The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America

survived. According to the Curator of the Museum, no other silver pieces are known to exist.

In conclusion the author must thank George Sanders, Curator of the Museum of the Chancery of the Dutch Orders for allowing him to examine quite a few of the pieces held in the Museum’s depot. Thanks are also due to H. David Hartman for taking the photos that were used to illustrate this article. All illustrations are of pieces in the author’s collection.

Medal Miscellany

Army Medals of Honor Awarded During 2001

Those keeping track of such things will note that during 2001 the United States awarded two Army Medals of Honor for earlier combat actions. One from the Viet- nam War and one for the Spanish American War.

Four days before the end of his last term in office, Presi- dent Clinton signed a bill authorizing the Medal of Honor to President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a Lieu- tenant Colonel during the Spanish American War waged a long and unsuccessful battle with the War Depart- ment for award of the medal. However, despite the testimony of two Medal of Honor winners, the "hero of San Juan Hill" gave up his quest for the medal after he was turned down twice.

The medal, presented by President Clinton on 16 Janu- ary 2001, to the Roosevelt family, was the second Medal of Honor earned by a Roosevelt. President Roosevelt’s

son. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., won his Moll for heroism during the D-Day invasion. The Roosevelts join the McArthurs as the only father and son team to have earned the nation’s highest military honor.

gulfed Crandall and his men of the 7th Cavalry. During his repeated flights to the beleaguered troopers, Crandall brought much-needed water and ammunition and flew 70 wounded troopers to safety.

Additional Ottoman Empire Campaign Medals

In addition to the awsome display of Ottoman Empire Campaign Medals presented on the cover of the Sep- tember - October 2001 issue of JOMSA, Alex Mericli has provided this list of other Ottoman campaign medals.

1. Turkish Order of the Crescent (Battle of Egypt). Struck in gold with jewels, gold, silver and perhaps cop- per, 1801.

2. Egyptian War Medal. Also called the Muraviev Campaign Medal, 1833. Struck in gold and silver.

3. Crimea Medal (3 types). For British troops, for Sardinian troops, and for French troops. Struck in sil- ver. Each medal differs in that the obverse has the word "Crimea" in the respective language and the re- verse features the respective national flag beside the Turkish flag.

4. Montenegro Medal, 1862. Struck in silver.

5. Crete Medal, 1868. Struck in silver.

6. Sebastopol Medal, 1871. May be a privately struck medal as no information has yet been found concerning it.

7. Defense of Plevna Medal, 1877. Struck in silver.

8. Turco-Russian War Medal, 1877. Struck in silver.

9. Medal of Merit, 1895. Used extensively during WWI. Struck in gold and silver.

President George W. Bush presented the second retro- active Medal of Honor to former Army helicopter pilot Captain Edward W. Freeman on 16 July 2001. Captain Freeman’s Medal of Honor came after years of effort on the part of Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Crandall and Senator John McCain.

Captain Freeman’s Moll was awarded for heroism on 14 November 1965, when he flew over 20 missions in one day in support of an intense firefight that had en-

10. New Crete Uprising Medal, 1891. Struck in gold and silver. Campaign to supress uprising on the island.

11. Greco-Turkish War Medal, 1987. Struck in silver, or silver-like metal.

12. War Medal 1915 (Gallipoli Star). Several manu- facturer variations exist.

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Volume 53 Number 1

’Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn

Major Larry J. Redmon, OMSA No. 6317

T he Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn

is the most recent decoration to be established in the Kihgdom of Thailand. The idea of former Prime

Minister Prem and the Privy Council, this decoration

was created in 2534 B.E. (1991) and approved by His

Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX later that

same year. The order was developed to recognize Thai

citizens and foreigners who make significant contribu-

tions to the nation, the Buddhist religion, or to improving

the quality of life for the people of Thailand.

The title of the order, Direkgunabhorn, is a Pali word which roughly translates as "to fertilize." Those indi-

viduals who contribute significantly to the arts, science,

literature or religion are recognized as contributing to

the further development (fertilization) of the nation--

hence the title Oirekgunabhorn.

