the background. At the top, around the edge are the words: 'ASIATIC PACIFIC CAMPAIGN'. The reverse has a standing eagle on a rock with 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA' to the right and '1941/1945' to the left. It has a loose ring suspender and yellow/gold ribbon that has white/red/white stripes near each edge and a red/white/blue stripe down the centre. A brooch bar is sewn to the ribbon.

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal[1] is a military award of the Second World War. It was awarded to any member of the United States Military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by Executive Order 9265 [2] issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was designed by Thomas Hudson Jones. The reverse side was designed by Adolph Alexander Weinman and is the same design as used on the reverse of the European-African-Middle Eastern and American Campaign Medals.

There were 21 Army and 48 Navy/Marine official campaigns of the Pacific Theater, denoted on the service ribbon by campaign stars; some construction battalion units issued the medal with Arabic numerals. 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 sailors attached to the Marine Corps. The flag colors of Japan and the United States are visible in the ribbon.

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was first issued as a service ribbon in 1941. A full medal was authorized in 1947, the first of which was presented to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. The European Theater equivalent of the medal was known as the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.