dmiller8

I found an illustration of the badges of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St._Gregory_the_Great. This in no way minimizes the accomplishments of Ricardo Muti, but the article got it incorrect in stating that it is the highest Papal knighthood that can be awarded, when there are three others higher in precedence such as the Order of Christ, the Golden Spur and the Order of Pius IX.

If I recall correctly, the Frackspange is also worn on the Naval or Diplomatic full dress uniform, which in the German tradition, is open at the neck to show a wing collar and tie. He may have been a distinguished former officer who was subsequently employed by the Nazi government in a position where he was decorated with the non-combatant KVK.

I recognized the distinctive unit insignia (sometimes called unit crest) of the 15th Infantry regiment, as well as the patch and HQ distinctive unit insignia of the 3rd Infantry Division. If I'm not mistaken, the soldier who earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge in WW2 should also have been awarded the Bronze Star medal: http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/bronze_star.aspx. The "ruptured duck" lapel button is perhaps proof that the original recipient of these awards and insignia pieces was more interested in getting discharged on time instead of hunting down another ribbon for a uniform he never planned to wear again.

The goggles may have been issued to drivers and crews of fast-moving armored vehicles such as tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery pieces. It's possible that your father was in a self-propelled artillery unit, either as the driver or a crew member routinely exposed to bright lighting such as the anti-aircraft gunner.

At this page here http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%BCngen_(Adelsgeschlecht) is a history of the noble Thuengen family, going back to the 9th century AD. If you use the Google Chrome browser, you can machine-translate German to English.

If I recall correctly, there was a fire in the personnel records center in St. Louis MO which destroyed nearly a century's worth of military personnel files. Since insignia from his officer's uniform had been preserved, was there a chance of finding any enlisted collar discs dating back to WW1? Then again, I've known some officers who concealed their prior enlisted service thinking that it helped their chances of promotion, placing them on par with "ring knockers" (graduates of USMA). Looks like COL McWilliams also participated in the Korean War, indicated by his ribbon rack. Perfect attendance.

I found the image on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=220979296532&nma=true&rt=nc&si=HZ01WfSl14V4TAmy49%252BfHj9XRl0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_500wt_715 It's described as a lapel pin, so it wasn't used as a distinctive uniform insignia. Chances are that women in the unit wore civilian work clothing and had the pin to show membership during dressier occasions.

He is a remarkable individual, and one that other soldiers can look up to, as he is retiring after a long time in the service. What I find remarkable is that he is wearing the Legion of Merit, grade of Chief Commander. This is normally tendered to foreign heads of state and awards of the Legion of Merit to Americans must be made in the lowest degree. The informal attachment to the pocket flap indicates that it was presented at the retirement parade. Perhaps he will be given the proper medal later on.

These may be some of the Medals struck by HLI Lordship industries and sold off to award collectors and flea marketeers in wholesale fashion:http://www.homeofheroes.com/temporary_files/moh_legislation.html This company had a contract to produce the Medal of Honor either as original awards, replacements or display copies. However, they produced hundreds more than needed for government stocks and sold the excess medal sets for $75 apiece.

One can see that the design of the Grand Army of the Republic badge mimics that of the Civil War era Medal of Honor.In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt changed the design of the Medal of Honor to the form it has today.

The term "Long Service" doesn't apply to the Good Conduct Medal, as they are usually awarded for the successful completion of a 3-year "hitch" . Additional awards are in the form of appurtenances; a bronze, silver or gold clasp on the Army GCM, Small bronze stars on the Navy and Marine GCM, and the Air Force uses oak leaf clusters. During WW2, the Army authorized the first award after 1 year of wartime service, but the second award would not be authorized until 3 more years elapsed. In my experience, the Army GCM was practically an entitlement, since the award had to be dis-approved by the company commander if the soldier was not deserving by reason of non-judicial punishment or other adverse personnel actions. If there were no other disqualifying criteria, then the award was automatically tendered on the anniversary of the soldier's enlistment. My old First Sergeant liked to make a great ceremony of presenting additional awards, preparing stocks of medals with the appropriate clasp attachments and buying the soldier his first replacement ribbon.

