ChrisKelly

This is interesting... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

"Sleeve badges, Czechoslovakia, 1919 The new uniform regulation was approved by the MNO on August 1, 1919. It introduced a number of new elements that were supposed to fundamentally change the appearance of the soldier. There were numerous inspirations from the equipment of the allied armies, especially from the French army. In particular, the new khaki color, which was used on British and American uniforms, and which determined the color form of army uniforms for the next several decades, was essential. The new regulation also brought widespread use of the linden leaf symbol, which appeared on the collars of generals and staff officers, on cap badges and on a number of sleeve badges. Sleeve badges for expertise and specialized units were also newly introduced. The badges, most often circular in shape, were minted from white metal for the team, for officers, midshipmen and sergeants without a rank class embroidered on a khaki pad with a silver dragon. The badges for the staff hundredths were cloth, colorfully embroidered. Some of these aesthetically very successful badges were used for several years after their cancellation, but they were worn illegally, especially on the away uniforms of the team, which always managed to find a different decoration. The item is part of the original collection of the Resistance Memorial." Sources: https://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/rukavove-odznaky-ceskoslovensko-1919/ http://www.nume.cz/salova-aukce/cns-praha-59-2149

See also:

https://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/why_men_love_war.htm Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Broyles_Jr. https://www.wearethemighty.com/veterans/william-broyles-screenwriter-marine/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Before_Morning https://www.vvmf.org/honor-roll/233/LyndaVanDevanterBuckley/

Lots of that material is that way. Sometimes prop managers get lost in the details looking for the most realistic, even if viewers don't pay that close attention to those small details. That is a good looking NSDAP badge. Nonetheless, it's those little details, those small inconsistencies, that make the difference. An old collector/dealer once told me if I ever had even the slightest doubts, "just walk on by".

I do not know if Major Allen had any other awards during her twenty-one years of active and reserve army service (1967 - 1988), but she would have these at a minimum:

Likely, Captain Allen would have, at a minimum, the following awards for her Vietnam War service in addition to the Bronze Star Medal: ☆National Defense Service Medal. ☆Vietnam Service Medal with 4 bronze service stars (Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase II, Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase III, Tet Counteroffensive, & Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase IV). ☆Vietnam Campaign Medal (Republic of Vietnam). ☆The 71st Evacuation Hospital received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service in Vietnam, 1 October 1967 - 31 August 1968 (Department of the Army General Order [DAGO] 42, 69). The "69" means DAGO 42 was issued in 1969. From: https://findingaids.lib.umich.edu/catalog/umich-bhl-2015036 "Elizabeth Ann Allen was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1940. Her mother died when she was a young child and she and her four siblings were raised by her grandmother. During her high school years, public schools in the south were desegregated and Allen was encouraged by her teachers to enroll in the historically white high school. She excelled in school, particularly in the areas of math and science, but was one of the few African Americans in her school and faced discrimination from her teachers and classmates daily. She was able to succeed in spite of this adversity and went on to pursue a college education. She received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Nursing, in 1965 and 1966 respectively, from the Ohio State University. In 1967, inspired by her brother's service, she voluntarily joined the United States Army Nurse Corps at the rank of Captain and requested assignment on the front lines of the Vietnam War. She was one of fewer than 100 African American nurses deployed. She reported to the 12th Evacuation Hospital at Cu Chi and remained there for about six months before being assigned as Head Nurse of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku. During this time, in 1968, Pleiku was targeted in the first round of surprise attacks known as the Tet Offensive. Upon her return to the United States, Allen trained Army medics to act as psychiatric practitioners in the field at Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania. In 1969, she was appointed, State Director for Psychiatric Nursing for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health and later went on to become Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of South Carolina where she received her PhD in 1973. She joined the faculty of the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan in 1976. In addition to her duties as a faculty member, she acted as Director of the Center for Continuing Education for Nurses, a position she held until 1982. In 1985, she served as Acting Director of Minority Affairs at the University. Throughout her professional career, she advocated for veterans, and spoke on veterans' issues, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the treatment of women and African Americans in the military. She was appointed by Governor James Blanchard, in 1987, to the Agent Orange Commission and was twice elected as chair. She continued to serve as a Major in the Active Army Nurse Corps Reserve until 1988. As a professor, she worked to create awareness among her students of the ways in which poverty, race, and social justice can have an impact on the field of nursing. Allen retired from her position as Associate Professor in 2007 and was named Associate Professor Emerita of Nursing by the University Regents that same year." Sources: https://www.passionmilitaria.com/t195271-us-army-nurse-corps-elizabeth-a-allen-s-bronze-star https://www.vietnamwarsummit.org/attend/participants/lizallen.html https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/112020 https://m.facebook.com/groups/71evac/ https://www.vvmf.org/items/2320/vive00401/ https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/explore/alphabetical-index/interviewees/2044-meeks-edie https://www.loc.gov/collections/veterans-history-project-collection/serving-our-voices/vietnam-war/in-country/item/afc2001001.97581/ 2283709029.pdf

These are my latest acquisitions, pedestrian as they may be...

Miniature with western type "swing style" mount, likely British or Canadian. Source: https://paretski.org/shop/7822/

From my collection:

Only missing the one for widows/parents... A matched pair from my collection.

