RAL

A very interesting and sad tale, Bill. One does not usually picture a S1c as being 39 years old. Rich

Just noticed this posting. I don’t wish to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the one star shoulder boards and the single stars on his collars are totally incorrect for them to be for RAdm Goodwin; they should be two star rear admiral shoulder boards and collar insignia. The USN did not start their rear admirals of the lower half wearing a single star rank insignia until 1981. Prior to then, both the lower half and upper half wore two stars. The July 1953 register shows Goodwin as a captain of the line, with a date of entry of 3 July 1922 and a date of rank as captain of 10 July 43. This would mean that he had been a captain for ten years with a total of 31 years commissioned service. The way the regulations worked, one needed ten years in grade for promotion to rear admiral but not more than 30 years commissioned service. If you had thirty or more years and were still a captain you would not be eligible for an active duty promotion to rear admiral, indeed, that would be pretty much the end one’s service eligibility. The July 1954 register shows him as rear admiral, retired, and when you check the retired list you’d find him listed with captain as his highest rank with the above note date of rank and the notes 4 and 9 for his line entry. Note 4 is explained as: “Date of rank as Captain” which we already knew. Note 9 is explained as: “Advanced in rank on the retired list by of combat citation awarded by the head of an executive department.” Admiral Goodwin’s award of the Bronze Star with the Combat V would fulfill the requirement for the retirement promotion. This is a retirement promotion under then current law (retirement promotions ended on 31 October 1959). And, as far as rank insignia would be concerned, in 1953, rear admirals would have worn two stars whether lower or upper half. During the WW2 years, the 150 some odd commodores wore a single star, collar or shoulder board, but by the end of 1947 all the commodores had either reverted to captain, had been promoted to rear admiral, or retired; there was no one star rank, or rank insignia, in the USN after that until 1981. So, had Admiral Goodwin had an opportunity to wear a uniform at some point during his retired years (and there are occasions for retired personnel to do so) he would have sported the two star shoulder boards on whites or khakis, plus two stars on the collar points of his khaki shirt, or the broad gold and one thin gold stripes on blues. There was no other insignia for him to wear in regulation.

How's about this one?

Brantley appears on the Rear Admiral retired list in the 1951 Register of Commissioned Officers with a retirement date of June 1950. He appears in the USNA Alumni register with a retirement date of 1 Jun 1950. The regulation codes cited in regard to his retirement in the 1951 Register were “C” and “O”. C = Retired for age ineligibility for promotion, act of August 29, 1916, or for service ineligibility for selection for promotion. This means that Bratley was not eligible for lineal promotion to rear admiral based on age and/or time in grade as a captain. His promotion to captain came on 20 Jun 1942. By the time 1950 rolled around he had 30 years commissioned service and had been a captain for eight years. Promotion to rear admiral at that time required 10 years’ time in grade as a captain. Too many years’ service, not enough time in grade. In 1950, his last year of active service, he was 69th in seniority on the captains’ list; there were 1807 captains. Brantley retired 1 Jun 1950. O= Placed or advanced, upon the retired list with the rank or next higher grade in recognition of having been specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat. Having been awarded the Silver Star for performance of duty in combat, Brantley was eligible to apply for a retirement promotion to the next higher grade, in his case, rear admiral. The promotion was concurrent with his retirement. These retirement promotions are what are known in the vernacular as “tombstone promotions.” No increase in his retirement pay, just a little extra prestige, the higher rank on one’s tombstone, and, of course, prior to that end, the all-important flag parking in front of the Navy Exchange. Up until October 1959, Navy and Marine Corps officers, provided one had an appropriate combat decoration, could apply for, and be retired, at the next higher rank concurrent with their retirement. Brantley held the Silver Star, which was sufficient for the purpose of the regulation.

I can tell you what it is not . . . It is not US Military or Naval issue, i.e., not an article of uniform. Perhaps some fraternal or veterans organization or combination of the two.

dmiller8 is absolutely correct. I just want to make sure we were speaking of the same thing. Any comment I might have made would be practically verbatim from those dmiller8. Good job!

