Complete Guide to United States Military Medals 1939 to Present Author by Frank C. Foster, Lawrence Borts (2000, Hardcover)

This review is for the Sixth Edition of this Reference Book - ISBN #1-884452-22-1, printed in 2005.
A basic guide to all Medals and Ribbon Decorations awarded by the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States. Also included is the United States Merchant Marine, if in limited detail.
The color plates of the ribbon bars can be a great aid in helping the novice identify the correct award that various ribbons are associated with. The color plates of the medals and decorations are also very nice, as well as the individual medal descriptions, which give the authorization details, nomenclemature of the medals and their ribbon devices. The in-depth details on the correct ribbon devices for each of the seperate services is one of the great aids of this reference.
Unfortunately - the authors did NOT put all of the information together! For example, details about the Medals of Honor (Color Photo, Detailed Information, and a note about the Army and Navy Medals of Honor in the Historical Background means the reader must look in THREE seperate sections of the reference to get all the information about this most signifigant United States Decoration that the authors have to offer. All the other medals have their information similarly chopped up and spread out in at least two seperate section of the book. I feel that this book could be SIGNIFIGANTLY improved by the authors simply combining the Color Plates and Basic Information and the Detailed Information Sections together. It would definately make research much easier for each medal vs the current system of flipping back-and-forth thru the book.
This refence book also makes no reference to the various Brooch Styles found on medals - a signifigant aid in dating the medal's manufacture. Overall, this Reference Book makes no attempt to aid the researcher in dating the manufacture of various medals - something that is of great importance to novice collectors.
I personally found the details on the Merchant Marine awards to be weak. Almost like they were included as an afterthought. Unlike the other medals, there is NO Detailed Information descriptions for these awards. A shame for an organization that is too often overlooked.
The foriegn awards and decorations are nice, but needs expansion. There is absolutely no mention of (for example) Soviet Decorations awarded to US personnel, primarily during WWII. The inclusion of the Phillippine Medals of Defense, Liberation, and Independance goes beyond the scope of the book - especially when noted that members of the Armed Forces may ony wear the Ribbon Bars of those awards, and never the full sized decorations!
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