So I suppose the IDF should give out the "Merited Bulldozer Driver"?
So I suppose the IDF should give out the "Merited Bulldozer Driver"?
Not likely. Awards and decorations, other than campaign ribbons, are quite uncommon in the IDF. Much more likely, that driver will find others giving him an advance pposition in line, an extra or chilled bottle of orange juice when available, and such other day-to-day amenities that let him know of the approval of his fellows.
Awards and decorations carried considerable prestige in the IDF simply because so few were given. Scarcely 1,000 had been awarded from the War of Independence through the Lebanon invasion of 1982. Under a revised system of military decorations instituted in 1973, all soldiers decorated since 1948 received one of three medals that would be used subsequently to honor those who acquitted themselves in an outstanding manner while serving in the IDF. Each medal was accompanied by a ribbon worn above the left breast pocket. The least prestigious, Etour HaMofet, awarded for exemplary conduct, was accompanied by a blue ribbon. Etour HaOz, awarded for bravery, was accompanied by a red ribbon. The highest medal, Etour HaGevora, awarded for heroism, had been presented to fewer than thirty IDF soldiers as of 1988. Its color was yellow in commemoration of those Jews who had committed acts of heroism while forced to wear the yellow Star of David during the Nazi era and during the Middle Ages.
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