WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.120 You know, we spend so much time looking at the 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:05.339 big picture of history, the massive invasions, 00:00:05.339 --> 00:00:09.000 the big treaties, all of that. The generals pointing 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:12.660 at maps. Exactly. But sometimes the most incredible 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.820 stories are, I mean, they're hidden in the tiniest 00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:17.859 details. I was looking at this chart of military 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:20.359 ribbons. Oh yeah, just the walls of color. Just 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.059 rows and rows of them. And I zoomed in on this 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:25.940 one little device. It's this tiny piece of bronze, 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:28.899 barely a quarter inch tall, and it's just the 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:32.829 letter A. It is so easy to miss. If you're not 00:00:32.829 --> 00:00:34.189 looking for it, I mean, it just looks like a 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:37.070 speck on the ribbon. Yeah. But that tiny letter 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.250 is, well, it's one of the most fascinating little 00:00:39.250 --> 00:00:42.009 quirks in all of military regulations. That's 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:43.710 what totally hooked me because this isn't just 00:00:43.710 --> 00:00:46.109 some, you know, good job sticker. This one letter 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:48.130 connects two completely different worlds. Worlds 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:50.929 that shouldn't really coexist. Yeah. On one hand, 00:00:50.929 --> 00:00:54.000 you've got this. secret undeclared shooting war 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.060 against U -boats in the North Atlantic in 1941. 00:00:57.399 --> 00:00:59.939 And on the other, you have like modern day Space 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:02.119 Force guardians watching satellites from a base 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:04.400 in Greenland. It's a bridge, really a bridge 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:08.019 between this kinetic industrial warfare of World 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:11.099 War Two and the silent digital vigilance of the 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:13.640 21st century. And the thing that separates them. 00:01:14.329 --> 00:01:16.689 The code that tells you which story you're looking 00:01:16.689 --> 00:01:19.530 at is a font choice. It's a font choice. A serif. 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:21.670 We're literally going to do a deep dive about 00:01:21.670 --> 00:01:23.930 serifs today. We have to because on a military 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:27.109 uniform, a serif isn't just decoration. It's 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:29.950 a timeline. It's a whole story. So, okay, that's 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:32.049 the mission for this deep dive. Right. We are 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:34.030 unpacking the A device. We're looking at the 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:35.989 source material, the Wikipedia entry, but we're 00:01:35.989 --> 00:01:38.849 trying to figure out the why. Why did this thing 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:41.370 just vanish for 60 years? And why does a tiny 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:44.620 bronze letter represent such a... I don't know, 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:47.120 a gray area of warfare. It really is a story 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.079 about that gray zone. The A device, in both its 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.140 forms, is for situations that aren't quite normal 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.540 peace, but they're not fully declared war either. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.260 Or at least they weren't at the time. Okay, so 00:01:58.260 --> 00:01:59.819 let's start with the object itself. If I'm holding 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:01.439 this thing in my hand, what am I actually looking 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.640 at? You're holding a miniature bronze letter 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:06.859 A, about a quarter inch high. It's made to be 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:08.979 pinned right onto a service ribbon. Yeah. But 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:10.580 like you said, there are two versions, and you 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:12.879 really have to look close right at the feet of 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.139 the letter. The feet. You mean the serifs. Exactly, 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.120 the serifs. The original version, let's call 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:21.560 it the 1941 model, is a sans serif A. It's blocky, 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:25.319 clean, no frills. It looks like the font you'd 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.360 see stenciled on an ammo crate or something. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.759 Very utilitarian. Precisely. That is the Atlantic 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:32.819 device. Yeah. Then you had the modern one, the 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:35.460 Arctic device, and that one uses a serif font. