Combat Infantryman
Expert Infantryman	Combat Medic

Werner von Braun, already something of a celebrity, is photographed looking at a GI's CIB.

The Combat Infantry Badge was adopted November 15, 1943 and was awarded to those officers and enlisted men whose conduct in combat was exemplary. The qualification was later altered to having satisfactorily performed duty while part of an active ground combat unit. It was worn over the service ribbons above the left breast pocket. The badge was very popular with the front line soldier, who enjoyed the special recognition to the fighting soldier that it conferred. A major proponent of the badge was General Leslie J. McNair, commander of U.S. Army Ground Forces.

The Expert Infantry Badge was adopted November 15, 1943 and was awarded to those completing prescribed infantry proficiency tests. Medical personnel assigned to combat units became a quandary. Some of them were awarded Combat Infantry Badges only to have them revoked because they were noncombatants. Casuality rates among combat medics were extremely high and on April 18, 1945 a Combat Medical Badge was adopted and awarded to medics for exemplary action in combat.