What is the Chinese WWII medal for?

by mute1

My friend's Grandfather received it from the Chinese government after WWII and we are trying to find out more about it. http://i.imgur.com/6sDa6Nw.jpg

Kitarn

At first glance I believe it is the Order of the Cloud and Banner, 4th Grade.

Spinoza42

I think it is a medal for the "Order of the Cloud and Banner", seen here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Cloud_and_Banner

Which is awarded by the Republic of China, better known after the war as Taiwan. So there is no connection to the current government of China.

There's a brief analysis of why people received this decoration here: http://flying-tiger-ace.tripod.com/id51.htm

I don't know what branch of the military your grandfather was in, knowing that would probably help a great deal to get down to the details as to why he received it. But it is clear that a number of Americans received this decoration... I assume your grandfather was in the US military?

edit: and if I'm reading http://www.medals.org.uk/taiwan/taiwan009.htm correctly then I would agree with Kitarn that this is 4th grade.