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.080 It's got those little decorative lines at the 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.419 bottom. A little more formal, a bit more, I don't 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:41.860 know, Times New Roman, maybe. So to break it 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:45.879 down, San Serif, no feet, equals Atlantic, fighting 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:49.099 U -boats. Right. Serif with feet equals Arctic, 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:51.860 freezing in Greenland. That's the visual code. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.919 And that's San Serif version. It's basically 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.139 a fossil. You can't earn it anymore. It belongs 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:58.280 purely to history. So let's go back to that history. 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.379 Because the Atlantic device, it covers a very, 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:03.900 very specific window of time. The sources say 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:08.819 June 22, 1941 to December 7, 1941. And everyone 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:12.039 knows December 7. Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor. 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:14.840 The day the talking stopped and the U .S. was 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:18.719 officially formally at war. But this A device, 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:21.879 it's for the six months before that. This is 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.939 the part that I find so gripping. We always think 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:27.500 of World War II for America, starting with the 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:29.960 bombs falling on Hawaii. But if you were in the 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:34.680 Navy in, say, October of 41, the war had already 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:36.979 started for you. It was an undeclared war. That's 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:38.680 the term for it. I mean, you have to remember 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:42.340 the context of 1941. Europe's on fire. Britain 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:44.520 is just hanging on. The Battle of the Atlantic 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.199 is raging. German U -boats are sinking ships 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.930 left and right. And officially. The United States 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:52.009 is neutral. Neutral, in quotes. Yeah, we were 00:03:52.009 --> 00:03:53.729 running convoys. We were doing a lot more than 00:03:53.729 --> 00:03:56.189 that. We were escorting them. FDR had given orders 00:03:56.189 --> 00:03:59.389 that basically amounted to shoot on sight if 00:03:59.389 --> 00:04:01.590 a U -boat threatened those supply lines. Just 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:04.449 try to imagine that. You're a sailor on a destroyer 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:06.870 in the North Atlantic. The waves are 30 feet 00:04:06.870 --> 00:04:09.449 high. The water is ice cold. And you're hunting 00:04:09.449 --> 00:04:11.770 for submarines that are actively hunting you. 00:04:11.870 --> 00:04:14.729 But when you write home, you can't say, I'm in 00:04:14.729 --> 00:04:17.240 a war because, well... Congress hasn't declared 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.939 one yet. That is the exact psychological space 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:22.579 this device lived in. It was authorized for the 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:25.319 American Defense Service Medal. Now, that medal 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:27.180 was for pretty much everyone serving during that 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:31.699 emergency period. But the A device, originally 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:34.379 they called it the Axis device. That was special. 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:36.500 And it was only for certain branches, right? 00:04:36.579 --> 00:04:38.560 Only for the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:41.839 Coast Guard. The Army didn't get this. So if 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.459 you're a private peeling potatoes at Fort Dix, 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.399 you get the medal, but... No A. No A. The A was 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.759 specifically for those who were on vessels out 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:54.459 in the Atlantic engaged in armed conflict or 00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:56.259 even potential armed conflict with the German 00:04:56.259 --> 00:04:58.980 Kriegsmarine. That phrase, potential armed conflict, 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:00.899 that carries so much weight. It's an admission 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:03.740 that just being out there was combat. And people 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:07.000 died. That's the thing to remember. USS Reuben 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.300 James was sunk by a torpedo in October 41. Over 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.899 100 American sailors died. Weeks before Pearl 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:15.879 Harbor. Weeks. Those men were fighting and dying 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:19.160 in a war that on paper didn't exist yet. So when 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.680 you see that blocky sans serif A on an old uniform. 