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History of the Military Coin – Challenge Coin

Unlike the distinct history of our military, the history of the unit coin varies depending on where you get your information from. Some claim that the unit coin came to be during World War I. Others say its existence started during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Here we present the most recognized version.

During World War 1, American volunteers from all parts of the country filled the newly formed flying squadrons. Some were wealthy individuals attending Ivy League colleges such as Yale and Harvard who quit college to join the war. In one squadron, a wealthy lieutenant ordered medallions to be die casted in solid bronze with the squadron insignia and presented them to his unit. One young pilot placed the medallion in a small leather pouch which he wore around his neck.

Shortly after acquiring the medallions, on a mission, the pilots’ aircraft was severely damaged by ground fire, forcing him to land behind enemy lines and promptly captured by a German patrol.

In order to discourage his escape, the Germans took all of his personal identification except for the small leather pouch around his neck and took him to a small French town near the front. Taking advantage of a bombardment that night, he escaped.

He succeeded in avoiding German patrols by donning civilian attire and reached the front lines. With great difficulty, he crossed no-man’s land. Eventually, stumbling onto a French outpost.

Unfortunately, saboteurs had plagued the French in the sector. They sometimes masqueraded as civilians and wore civilian clothes. Not recognizing the young pilot’s American accent, the French thought him to be a saboteur and were ready to execute him. Just in time the young pilot remembered his coin in his pouch.

He quickly showed the coin to his would-be executioners and fortunately for him one of his French captors recognized the squadron insignia on the medallion. They delayed his execution long enough for the resistance fighters to confirm his identity. Instead of shooting him they gave him a bottle of wine.

Back at his squadron, it became tradition to ensure that all members carried their unit medallion or coin at all times. Since it’s inception Air Force and Navy flying units were the only units which had coins to represent their loyalty to their squadrons and promote espirt de corps among its members.

In 1969, taking a cue from the Air Force Special Flying Units, Colonel Vernon Green, 10th Special Force Group (SFG), Commander designed his unit coin and had it die casted and issued them to his special forces personnel. Until the mid 1980′s, the 10th SFG was the only Army unit to have it’s own coin. During which time the coin tradition continued with other special forces units throughout the Army.

It’s wasn’t until Desert Strom/Shield that the Commanders Excellence coin came into being. Commanders need a vehicle to acknowledge superior performance and devotion to duty, without have to go through “a ton” of military paper work. This tradition continued to grow through the Army and Marine ‘legtroppers” at which time the Air Force and Navy followed the Excellence Coin tradition.

THE CHALLENGE

The tradition of the unit coin has also brought about yet another militarily unique tradition: the challenge coin. As with the unit coin, the origin of the challenge coin varies, but it has been traced to the Vietnam conflict era.

One of the more entertaining stories is that the challenge coin stemmed from the dangerous tradition of Special Forces Units carrying a personalized bullet with them wherever they went. Upon entering a bar, a team member was challenged by his fellow team members to produce his bullet.

If he did have his bullet, then the person who challenged him would pay his tab for the rest of the night. If the challenged person didn’t have his bullet then he had to pay for everyone else’s drinks.

Boys will be boys, and as time went on, team members tried to outdo each other by bringing in much larger ordnance. Soon, a full range of cannon and artillery shells were brought into the bars. With a paramount concern for safety, the dangerous live ammunition was eventually replaced with a unit coin, which served the same purpose for these challenges.

The rules for the challenge coins have been greatly expanded throughout the years. Some units take this tradition so seriously that they have developed regulations on challenge coin etiquette. (See www.militarycoins.ws/military-coin-rules.html

The most important rule to remember is that you should have your coin with you at all times, whether at work or not because challenges can be issued at any place and any time.

About the Author

Mr Fisher is a Combat Veteran and founder of Militarycoins.ws, to help raise funds to help Our Combat Wounded and their Families during their recovery and rehabilitation by supplying military coins, challenge coins, military patches, flight suit name tags, military scarfs and military hats to the Uniformed Armed Services and the DoD

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