Ulsterman

Do I see an EK2/HKx/Austrian bravery w/bar and Hungarian WW1 medal?

Nice original ribbon. I think 45 Euros is fair.

Brandon recounts in his book getting an ARCOM with V device - along with his entire company- for a minutes long firefight in Iraq against insurgents in a Mosque- allegedly. Smith was never completely sure that anyone was actually firing back and the incident might well have been a " jumpy shot"  catalyzing a mass unit reaction. The implication was he got a medal merely for firing at what might have been an empty building. 

Is this contemporary?

That's a great little book! It took me a while to wander through Herr Rosenthals' war career.  Did you look him up in the BDJKV data base? 

I agree. Gone are the days when a senior Navy NCO in peacetime could expect to retire with a mere two or three rows of awards. 

Well, it seems to match the shields in the NAM. Oh Merwyn would have loved this.

I can not see the other pictures in the thread above- they have morphed into kittens. 

Well, I reckon aye, based upon the photos in an a 40 year old Wallis and Wallis catalogue I just unearthed. 

cool. I have seen enormous shells from the Maine in a local town hall, tucked away in a quiet corner gathering dust. 

Well, aside from the medals review, which seems to me to be a rehash of earlier, very complete valor awards reviews, I think the new R and C devices are a good thing. The whole Bronze Star only for combat is also good and I hope they retroactively strip awards of the BS given stateside for anything.  Now if we can just get rid of those silly " I did it" ribbons- like the NCO course/basic completion ribbons or perhaps the most laughable, the sea service / overseas service ribbons, it will be a better world. 

So, is this a Carlist War award?m

Wow! Great photo! That should be in a book!

Yeah, it is sort of sad, but it has become a very wealthy persons' hobby. Even medals that were handed out by the millions are now going for a large chunk of cash. Still, these things cycle and there is always the the thrill of the hunt.

Maybe, but there is still fraud. Wearing medals and uniforms with the intent to obtain unearned rewards is still a felony. 

Oddly enough, I have none. I have wondered for years when minis began to be worn though. 1920s?

wow! That is the ultimate Saxon bar. 

Well, if I read this correctly, its metely a replacement book issued to a Lt. d R. in Grenadier Regt. 118 upon demobilization ?  

Actually, this guy was very senior. Look at the WW1 medal.....career from 1918-48.

Well, yeah.

This is a HUGE topic. In short,today- and in Vietnam and maybe even WW2 many hospital units actually keep Purple Hearts in storage for immediate award/ photo opportunity. 

I have known Vietnam vets who lost/had ex-wives take/throw away purple hearts and then have them privately engraved and worn for decades ( notibly my brother and Uncle) .

As far as I know, the only US mint engraved ones these days are to KIAs.

The JOMSA has had a number of articles on this topic and many US collectors scour old unit paperwork for medal award numbers. For example, earlier this year I found an award list for a POW guard unit in Maine that listed the mint serial numbers of the Good Conduct medals awarded to the company in 1943. The medals list the number, then the recipients' name and rank.

Most General Orders did not do this and sometimes you can "tell" a unit by the number sequence. Most numbers were not engraved after 1942?  

Bravo!

I reckon $150-175 is fair: $60-70 for the EK2, $20 for HKx, $25 for ls15, $30 for Bulg. merit , spangenbonus plus condition=25% of total ($25-$35). 

Don't you rate a bronze palm for a MID? 

Cool. Try Youtube. Look up "Girls and Panzer:  Panzerleid". 

yup. really, really rare.

Thanks Andreas!