00:05:24.140 --> 00:05:26.300 It's telling you a story. It's saying, I was 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:28.720 there when the rules were blurry. I was on the 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.839 front line before there was a front line. It 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:33.259 was a huge badge of honor. It separated the people 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:35.459 who were actually in the line of fire from everyone 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:37.420 else who was just part of the buildup. It meant 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:40.120 you faced the you don't threat head on. And then 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.569 after December 7th. It just stops. It becomes 00:05:43.569 --> 00:05:46.550 irrelevant. Yeah. Once war is declared, you start 00:05:46.550 --> 00:05:48.870 getting campaign medals. The European African 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:51.430 Middle Eastern campaign medal, for example. The 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:53.810 need for a special we were fighting before the 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:57.379 war started badge just. It evaporated because 00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:00.100 now everyone was fighting. So the A just falls 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:01.800 off the map. We go through the rest of World 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.819 War II, Korea, Vietnam, the entire Cold War, 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:08.060 desert storm and nothing. The letter A is just 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:10.779 gone. Done for 60 years, which, you know, it 00:06:10.779 --> 00:06:12.720 makes sense. The specific circumstances, this 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.220 weird mix of official neutrality and actual naval 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:17.980 combat just didn't happen again in the same way. 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:20.019 Until the Air Force decided to bring it back 00:06:20.019 --> 00:06:22.439 and they completely rebranded it. It was a really 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:25.920 fascinating move. On February 10, 2002, the Air 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.500 Force brings back the A device. But this time, 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.199 it has serifs. The little feet. The little feet. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:35.199 And A no longer stands for Atlantic or Axis. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.839 It stands for Arctic. That shift right there 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:41.000 says so much about changing military priorities. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.639 We go from hunting submarines to surviving the 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.899 cold. Well, think about the timing. 2002, the 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:50.860 world is laser focused on the Middle East. The 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:53.240 war on terror is kicking off. But the military 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:57.139 still has these incredibly critical outposts 00:06:57.139 --> 00:06:59.680 in the far north. They're vital for missile defense, 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:01.819 satellite tracking. Right. And the people stationed 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:03.779 there aren't in combat, not in the traditional 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:06.060 sense, but they are enduring something else entirely. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:09.879 Extreme hardship, isolation, darkness, cold. 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.699 The Arctic Kay is attached to the Air Force overseas 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:15.290 ribbon for a short tour. Okay, so let's get into 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:17.230 where you have to go to earn this seraphate, 00:07:17.269 --> 00:07:18.910 because this is where the bureaucracy gets just 00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:20.829 wild. I would assume it's just, you know, go 00:07:20.829 --> 00:07:22.370 somewhere north. If you're stationed where it's 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:24.209 brutally cold, you get the ribbon. That would 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:27.189 be the logical assumption. And it immediately 00:07:27.189 --> 00:07:29.810 makes you think of Alaska. We have huge bases 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:32.589 there. Eielson, Elmendorf -Richardson. And it 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:34.370 gets cold there. I mean, if you're a mechanic 00:07:34.370 --> 00:07:36.629 working on a flight line in Fairbanks when it's 00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:38.949 40 below zero, you've earned an Arctic device. 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:42.629 You would think so, but you get nothing. At least 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:45.610 not the A device. Wait, what? Why not? That seems 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:47.589 completely wrong. It all comes down to a line 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:51.529 on a map. Cartography. The rule is that you have 00:07:51.529 --> 00:07:53.870 to serve your tour of duty north of the Arctic 00:07:53.870 --> 00:07:57.209 Circle. The line at 66 degrees, 33 minutes north. 00:07:57.490 --> 00:08:00.410 That's the one. But a huge part of Alaska is 00:08:00.410 --> 00:08:02.610 north of that line. Geographically, you're right. 