The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhom was

designed by the Thai Department of the Fine Arts. The

obverse design features Garuda, a mythical creature

that is part human and part bird. The Garuda was cho-

sen as the central theme for the order because it is also

a symbol of Thailand. In all the classes, the Garuda is

set upon bursting rays of light.

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The Journal of the Orders and Medals Socie _ty of America

The colors of the ribbon are green, white, red and yel-

low. The wide green stripe in the center of the ribbon

represents the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred reli-

gious relic in Thailand. The white stripes represent the

day of the week on which the King was born. The

yellow stripe represents the Chakri dynasty, which is

the current dynasty in Thailand. The red stripe repre-

sents bravery.

The order, like many other Thai orders, comes in five

classes plus an additional two classes of medals. The

classes are: 1st Class: Knight (or Dame) Grand Cross,

2nd Class: Knight (or Dame) Commander, 3rd Class:

Commander, 4th Class: Companion, 5th Class: Mem-

ber. The medals of the order are the Gold Medal of the

Direkgunabhorn (often referred to as the 6th Class) and

the Sil-ver Medal of the Direkgunabhorn (often called

the 7th Class).

of the order are gazetted and an elaborate document

bearing the signature and seal of the King accompanies

the order. The sixth and seventh classes are gazetted

only.

The badge of the Most Admirable Order of the

Direkgunabhorn depicted in this article is the Com-

mander grade (third class) of the order. The badge

measures 60 millimeters in diameter and is of uncut sil-

ver, fashioned into eight points of equal length, inter-

spersed with leaves rendered in gold with spines upper-

most. Superimposed over the rays of the star, is a rep-

resentation of the badge consisting of, a circular central

disk enamelled red, superimposed by a Garuda, a mythi-

cal bird with the head and body of a man and the wings

and talons of an eagle, facing full on, with outstretched

wings, and rendered in gilt. A band of gilt surrounds the

disk.

There are two methods of earning the order. The first

method is by personally petitioning for the order. The

degree awarded through a petition is usually determined

by the monetary amount donated to a royal project.

Royal projects range from foundations for the fine arts

to agricultural and scientific research projects. Current

regulations specify that donations amounting to

30,000,000 baht (about 700,000 USD in 2001) are re- quired for award of the Knight Grand Cross of the order

while donations amounting to 100,000 baht will get one

the Silver Medal of the order.

The second method of receiving the order is through

recognition of work or achievement. Scientists and re-

searchers who have made significant contributions in

their fields many receive the order, as well as teachers,

professors, athletes and artists.

The suspender is a representation of the Thai Royal

crown in gold attached with a vertical suspension loop

on the reverse. The suspension device is attached to

the reverse of the badge by means of a small ring.

The reverse of the badge is gold with a central disk

bearing the initials of the King surround by white enamel.

Both the reverse of the suspender and the reverse of

the badge are hallmarked and numbered, although the

significance of the number is unknown at this time.

Medal Miscellany

New Dutch Medal

Presentations of the order occur each year on the King’s

birthday, 5 December. The first presentations of the

order were made on the King’s birthday in 2538 B.E.

(1995). On that day a total of 1908 awards in various

classes were presented. Members of the royal family

and other distinguished guests received 414 awards, 46

went to athletes, 6 to artists and 1448 to teachers. The

first presentation of the Grand Cross of the order went

to the King’s mother for her work in promoting the plant-

ing of alternative crops for the nation’s hill-tribe people.

The order can be upgraded or recalled at any time.

There is no provision requiring return of the order upon

the death of the recipient. The first through fifth classes

OMSA member Ed Emering provided the following infor-

mation. A new 35mm bronze medal, the Commemora-

tive Medal for Peacekeeping Operations will replace the

Dutch UN and Multinational Peacekeeping medals. The

obverse features a hand emanating from the bottom

portion and holding a sword draped in laurel leaves. The

point of the sword extends to the middle of a sun with

eight rays. The sword blade is flanked on either side by

clouds. The reverse is the national coat-of-arms.

The medal is suspended from a 27mm-wide ribbon, di’

vided into nine verticle stripes of various widths. The

colors are white/purple/white/red/white/blue/white/

purple/white.

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