Those who have served and sacrificed are awarded those medals and ribbons to signify service, not as a scoreboard of kills. Those same soldiers will be the last to brag about what they have experienced with their service. Instead, they demonstrate humility, unlike the little weasel in the picture.
You are absolutely right, though I think you may be taking my response to Nef's quote (below) out of context if you think I had any notion of medals representing scoreboards of kills.
Since men have fought each other there have always been some men who have impersonated them for the glory, recognition and personal gain.
If I, as one who has never taken part in combat, am permitted to elaborate; if there was no prestige to be gained by impersonating a warrior then the fakers wouldn't do it. Nobody likely ever impersonates an ER nurse despite similarly traumatic and soul consuming work as that of warriors. We don't glorify nurses even though they also do their best to keep us safe, like warriors, whilst protesting that they are nothing special and 'just doing what anyone would do' in an attempt to have some semblance of normality in their lives.
True warriors do not glorify war or themselves. But those who understand nothing of war do glorify warriors. Then others who understand less than nothing about war, respect or honour impersonate warriors. The general population need warriors to be glorified. If they were not glorified, warriors would be as terrifying as the enemy they defend the population from.
No matter if combat veterans want it or not, they are glorified. War is glorified. It is part of the gloss that stops us ignorant civvies making a fuss about our societies advocating killing. It is part of the gloss that old and wealthy humans utilise to inspire young and eager humans to fight and kill each other in the just wars and the unjust.
War has evolved a lot since 'The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori' and we now understand and admit much more about the true nature of the human condition than ever before in documented history. However, war and our heroic warriors are still glorified to some lesser extent and until we can view killing each other as simply a necessary evil, a gritty function of the reality we have inherited and currently continue, there will remain the deep insult of the cowardly impersonating the brave.
