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Campaign medals were first invented to recognize general military service in war, in contrast to meritorious decorations which were only issued on a small scale for acts of heroism and bravery. The first widespread use of campaign medals dates to the era of the Napoleonic Wars when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered a large number of ribbons and medals created for issuance to the soldiers serving under his command. Seeing how the soldiers prided the receipt of such decorations, and a desire to receive more such awards, Napoleon was quoted as saying: "With a handful of ribbons I can conquer all of Europe".

In the United States Armed Forces , some of the more well known campaign medals include the Vietnam Service Medal , Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal , and the Southwest Asia Service Medal . The most recent U.S. Campaign Medal is the Iraq Campaign Medal , created for service in the 2003 Invasion Of Iraq .


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