I can see that these awards have never been issued, and they're fairly modern, including a miniature medal for later assembly into a medal bar. The Purple Heart looks interesting in that it includes a rosette, where customarily, only the Medal of Honor includes a rosette for wear on civilian clothing. There is a provision in the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005) which prohibits unauthorized persons, " to wear, buy, sell, barter, trade, or manufacture “any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States...". This should be kept in mind if contemplating sales to buyers in the US.

In a different post, I mentioned that this Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_of_the_Army_(United_States) reported that there was a proposal to make the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a 5-star general. Air Force and Naval flag officers alternate with the Army as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. As a proposed insignia, the uniform contractor would produce samples showing how the insignia would appear according to the regulations. Custom has it that 5-star generals/admirals have a wide degree of latitude in designing their uniforms. Few choose to deviate from the regulations, although George C. Marshall was photographed wearing striped socks with this Class A uniform (WW2 era "pink & green").

The rank slides (shoulder marks) were introduced in the early 1980's when the Army transitioned from the old poly-cotton khaki Class B uniform to one in which a light green dress shirt would be worn with the Class A trousers. Initially, the officers wore green slides while the NCO wore black slides. If I recall correctly, the officer rank slides changed to black in the late 1980's. The separate sizes were intended to be used on different garments when needed. The large ones worked better with the green dress shirt while the small ones were often used on the black pullover, because the shoulder loops on the sweater were fixed with Velcro tabs and the large shoulder marks would interfere with the Velcro. Soldiers with smaller uniform proportions also used the shorter shoulder marks. As Omar Bradley died in 1981, he didn't live long enough to require the new black shoulder marks. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia....(United_States) reports that in the 1990's there was an initiative to promote the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to five-star rank that would necessitate the creation of modern General-of-the-Army shoulder marks. As late as 2011, Vets For Freedom proposed in an opinion piece in the Wall street Journal that General Petraeus be awarded 5-star rank for his service during the War On Terror.

The Wikipedia article concerning recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_recipients has a photo of Donald Rumsfeld holding the medal set for the award, "With Distinction". This is in the form of a sash and star, very similar to a European Order of Chivalry. Interestingly, a miniature medal is provided to be worn, presumably with other miniatures, on Black Tie occasions. To me, if Black Tie needs to be worn with medals, the sash and star would take precedence. If worn as part of a row of miniature medals, the Presidential Medal of Freedom would fall in behind all personal military awards,

A magnificent and unselfish act of bravery by an outstanding soldier, exemplifying the ideals of the American Military Man.

I compared with ones that I have and, other than it is the Emperor Karl version, it is identical in form to the Franz-Joseph in my collection. No evidence of naming on the rim, and as it is traditional, the wording changes from German to Latin as the monarch changes. The wording on the Franz-Joseph versions would be in German, as Karl's medals are worded in Latin. Thinner medals issued during Karl's reign might indicate wartime economy measures. A hook-and-eye fastens the tri-fold war ribbon (the design is shared among several different awards) around a Barrette a Coulisse (a metal rod to contain the medals) which is threaded through the beckets on the uniform. My source is: "A Glossary of Terms used in Phaleristics, by Alexander J. Laslo, published in 1995, ISBN 0-9617320-2-4

If I recall correctly, an award-quality EK I was flat, not vaulted. That had to be a piece for wear on a gala dress uniform, since the extra hooks would secure it with an extra set of beckets (cloth loops to ensure correct placement and security of medals and badges on a uniform) and prevent it from getting lost during vigorous movement such as on parade or during a dance. BTW, that is a lovely piece.

I have a EKII in my personal collection that I re-draped in the non-combatant ribbon to illustrate that the medal was awarded with the reverse colors for military merit outside of direct combat; medics in particular. But I had to use a reproduction ribbon; an original could not be found.

I can recommend this Wikipedia article on the Battle of Belleau Wood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belleau_Wood. There are no disclaimers concerning its accuracy. It also states that the German 237th Infantry division participated in the battle, providing an immediate link with the certificate. Since a number of Distinguished Service Crosses, Navy Crosses and Medals of Honor were awarded over the course of that battle to Americans, an EK1 awarded by the Germans is evidence that heroism was not limited merely to the victors.

I've been out for a long time now, but I remember when I was mistaken for police officer in New York while wearing my Blues on the subway back in 1979. Fortunately, I wasn't asked to arrest anyone for anything