Medals and Awards
Here is a crude display of Frank P. Carrozza’s awards and medals. Most of these are very common but may be of interest to those (and loved-ones) who have also received some of these awards.
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States military. The medal was created in 1942 and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.
In Europe the airspace was considered completely controlled by the enemy and heavy air defenses were encountered – so the criteria was altered from than that of the original medal. Bomber, photographic reconnaissance, or observation crewmembers and air transport pilots received it for five sorties, fighter pilots received it for ten sorties, and individual pilots or aircrew received one award per enemy aircraft shot down.
To summarize, members of the 344th bomb group received the air medal for every five sorties over enemy territory. After receiving the first medal, successive awards took the form of an oak leaf cluster to be pinned to the ribbon of the original medal. After every multiple of five a silver Oak Leaf Cluster (OLC) was given (in lieu of a 6th, 11th etc). The Silver OLC was worn in place of the five Bronze OCL before it.
Frank Carrozza flew 65 missions. He received the Air Medal after the first five. He received 10 Bronze OCL (10×5=50) and two Silver OLC (2×5=10) representing the 65 missions. Click here to see a pdf of the citations for his OLCs
Air Medal with Bronze and Silver OLC
The Army Air Force Technician Badge was an award of the United States Army Air Forces which was first created in 1941. Similar in design to the Weapons Qualification Badge, the Army Air Force Technician Badge was awarded to denote special training and qualifications held by members of the Army Air Force.
The Army Air Force Technician Badge appeared as a wreathed propeller from which qualification bars were suspended that denoted the training and qualifications held by the wearer. 27 bars were authorized to the Army Air Force Technician Badge. The badge certified that T/Sgt. Frank Carrozza could operate the two way radio as well as make repairs on it.
Badge: Radio Operator and Mechanic
The European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal (ETO) was intended to recognize those military service members who had performed military duty in the European Theater (to include North Africa and the Middle East) during the years of the Second World War. Colored bands representing Germany (on the ribbon’s right side), Italy (on the ribbon’s left side), and the United States (in the center of the ribbon) are visible in the ribbon. The brown and green areas of the ribbon represent the terrain of the area of conflict, which ranged from beaches and sand, to grass and woodlands, to mountains.
Given for ETO, African, and Middle East Campaigns
