October 16: Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo wears a bracelet commemorating Staff Sgt. Javier Ortiz-Rivera, a platoon sergeant killed by a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – U.S. Marines will be able to wear "killed in action" (KIA) bracelets honoring fallen friends after commanders ended a controversial ban, the Marine Corps Times reported.
Until now, Marines in uniform were banned from wearing the bracelets, which were considered to be unauthorized jewelry. The KIA bracelets were the subject of a recent crackdown, and Marines were in uproar, the report said.
Commandant Gen. Jim Amos announced the change of policy in a statement Tuesday, the report said. "We are acknowledging the close, personal nature of our 10 years at war and the strong bonds of fidelity that Marines have for one another, especially for those fellow Marines who we have lost," he said.
Amos saw a number of Marines wearing the bracelets Monday during a visit to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and this "apparently sealed the deal," the newspaper said.
The plastic or metal bracelets are similar to prisoner of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) bracelets, which were authorized during the Vietnam War, the report said.
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