Cpl Kylo Gorman's medals for service in Afghanistan and at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee were taken from his car in Bolton-le-Sands on 4 or 5 January.
He said he "wasn't that bothered at first", but the reaction online "got me thinking 'it is a really big deal'".
Lancashire Police said they were investigating the theft.
The Port Talbot-born 28-year-old, who has served five tours of Afghanistan, said he had left the medals in the car after removing them from a uniform he was having altered.
"I didn't think twice about them. I'm based at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire during the week and when I came home and the car had been broken into, I realised my medals had gone," he said.
"I want my children to be able to look at their dad's medals and be proud of what I did," he added.
Cpl Gorman, who has also served in the Falklands, Africa and Cyprus, has been in the RAF for 10 years and is due to leave the armed forces in April.
A RAF airman has made an appeal for the return of two stolen medals after hundreds shared his post about the theft on social media.