Ulsterman

Scott, sadly I doubt very seriously if this can be traced. But hope springs eternal. Somewhere out there there is a photo of an O5+ officer wearing this bar. However, the "story" this bar tells is a valid one. As I said, I have a similar photo, which I think Stogieman once owned...see below. Below is a typical rear echelon navy officer: judicial, administrative, quartermaster/feurwerks, signals, engineering etc... somebody who probably used algebra and math in their day job. Note no bar on the China medal. It would not surprise me at all if this guy was on the harbormasters' staff at one of the Belgian ports and it would explain the black/white ribbon a la the Boonzair thesis of "war zone" EK2 awards (as well as one of the famous @6,000 homeland service black/white ribbon awards Rick mentions). Your bar argues for a similar technical career officer who did something important at home-and I'd bet that noncom. EK2 was handed out postwar. However, given he was in the armed forces probably in 1896 and definetly in 1897 and that there's no wreath, I'd bet he was demobbed in the 1920s and brought back in when rearmament started in 1934+

any pics? Esp. of Hougomont? We'd love to see them in the Napoleonic forum-esp. with those Hanovarian medals.

GG#2:

Ah! my bad- I got the right regt., just the nomenclature wrong. scanning..... :rolleyes:

Looks like a very important DR. attached to Abtlng. Pascha! RR, do you recognize him from the Ostasian vets magazines at all?

1886- von Engelbrechten (1GGzF)? Freiherr von der Horst? 2GGzF? Head exploding.... Freiherr von Sell (Aggregirt) 2 GGzF.

Why the differences? Civil/military? Austrian/Hungarian?

Not that uncommon at all. Despite the enormous number of EK2s awarded, still at best only 35% of Germans in uniform got one and not a few of them died after receipt of the medal. I have the award roll of a Bavarian artillery battery. There are listed a couple of "old timers" who were in pre-war, made it to gefreiter and still got nothing (!) for 4 very long years of service, not even a BMVK4x! I suspect they were not the best soldiers.

Is that a gallipoli star I see down on the left?

Hmmmmm...pretty cool career. Perhaps some decent time spent at NATO HQ as well. ... a non sequiter: Any chance you ever get out to the battlefield of Waterloo?

Ricardo HINT HINT!!! Sounds like an EXCELLENT idea for an article! Tell us more about that Military merit medal please.

Wow-that oficer (Major/Lt. Col?) has a few stories to tell. Perhaps you know the chap to whom it belongs, Doc? Can you tell us how some of the medals were earned?

Ooops . Sorry, I answered a different thread here accidentally. In short Noor-no, odds are that there is a second row missing. The top row indicates a senior NCO @ 1946 because the ARCOM wasn't handed out that liberally until the 1950s. It was a special merit medal for service "other than in combat" (that changed during Viet-Nam) in the early days and it seems to have mostly gone to senior NCOs who got the job done and Pentagon staffers, at least in the first few years after its inception. Ostensibly for 'junior" soldiers, I have seen it awarded to Captains and Staff Majors in the Occupation forces in Germany in 1946/47. Next is a GC medal with what appears to be a missing Good Conduct clasp (a twisted bronze rope) indicating at least 5 enlistments, so minimum, 13 years service (probably more). Then is the American Defense Medal-indicating 12 months service PRIOR to December 7th, 1941. In those days, even after Roosevelt expanded the US military in 1939-41, the US army was still VERY small. This argues for a second row, because anyone who had the American Defense medal was due the Victory Medal and almost certainly earned the American Theater Campaign ribbon (see the above posts) and quite possibly either the Pacific or European campaign ribbon OR the Occupation ribbon. Odds are this guy worked in a Command or Army/Corps (think shoulder patch here) facility state side doing something important in a rear area: it probably involved a telephone, a typewriter, a blackboard and maybe a wrench and screwdriver.

awesome! So, Sao Paulo issued its own medals? Can you tell us more details about the revolt?

Sweet Mary in Heaven! Is that an iron cross device on the first ribbon???? :speechless1:

yeah- a very busy reservist. Who are the busiest reservists who get sent all over the world? Medical and communications/linguistics, followed by engineers (I think). Don't reserve POs also receive the good conduct medal?

What was he doing in 1916? The bio. leaves that year out. Mayhap at Jutland?

Very interesting that he got an EK2 on black/white ribbon. I remember seeing two other EK2s for similar navy construction men on noncom. white/black ribbons.

Very cool!

Navy Reserve merit medal-est. @ 1962 I think. A handsome medal-early ones were bronze. I believe it (was) tough to earn-90% attendance over three/four years enlistment time.

Good Lord! Where were they digging? Are those handcuffs in the background?

Ah- 1983 or the later evacuation? Pity the US doesn't engrave their commendation and bravery medals.

Yeah, I figured WO/officer type because of the lack of a GC, but what operations got an Exped. medal and/or that UN medal? Haiti? Bosnia? and NO Humanitarian medal? Somalia?

Contemporary US Navy reserve officer/WO? Engineers/Signals/Medical? Paul, Jeff?

I have a couple of Luftschutz passbooks. I've wondered, has anyone often encountered Luftwaffe members attached to the Luftschutz being awarded the Luftschutz medal?