GCM 2nd award. bronze or silver star ?

According to:http://homeofheroes.com/medals/ribbons/1_devices.html

A GOLD STAR is worn for the second and subsequent awards (usually Navy, USMC, and Coast Guard awards) of the same medal to a maximum of four.



so whats the difference between a larger gold star as a subsequent 2nd award and a small bronze star as a 2nd subsequent award ? I know the one on the right is a silver star, but medals of america didnt have the gold star option, just for the question, its a large gold star
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ding/photo.png

small bronze - unit awards (2nd thru 4th)
small silver - unit awards 5th award
large gold star - personal awards (2nd thru 4th)
large silver star - personal award 5th award

It should also be noted that such stars are, for the most part, only used for Navy/Marine Corps awards:

- The 3/16 inch bronze stars denote subsequent, non-personal Navy/Marine awards; includes special duty ribbons, sea service/overseas ribbon, campaign medals, unit citations, and the GCM (not quite considered a personal award).
-- The 3/16 silver star denotes every 5th subsequent award of any of those items listed for the small bronze star.

- The 5/16 inch Gold star denotes subsequent awards of Navy/Marine personal decorations, NMCAM and above.
--The 5/16 inch silver star denotes every 5th subsequent award of such personal decorations.

Subsequent awards for general service (joint) and service-specific (Air Force and Army) awards are denoted by oak leaf cluster; either bronze or gold. This includes unit citations and personal awards.

oh ok. I thought that the GCM was classified as a personal award. Thanks for the info.

The reason I say it really is not is because it does not show up on a Marines Master Brief Sheet, nor can Marines claim the receipt of one on a Fitness Report. It's seemingly treated as if Marines should have them, that they are a given and are not necessarily earned, which I guess should be the case.

There seems to be some confusion here. If you have a ribbon with 4 bronze stars on it that means you have been awarded it 5 times. The 6th award would get the silver star. The ribbon itself represents the 1st award and each star represents subsequent awards. If you have a SSDR with 4 stars on it you have been on 5 deployments. Same holds true for the GCM ... you wouldn't get a silver star until after 18 years of honorable service. Make sense?