dmiller8

Was there an image of the obverse? Any irregularities in the medal would be instantly obvious in a poorly-crafted copy.

Somehow, it appears faked. The plating is coming off the medal, revealing something looking like cheap "war metal" underneath. Also,the lettering is not consistent, as if it was done by hand. Contrast this with the Purple Heart medals illustrated at http://scottspurpleh....com/index.html. None of these medals, some which date back to 1932, show the loss of plating or inconsistent lettering seen in this illustration.

Sweetheart Brooches are not unknown in the US. Soon after I arrived in my first unit overseas, I sent my mother a bracelet charm, a gilt miniature of my regimental distinctive unit insignia (68th Armor regiment), which she kept for the rest of her life. The wife got a miniature of the Drill Instructor's Badge (irreverently known as the 'Pumpkin Patch').

Congratulations on completing the collection. It sheds much light on the fact that the RVN authorities saw fit to award him the Cross of Gallantry and Civil Actions medals while the US Navy took no real notice of his bravery (other than the Combat Actions Ribbon). He must have participated in a number of small boat actions the likes of which we may never know. "...The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones..." Shakespeare

Just speculation on my part...because SGT Nowak's decorations are on the open market, there is possibly no one left in his family to ask for his award citations to be included in the public databases such as http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/04_SS/5_RVN/01_main.html or http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/search.php?medal=5. The NPRC fire in 1972 may have also destroyed his records, including the medal citations. Another possibility is that General Westmoreland may have authorized his posthumous award without creating the paper trail needed for historical records, based on the testimonies of the field commanders and witnesses. I have seen award certificates from the Vietnam War which should have had an extensive description of the heroic act (9-line citation, all capital letters, proportional spacing) reduced to the date and location of the action which resulted in the medal.

Can't say if 100 years from now, the paper copies of the orders authorizing my medals will still be around, but I have them now And if some wino wants to claim a free drink with a story of a Bronze Star with "V" device at the American Legion, I'll spring for it myself. But if some clown running for elected office says he has a combat decoration and the database says he doesn't, he BETTER be able to produce the orders, and if need be, the guy who signed those orders. Frauds and liars will undoubtedly be exposed, even if they have the Constitutional Right to lie.

I finally get to say something about that Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (http://en.wikipedia....Gallantry_Cross). IMHO, I agree that is not a pretty medal. It sorely lacks the classic appearance of an award for heroism and looks like something designed by a peace activist. If I had my way, the design would look more like the Companion Badge of the Order of the Bath (Maltese Cross), but in silver without enamels. St. Edwards Crown in the center is fine (Takes after the DSO). The ribbon colors are pretty bad, too; the rule is usually that simpler color combinations represent more prestigious awards. The Victoria Cross is plain maroon, the George Cross is deep blue. Since my design mimics the Order of the Bath (frequently awarded for heroism during the Napoleonic Wars), make the ribbon as red as that of the Bath, with a difference of blue and white edging. On a good note, the Elizabeth Cross (http://en.wikipedia....Elizabeth_Cross) is a marvelous difference in sensitivity of design, evoking the Military Cross (http://en.wikipedia..../Military_Cross).

I'm an American, watching this topic, but I also lament the loss of the historical associations between many famous regiments and the need for reductions in manpower commensurate with the decreasing requirement for military security and intervention. I understand a great deal of pride is expressed both in regimental identity as well as hundreds of years of unbroken service. In the US, units that are no longer needed usually disappear into the museums, but on occasion, are resurrected in another way. The State of Massachusetts revived the 54th Volunteer Infantry as a ceremonial unit of the state National Guard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Regiment_Massachusetts_Volunteer_Infantry) to carry on the traditions of the original regiment that was composed of freed slaves and Black volunteers. The 369th Infantry of WW1 returned to service as the 369th Sustainment Brigade(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Sustainment_Brigade_(United_States)), bearing the lineage and honors of the original Harlem Hell-fighters. The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing claimed its descent from the original 332nd Fighter Wing, staffed by Tuskegee Airmen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/332d_Air_Expeditionary_Wing) They furled their colors on 8 May this year, but there is nothing to prevent reactivation sometime in the future. One seemly stupid question. Why don't the more venerable British regiments list battle honors for the American Revolution or the War of 1812? It would make one think the British army was a peace between the end of the French and Indian Wars and the start of the Napoleonic Wars.

This article here at http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/07/military-pentagon-considering-stolen-valor-medals-database-071012w/ reports that the Pentagon will also build a database of persons who hold military awards for valor. It might be a nit-noid sort of activity. but since some people are willing to lie about serving in the armed services so as to gain an advantage over those who have not, this database might make them think several times about claiming something higher than the "chicken ribbon".

