Circular bronze medal with laterally-pierced lug for ribbon suspension; the face with a view of the Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen, twenty-two miles northwest of Koblenz, the scene on 7 March 1945 of the Allies’ first bridgehead across the River Rhine, inscribed above ‘ARMY OF / OCCUPATION’; the reverse with a view of Mount Fuji, the sacred mountain of exceptional conic symmetry some seventy miles southwest of Tokyo, two fishing boats in the foreground, dated ‘1945’ at the base; on original ribbon with brooch bar mounted for wear; with ribbon bar mounted for wear and with corresponding miniature
The Medal was instituted by War Department General Orders Number 32 in 1946 and awarded for qualifying service as follows: in Germany between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955, in Austria between 9 May 1945 and 7 July 1955, in Berlin between 9 May 1945 and 2 October 1990, in Italy between 9 May 1945 and 15 September 1947, in Japan between 3 September 1945 and 27 April 1952 and in Korea between 3 September 1945 and 29 June 1949.
The first recipient was General Dwight D. Eisenhower on 2 April 1947 and on that same day the second medal to be issued was forwarded to General Douglas MacArthur.
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