Okay, so imagine you're playing a game with your friends, and you do something really awesome! Maybe you run faster than everyone else, or you help your team win. Your friends might say, "Wow, good job! You deserve a medal!"
The United States military does something similar. When soldiers, sailors, airmen, or marines do something really amazing or important, they can get a special award or decoration. These are like medals, but they have different shapes, colors, and designs depending on what you did and which branch of the military you belong to.
There are lots of different awards and decorations in the United States armed forces, and they each mean something special. For example, the Purple Heart is given to someone who is hurt or killed in battle. The Bronze Star is given to someone who does a really great job in combat or saves other people's lives. The Medal of Honor is the highest award you can get, and it's given to someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty – like risking their own life to save others.
Each award and decoration has its own rules and requirements. Sometimes you have to be in a certain rank, or be in a specific job or location, to be eligible for an award. And of course, you have to actually do something pretty amazing to earn one!
So just like when you do something really cool and your friends say you deserve a medal, when members of the United States armed forces do something amazing, their leaders can give them a special award or decoration to show how proud they are of them.