Veterans who have been properly awarded decorations and medals are invited to send their citations to http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/about.php . Eventually this may become a resource for people to be vetted as having earned these awards. I remember that the Army simplified the forms needed to make awards, as the same form (DA form 638) serves as the recommendation as well as the order needed to approve the medal and authorize its presentation. Send those folks a copy of the order and be listed as having been awarded an important decoration.

I, and possibly all other former soldiers from the 1970's to the 1990's, was awash in several different patterns of camouflage uniforms on the way to this unmitigated disaster. I wore the famous OG 107 fatigues from 1977 until swapped out for the Forest Green Camo-pattern BDU's in 1981; the infamous flammable version with the floppy spread collar. In Fort Hood during 1984, I was allowed to purchase the OG ripstop jungle fatigues from the Vietnam era because a hot-weather BDU was still in development. When taking command of a Basic Training Company on Fort Knox in 1985, I switched back to a newer BDU with a smaller collar and an improved resistance to sudden burn-up caused by exposure to a match flame (for dealing with those loose threads). After I changed command assignments, I went to Recruiting Command with a whole new uniform requirement: the Class A (service dress in "olive green") and Class B (AG 415 dress shirt and AG 445 trousers). The original green uniform I had, made of long-lasting wool serge material was replaced by a 100% polyester fabric guaranteed to cause cancer in many species of lab animal . The uniform shirt changed four times as well. The first version was tan and was never intended to be worn as an outer garment. The second was green and had simple patch pockets and shoulder loops for the rank slides (told that story in the thread about the 5-star general's rank slides). The third version was made of a thicker perma-press fabric so that recruiters (and other soldiers as well) could wear their ribbons and badges. This generated a lot of business for the post uniform shops as ribbon racks would be routinely destroyed by seat belts in cars. The final version before they became obsolete was designed with pleats on the pockets, imitating the old cotton khaki shirts I was originally issued in 1977. Now the new soldiers have to wear Dress Blues as his/her Class A uniform. And if you want to hear my theory of why the trousers are a lighter shade of blue than the jacket for all ranks except Generals, the idea possibly dates back to the Mexican War of 1847-48, when soldiers would wash their trousers more often than the jacket and fight in their shirt sleeves most of the time. Generals, in their infinite dignity, wore their jackets and trousers together and laundered them together (as well as avoided more strenuous activities) and the pants never faded to a lighter shade of blue :speechless:

That is a remarkable award, since it was made to a physician, a non-combatant, who would normally be awarded the KVK for exceptional medical services. Perhaps he served under fire, defending his patients from enemy attack. No way to see the actual recommendation letter that resulted in the EK2? Or if he survived the war, his account of the action that won for him the Iron Cross?

Rostyslav wrote: "This is the only possible variant?" Realizing that I may be out of my depth here, the Royal Victorian Order, being a personal gift of the Sovereign, is probably a highly controlled item regarding the quality of manufacture. A "variant", which I would take to mean like a privately purchased insignia, would not be authorized if it gave the impression that it was a higher class than the one officially presented. So it would not be permitted have embellishments to "upgrade" its appearance over a standard presentation insignia.

I saw the winning bid...$$$$$.00...kinda ridiculous for a vaulted EK1 originally intended for private purchase. The "mousetrap" attachment might have made it suitable for wear under extreme combat conditions. Perhaps the purchaser was seduced by the extraordinary feature of the medal. Wouldn't such pricing would be more acceptable if it was associated with a particular war hero?

With respect to the above post, this might be a perfect example of "machine translation". The machine takes the original text of a foreign language and fixes it into English without regards to changes in the words' context or rules of grammar. I interpret the paragraph above to ask if there is a correlation between the badges of ancient crusading orders of knighthood and relatively modern military decorations.This is my theory of cross-shaped awards. Insignia shaped like a cross were often used as badges of knighthood, beginning in the time of the Crusades. As knighthoods came to be used as awards for military merit, they assumed a new importance, so much that only high-ranking officers could receive a cross-shaped award. The idea that the lower ranks may be awarded cross-shaped badges may have arisen with the Imperial Russian Cross of St. George (http://en.wikipedia....of_Saint_George ), established in 1807 to recognized heroism of junior enlisted men; it hung from the same colored ribbon as the Order of St. George given to successful officers. The Prussian Iron Cross in 1813, evoked an association with the insignia of the Teutonic Knights ( http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Iron_Cross ) since both featured a black cross with the silver rim. The first and second classes of Iron Cross were awarded to all eligible soldiers, not just officers. The Croix de Guerre awards of France and Belgium had their origins in the need to recognize acts of heroism not justifying a Legion of Honor or a Royal Belgian knighthood, but because of the association of crosses with high-level honors, cross-shaped awards made it possible for the soldier to feel closer to those heroes of past wars who were knighted in the field.