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:05.529 It is. But here's the catch. The U .S. military 00:08:05.529 --> 00:08:09.810 has no, and I mean no, active permanent bases 00:08:09.810 --> 00:08:12.709 in that part of Alaska. No way. The big bases, 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:14.610 the ones we mentioned, are all just south of 00:08:14.610 --> 00:08:16.750 the circle. We have some radar sites, temporary 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:19.230 spots, but no permanent garrison where you'd 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:20.949 be stationed for a full tour. That is the most 00:08:20.949 --> 00:08:23.670 incredible technicality I've ever heard. Sorry, 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:26.230 Airman, you're only at 64 degrees north. No A 00:08:26.230 --> 00:08:30.069 for you. It creates this bizarre Alaska exception. 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:33.370 You're living and working in an Arctic environment. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.240 But administratively, you're not Arctic enough 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.539 to qualify. Okay, so if Alaska's out, where is 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:41.240 left? There's not a lot of American territory 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.539 left up there. We are out of American territory. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:47.600 As of 2007, there is only one place on the entire 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:50.480 planet where an American service member can earn 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:54.649 this device. One base. One single base. Pacific 00:08:54.649 --> 00:08:57.029 Space Base. Which used to be Sewell Air Base. 00:08:57.289 --> 00:08:59.409 Correct. It's in the far northwest of Greenland. 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:02.590 It is 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Okay, 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:05.350 now that is seriously north. It's profound isolation. 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:08.190 We're talking months of 24 -hour darkness in 00:09:08.190 --> 00:09:11.049 winter, 24 -hour sunlight in summer. It's locked 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:13.590 in by sea ice for most of the year. The nearest 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.129 town is, well, there isn't one really. And who 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:18.049 is stationed there now? It's mostly Space Force 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:20.090 personnel, guardians. They're tracking satellites, 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.809 monitoring for ballistic missile launches. It's 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:25.320 our northernmost sensor. I just love that image. 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:29.480 In 1941, the A is worn by a guy on the pitching 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:31.940 deck of a ship looking through binoculars for 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:35.200 a periscope. In 2024, it's worn by a guardian 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.679 looking at a glowing screen tracking an object 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.220 in orbit. But the thread that connects them is 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:43.320 vigilance, constant watchfulness. In 41, if they 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:45.720 failed, a convoy full of supplies and people 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.940 died. Today, if Patufik fails, we lose our early 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.600 warning for a potential nuclear attack. The stakes 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.019 are just as high. It really changes how you see 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:56.899 that ribbon. It's not a combat award, no. But 00:09:56.899 --> 00:09:58.879 it is an award for a different kind of sacrifice. 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.659 The sacrifice of being posted to the literal 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:03.559 edge of the world. And that's why the rules are 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:06.059 so specific. The military doesn't like to hand 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:08.000 out unique devices like this unless they mean 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.799 something very, very specific. That Serif A means 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.279 one thing. I was at Pacific. Okay, speaking of 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:14.879 rules, let's talk about the oak leaf puzzle. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.960 Because military ribbons are a language, how 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:20.259 does the A fit into the sentence if there are 00:10:20.259 --> 00:10:22.759 other words? Right, because you can earn that 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.259 overseas short tour ribbon more than once. So 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.820 let's say you do a tour in Korea, then another 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:32.259 one in Turkey, and then you get sent to Greenland. 00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:35.000 Okay, so I get the ribbon for my first tour in 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:37.700 Korea. Then I get an oak leaf cluster for the 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:40.639 tour in Turkey to show times two. And then I 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.759 go to Greenland. Exactly. So now your ribbon 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:45.980 has an oak leaf on it and you've earned the A. