Service Stars for European African Midde Eastern Campaign Medal 42nd Infantry

[XCR1961]

Would someone serving in the 42nd Infantry Division have 2 or 3 service stars on their European Africa Middle East Campaign Medal?
I know that they would receive one for the Rhinland Campaign, one for the Central Europe Campaign. Would they receive a third one for
"Blanket Campaign" Ground Combat?

[Stinkpotpete]

There was also a 1939-45 star. Here's some info Collecting British and Commonwealth WW2 medals

[BobS]

There was also a 1939-45 star. Here's some info Collecting British and Commonwealth WW2 medals

I believe the original post was about a U.S. WWII campaign medal, not a British medal.

bobS

[Javelin4life]

Campaign stars for the EAME were awarded for the number of tours that the soldier performed in a specific area...a small bronze star would denote one additional tour, and a small silver star would denote 5 additional tours

[Bulge44]

Campaign stars for the EAME were awarded for the number of tours that the soldier performed in a specific area...a small bronze star would denote one additional tour, and a small silver star would denote 5 additional tours

The service stars have anything to do with "tours". Each star indicates whether a soldier had participated in one of the various enumerated "campaigns". I had done some research in getting my grandfather's miltary records corrected, since his file was destroyed in the NPRC fire of 1973. He died in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. I had to petition the government to give him a second service star since they gave him only one for the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) campaign. Since I proved he was in the ETO in November of 1944 (by showing he had earned the Combat Infantryman Badge), I was able to prove he was involved in the Rhineland Campaign.
To answer XCR1961's question about the blanket campaigns, I believe you ONLY get one of them IF you did not receive any other service stars. And the number of service stars is NOT based simply on want unit you were in. Yes, the unit designation will help you discover where the unit was fighting during a certain period during the war, but the service stars are based on whether the individual soldier was actually present during those periods with his unit. As an example, my grandfather's unit, the 2nd Infantry Division was in 5 campaigns during the war, but my grandfather was only involved in two of them. Therefore, he only was eligible for two service stars. Hope that helps.

[capazo1944]

Try to find the unit in Wikipedia. Sometimes you can find your unit and the number of campaigns