Debate Over Military Awards Stirs Sharp Criticism, Staunch Support

Debate Over Military Awards Stirs Sharp Criticism, Staunch Support

(EXCERPT) By ROBERT A. HAMILTON Day Staff Writer Published on
11/30/2003

In World War II, Peter J. McFadyen lived through aerial bombings,
depth charges and a few tense hours sneaking past mines that guarded
the Sea of Japan. For that experience, the Waterford man was given the
Submarine Combat Pin.

About 50 years later, the skippers aboard the submarines that fired
missiles in the war dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom were awarded Bronze
Stars — medals that are higher on the military “order of precedence,”
which ranks medals by importance — even though they never came under
fire.

McFadyen doesn't begrudge them their awards. “I know the training they
go through,” he said. “And I realize how well they do their job. I'm
proud of them.”

But Harold R. Ludy, a Mystic resident who also saw combat on
submarines during World War II in the Pacific, said it's unfair that
12 captains who spent the war in relative safety were honored in such
a fashion.

“It's a farce,” Ludy said. “They were in submarines. Who was going to
attack them? They should have gotten a ‘well-done,' or a letter, or
something like that. But the Bronz...

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The American War Library
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