The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is a miliary decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created in 1942 by Executive Order of President Franklin Roosevelt. The decoration 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. The flag colors of Germany, Italy, and France are visible in the ribbon.
Originally known as the “EAME Ribbon”, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is awarded for any service performed between December 7, 1941 and March 2, 1946 provided such service was performed in the geographical theater areas of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East. For those service members who participated in multiple battle campaigns, service stars are authorized to the decoration with the arrowhead device awarded for any airborne or amphibious operations performed.
The following campaigns are recognized by service stars to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
For those service members who did not participate in a designated battle campaign, the following "blanket campaigns" are authorized to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, denoted by service stars
- Antisubmarine: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
- Ground Combat: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
- Air Combat: 7 Dec 41 - 2 Sep 45
The Pacific Theater counterpart to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was awarded as a ribbon throughout the entire Second World War and it was not until 1947 that a full sized medal was authorized. The first recipient of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower who was presented the decoration in recognition of his service as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II.