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.659 The regulation is very clear. The A device is 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:53.320 worn to the wearer's right of any oak leaf clusters. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.740 The wearer's right. Okay, I always have to picture 00:10:55.740 --> 00:10:57.480 this. If I'm wearing a uniform and looking down. 00:10:57.659 --> 00:10:59.679 It's closest to your left shoulder, closest to 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.889 your heart. If I'm looking at you. the A will 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:05.509 appear on the left side of the oak leaves. It 00:11:05.509 --> 00:11:07.450 seems like such a tiny detail, but I bet if you 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:09.590 get that wrong on inspection day... Oh, you will 00:11:09.590 --> 00:11:11.529 hear about it. Uniform standards are everything. 00:11:11.990 --> 00:11:14.289 And the placement matters because it gives the 00:11:14.289 --> 00:11:16.970 A priority. It says this is unique qualification, 00:11:17.250 --> 00:11:19.470 separate from just the number of tours you've 00:11:19.470 --> 00:11:20.990 done. And can you get more than one? If I'm a 00:11:20.990 --> 00:11:23.090 glutton for punishment and I go back to Patific 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:26.330 for a second tour? Nope. One and done. It's like 00:11:26.330 --> 00:11:28.389 a switch. You've either served in the Arctic 00:11:28.389 --> 00:11:31.350 or you haven't. Only one A device per ribbon. 00:11:31.789 --> 00:11:34.269 It's just so interesting that we have these two 00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:37.149 bookends, the Atlantic A and the Arctic A. One 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:39.549 was born from a desperate need to recognize combat 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:42.610 during a so -called peace. And the other was 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:46.809 brought back to recognize extreme hardship during 00:11:46.809 --> 00:11:50.690 a time of remote technological warfare. And notice 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:52.789 the common ground. They're both fundamentally 00:11:52.789 --> 00:11:56.049 about sea power and air power or now space power. 00:11:56.669 --> 00:11:58.929 The Army doesn't really have an equivalent in 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:01.610 this lineage. It's a tradition for the services 00:12:01.610 --> 00:12:04.190 that operate on the fringes, the high seas and 00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:06.309 the high north. I do want to circle back to that 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:08.730 Alaska anomaly for a second. The fact that we 00:12:08.730 --> 00:12:11.169 don't have a single qualifying base there, it 00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:13.029 feels like more than just a piece of trivia. 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:15.230 It feels like it points to a gap in our strategic 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:17.309 thinking. It definitely raises some questions. 00:12:17.509 --> 00:12:19.610 Yeah. We talk constantly about the Arctic as 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:21.769 this new strategic frontier. You hear about melting 00:12:21.769 --> 00:12:24.289 ice, new shipping lanes, great power competition 00:12:24.289 --> 00:12:26.629 with Russia and China up there. Exactly. We talk 00:12:26.629 --> 00:12:29.870 a big game about the Arctic. But our actual physical 00:12:29.870 --> 00:12:33.409 footprint of permanent bases inside the circle 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:37.419 on our own soil is... Well, it's nonexistent. 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:39.679 We're relying on Greenland, which is Danish territory, 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:42.700 for that crucial northern post. It just makes 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:44.840 you wonder if that's a sustainable strategy or 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:46.720 if, you know, 10, 15 years from now, we're going 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.899 to see a new base built in northern Alaska and 00:12:48.899 --> 00:12:51.500 suddenly thousands of airmen and guardians will 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.019 qualify for that Serif A. It could happen. But 00:12:55.019 --> 00:12:56.779 it just goes to show you that a line on a map 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:59.860 isn't just geography. It's policy. It's politics. 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:03.279 And that line dictates the recognition and the 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.830 careers of thousands of people. It's a great 00:13:05.830 --> 00:13:08.269 reminder to always read the fine print. Next 00:13:08.269 --> 00:13:10.049 time you see a veteran's uniform, look at the 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:11.769 details. If you happen to see that little A, 00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:15.169 look at its feet. If it has no feet, you're looking 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:18.669 at a very old, very rare story about the undeclared 00:13:18.669 --> 00:13:21.149 war against the U -boats. If it has feet, you're 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.250 looking at someone who survived the long, cold 00:13:23.250 --> 00:13:25.429 night in Greenland. And both of those are stories 00:13:25.429 --> 00:13:27.549 worth knowing. Thanks for helping us decode the 00:13:27.549 --> 00:13:29.929 alphabet today. Anytime. It was fun. And for 00:13:29.929 --> 00:13:32.750 everyone listening... Keep looking closely. There 00:13:32.750 --> 00:13:34.610 is always more to the story. We'll catch you 00:13:34.610 --> 00:13:35.570 on the next deep dive.