I respectfully beg to differ; the loss of a limb would result in the Silver Wound Badge ( http://en.wikipedia....iki/Wound_Badge). The grade of badge depended upon the severity of the injuries. Black was awarded for 1 - 2 wounds caused by enemy action. Silver was awarded for 3 - 5 wounds or the loss of hand, foot or eye, Gold badges were awarded for fatal wounds, or non-fatal wounds resulting in multiple amputations, total blindness, emasculation or loss of sentient human function. Gaining additional injuries would result in an upgrade of the award.

Prior to 1984, the two grades of the Royal Victorian Order below Commander were known as Member, Fourth Class and Member, Fifth Class. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Victorian_Order ). One would have to see a listing of MVO awarded to foreign recipients prior to 1984. Checking listings around the time of the Duke of Windsor's 1937 visit might get the desired results.

My best guess is a British Mills Bomb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_bomb), based on the size and shape of the bomb fragment, and that it only caused a slight wound resulting in the award of the Black Wound Badge. The shape is a near perfect rectangle that fragmented cleanly along the lines cast in the body of the grenade. It might have hit some other hard object on the soldier's body, such as a metal button or strap buckle, giving it the distorted shape seen here. Enough kinetic energy of the fragment may have spilled off in contact with that hard object so that the wound was less that fatal.

It looks like a wild assortment of battle clasps from France, Prussia, the German Empire and Great Britain. They appear to cover battles from the Franco-Prussian War, some colonial conflicts, WW1 and WW2. It's pitiful that they've been taken from their parent medals, because that lowered their values as well as separated them from their historical contexts.

From what I see, all his awards date to WW1, except for the Hindenburg Cross from 1934. I read in the biography of Edward, Duke of Windsor, that he paid a visit to Adolf Hitler in 1937(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII). It is just my speculation, but this officer may have helped facilitate the Duke's visit and been suitably rewarded with a Royal Victorian Order from King George VI. His work might not have been recognized by his own government,so he must have received permission to add it to his medal bar.

During WW1, Black soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force were grouped in two divisions (92nd and 93rd) and fought under operational control of the French High Command. Most awards for bravery to these soldiers were in the form of the Croix de Guerre, such as to LTC Otis Duncan, the highest-ranked Black Soldier in the AEF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_B._Duncan). The 369th Sustainment Brigade is the lineal descendant of the 369th Infantry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Hellfighters) and has the right to display the Croix de Guerre as a unit citation; its members wear a fourragere in the green/red colors of that medal while assigned to the unit.

Like a hollow stamping? Yes....I can see how the stars and solar rays have the appearance of being the back of the device. It must have been sewn like a button to the headgear; I see no trace of the prongs that would have been used to fasten it to the felt of the hat.

If it helps, the order of precedence for the Purple Heart was changed in 1985 to place it ahead of the Meritorious Service Medal. As a general rule, combat awards such as the Silver Star, Bronze Star, etc, are worn ahead of non-combat awards such as the Meritorious Service Medal, Commendation and Achievement Medals. Good Conduct Medals of the uniformed services precede the service medals. Service Medals are ordered by the date instituted. On a more modern ribbon bar, the National Defense Service Medal takes precedence ahead of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and over the service medals from Vietnam, the Gulf War, the War on Terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, and any others yet to be issued. The WW2 Service Medals are more confusing, as they're worn in the order in which the individual service member served in particular theaters of operations. My late father was in the Navy for over 20 years, during which he served in all theaters: American, European and Pacific, wearing his ribbons in that order. The WW2 Victory Medal was worn after all WW2 theater medals, but ahead of the Occupation Medals. The Occupation of Germany service medal continued to be awarded until the withdrawal of the Berlin Brigade around 1990, so that one will take precedence ahead of the National Defense Service Medal.

The Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross was rarely awarded (only 255 total medals) and restricted to individuals prominent in the German war effort, as stated in this article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Merit_Cross), Any awards that survived the fall of the Third Reich would likely, in my humble opinion, have wound up as museum pieces instead of cheap, post-war souvenirs.

I'll take a "stab" at it. It looks like the cap device worn on the Model 1858 Soldier's full dress hat, developed by William J. Hardee ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee_hat ). The hat pictured in the article is an enlisted version with a solid brass plate. It is often seen in cabinet portraits of Civil War soldiers ( http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/soldier-with-hardee-hat.html ). When Hardee, who was originally from Georgia, joined the Confederate Army, that side also used the Hardee hat for dress uniform occasions. The solar rays behind the eagle are pierced and appear to be made of white metal, so this may have been a privately purchased enlisted cap device, perhaps for a non-commissioned officer in a militia unit. Commissioned officer's cap badges were to be embroidered in bullion thread. Can it be dated? A similar badge was seen on the M1851 shako and this style of cap device would be obsolete by 1872. It appears well-maintained, solely as a dress uniform item. BTW, there are two images, but the one on the left appears to be the correct picture; the eagle faces to its own right.