Source: https://www.militariasales.com/product/spanish-blue-division-german-1939-iron-cross-spanish-made/

"German Academy for Aeronautical Research Membership Stick-Pin in Gold. Heavy gilt bronze metal badge consisting of a naturalistic flying eagle, looking right, clasping a swastika. On the reverse of the eagle is the number 23 on the wing and on the reverse above the swastika a manufacturer’s mark of LN with date of 1790, the year the manufacturer was instituted. The manufacturer mark is for L Christian Lauer, Nuremberg. The eagle is die cut and hand finished. Excellent detail and beautifully made. Eagles wings measure 28.5mm across. Nickle stickpin is welded directly to the badge behind the head of the eagle. Knurled stickpin with retainer is exactly as should be and of original issue. Frosted observe with a mirror-finish reverse is also exactly as research shows to be correct. Truly a very impressive piece of history. The Academy for Aeronautical Research had a total of 218 members during its existence and all were awarded badges consecutively numbered. Each member received a full size and miniature stickpin badge bearing the same number. These were first introduced at the beginning of January 1938 and were confirmed by an order outlining their design, dated 21 January 1938. It also defined the three classes of membership and the color of the award. Honorary, ordinary and associate members received the badge in gold, supporting members in silver and corresponding members in bronze. The large badge was, according to dress regulations, to be worn on the left lapel of the formal breast coat. The miniature could be worn at any social gathering which was in accordance with, ‘the dignity of the academy’. Members included president Hermann Göring (1937-1945), the vice-president Erhard Milch, (1937-1945), as well as Willi Messerschmitt (1939-1944), Kurt Tank (1944-1945) and the chancellor Adolf Baeumker (1937-1945)." Source: https://www.militariasales.com/product/german-academy-for-aeronautical-research-membership-stick-pin-in-gold/ German DAF (German Labour Front) Gold Honor Stickpin Numbered. Stamped and gilt Tombac stickpin is numbered on reverse “1137”. Marked RZM M1/77 for Foerster & Barth, Pforzheim. Very rare item. The gold honor badge was awarded to individuals of exceptional value to the organization and each are numbered. Measures 21mm in diameter with 48mm knurled stickpin. Source: https://www.militariasales.com/product/german-daf-german-labour-front-gold-honor-stickpin-numbered/

The wearer was identified as Oberleutnant Friedrich Konrad Winkler, commander 6.kompanie/577.Infanterie-Regiment/305.Infanterie-Division, and the photograph was made in Stalingrad, sometime in early Autumn 1942. Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/305th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht) https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/infanterie-sturmabzeichen-forum/my-258537/ https://stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com/2012/10/hauptmann-friedrich-konrad-winkler.html?m=1 http://www.argunners.com/story-behind-famous-stalingrad-photograph/ https://stoessisheroes.com/meet-the-heroes-german-hauptmann-friedrich-konrad-winkler/ https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/stalingrad-nfantry-assault-badges/

From my collection... Apparently made in 1944. Additional resource: https://www.mp44.nl/equipment/gas_mask.htm

My most prized war trophy direct from the front! A Wehrmacht military medical canister for (rolled cloth/gauze) bandages! Solid steel with cork lining at the top and bottom!

The Hilfskrankenträger Armband, from my collection. The reproduction is at the top, the other two are originals. See also: The top two armbands are contemporary, the bottom three from the Second World War, from my collection: Army/Heer medic trade badges, original, from my collection:

Credit for service is always one-for-one, consecutive or aggregate. The recipient must be in civil service on the anniversary date (25 or 40 years).

Pin contruction in the images from the first post is an obvious detail. The reverse is shiny and the obverse details look cartoonish, including the four beads in the lower band, a glaring error. Crudely struck fake.

I'd err on the side of original. That or it's an immediate postwar reproduction... One of the good examples from one of the surviving original manufacturers. Never seen a pin clasp attached backwards before, left-facing-opening rather than right-side. It looks zinc. The eagle looks gold-colored, which is unusual. The eagles were zinc, and plated with a highly reactive, bright silver metal, which normally faded quickly, rather than turning gold. I once had a Kriegsmarine Coast Artillery War Badge in perfect mint condition, struck from zinc. The gold-gilded wreath oxidized into a bright metallic silver, like sterling silver. Most of those zinc Kriegsmarine war badges oxidize that way over time, in spite of the best preservation efforts. I tried to find a few which looked like yours, for comparison, from: https://www.emedals.com/collections/europe-germany-third-reich-luftwaffe-awards-badges-luftwaffe-badges-ground-assault-badge Sources: https://epicartifacts.com/product/ground-assault-badge-hammer-and-sohne/ https://www.emedals.com/collections/europe-germany-third-reich-luftwaffe-awards-badges-luftwaffe-badges-ground-assault-badge/products/germany-luftwaffe-a-ground-assault-badge-g57276?variant=48268208668949 https://www.emedals.com/collections/europe-germany-third-reich-luftwaffe-awards-badges-luftwaffe-badges-ground-assault-badge/products/germany-luftwaffe-a-ground-assault-badge-by-gh-osang-g50487?variant=46132933132565 https://www.emedals.com/collections/europe-germany-third-reich-luftwaffe-awards-badges-luftwaffe-badges-ground-assault-badge/products/germany-luftwaffe-a-ground-assault-badge-g55184?variant=46135893229845 https://www.emedals.com/collections/europe-germany-third-reich-luftwaffe-awards-badges-luftwaffe-badges-ground-assault-badge/products/germany-luftwaffe-a-ground-assault-badge-g50282?variant=46132861894933

Unmarked, magnetic core, three-piece construction... That's the first three to look for. Unmarked crosses are likely 1939-late 1941 productions. The beading on the inner frame, obverse and reverse, is consistent with original examples ("the lines meet at the joints"). The tarnish is also consistent with original examples, as the frames are silver plated. I think it's an original in really good condition, and likely, the ribbon may be original as well.