Overdecorated

For Grenada, legions of honors

For last year's invasion of Grenada, by any measure a quick and efficient operation, the U.S. Army last week disclosed it had awarded 8,612 medals. What made the back-patting noteworthy was that no more than about 7,000 officers and enlisted men ever set foot on the tiny Caribbean island.

Those members of the 82nd Airborne Division who parachuted from helicopters as Grenadian soldiers fired at them from the ground were, quite rightly, granted medals. But so were a number of chairbound bureaucrats who got no closer to the fighting than an office in the Pentagon. While there were 275 decorations for valor, wounds or combat deaths, the Army also honored some troops who remained in the safe environs of Army bases like Fort Bragg, N.C., waiting to be called. Defending the awards, which the other services handed out more conservatively, against charges of "medal inflation," Army Spokesman Major Robert Mirelson argues, "Within the military, we do not get bonuses or extra vacation time for a job well done. For us, a medal is basically our way of recognizing someone for doing a good job."