Navy themselves uses the word ribbons and medals interchangably.

[flpoljunkie]

For proof of this, check out the Navy website below entitled "Navy Service Ribbons" where they call some of them ribbons and some medals and they all look like ribbons.

http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/ribbons/Navy1.html

Two examples:


Combat Action Ribbon


Bronze Star

[jpgray]

1. Well, you get ribbons for some medals

But it's such minutiae in general, that, coupled with Oliphant's recollections, it won't be a big deal.

[flpoljunkie]

2. Be that as it may, the Navy does indeed use the words interchangeably.

This is what Oliphant said, for those who have not read it.

http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/archives/cat_vietnam_war_protests.ht...

2004: "Never Any Confusion" from Reporter Who Covered Kerry in 1971:

“Thomas Oliphant, who was reporting on the event the event that day for the Boston Globe, recalled that Kerry reached over the fence to place his own service ribbons as well as medals he had received from other veterans. ‘I never had any confusion about what he did,’ said Oliphant, now a Boston Globe columnist, ‘that he had kept his Silver Star, Purple Hearts and Bronze Star.’ ” [John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best, pps 127-128; 2004

[uberotto]

3. Not quite true...

While they are all ribbons, some of them do come with medals. For example, my Humanitarian Service Medal and my Good Conduct Medal are Ribbons but they also came with a Medal, while my Combat Action Ribbon is only a Ribbon. However, in the Navy you rarely wear the actual Medal, instead you wear the ribbon that came with it so the words are often used interchangably.