Can you post a picture?

Gents - It appears that you are discussing two entirely different silver stars. The silver star on the Merchant Marine Combat medal was a 3/8ths inch silver star device pinned to the ribbon to denote a second award of that medal. Note this a "device" not a "medal". Stars are awarded in lieu of additional medal awards; you only get the actual medal once. The Silver Star Medal is an award for valor awarded to military and naval personnel (and, in fact, in the naval services could have star devices for additional awards). Unless your William O Stewart was a member of a naval gun crew on a merchant ship or, unless, since they were dual designated as USMM and USNR, he were a merchant marine officer, he would be ineligible for an award of the Silver Star Medal. There are those who will tell you that individual crew rated members of the Merchant Marine were eligible for the Silver Star Medal, but that is not true, during WW2 they were not considered part of the US armed forces. Notations of silver star devices (the word "device" often being left out) for additional awards of a decoration and Silver Star Medals (and likewise "bronze stars" for additional awards as devices and Bronze Star Medals) can cause confusion. You may wish to check to options available at http://www.usmm.org/contact.html#contact3 Veteran status for Merchant Sailors was not established until the 1980's, see: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R44162.html

Yes, but on the government issued headstones, such as we see above, for military/naval personnel it is the common practice to note major conflicts and decorations unless you tell them not to do so. But as for appending abbreviations of decorations after one's name in print . . . in US service that would be greatly frowned upon in some quarters, ridiculed in others and probably both for the rest.

If you are referring to the U S Lighthouse Service, that which was rolled into the USCG in 1939, no, they did not use any such variation on USN officers cap device insignia, ever. A single lighthouse in silver within a gold open-top wreath was more their speed or an occasional badge type shield. See cap emblems of the various gents photo'd and page 4 specifically. https://uslhs.org/sites/default/files/articles_pdf/keepers_new_clothes.pdf Or go here and click on side arrows to go from page to page https://archive.org/details/001119/001 119.jpg

The service star device on the American Defense Medal is more properly worn on just the service ribbon, not the medal. On the medal should be worn ONE of the following: “Base” Clasp for USN & USMC personnel for shore based service outside the continental US during eligibility period, “Fleet” Clasp for USN, USMC, or USCG personnel for sea service while attached to any fleet (Atlantic, Pacific, or Asiatic) vessel, vessels of the Naval Transport Service or contracted by the CNO during the eligibility period, or “A” device for service at sea related to the Neutrality Patrol between 22 June and 7 December 1941. The USCG has a separate “Sea” clasp for USCG personnel serving on vessels or aircraft not covered by the “Fleet” clasp. The service star device is/was worn in lieu of either the Base or Fleet clasp only on the service ribbon; those eligible for the “A” device worn the same on the ribbon vice the star device, so, one wore one or the other, not both. The service star device had nothing to do with participation in any particular campaign. As shown above, that is not really regulation, since there is no "A" device, there should be either the "Base" or "Fleet" clasp (only allowed to wear one or the other, not both).

That is a fake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor#/media/File:Medal_of_Honor_U.S.Army.jpg

Assuredly US Merchant Marine awards. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_Merchant_Marine

'Agreed. Reading someone's ribbons in the 50's and 60's was much more interesting . . . now it is "nice" that one can get a gong for just about anything. I can remember seeing the W on an Expeditionary ribbon/medal . . . pretty damn rare on folks walking around on active duty in the early to mid 1960s. Not as rare, but enough to be noticed was the Atlantic A for Neutrality Patrol on the American Defense Service ribbon/medal.

A silver star on a Navy Achievement Medal or a Navy Commendation Medal is, in both cases, indicative of a total of six awards. Somebody must have really gotten around. One might note there is no Combat V so neither, apparently, for however many awards, was combat related.

ROTC would normally use just an anchor. Without the letters, that's a commissioned officer's cap device and should not be worn by a midshipman even if one were, e.g., midshipman captain, that is, the senior midshipman in a ROTC detachment, he'd still wear just an anchor device on his cap.

Watched the whole thing. It appeared to me that the uniform of the day for the event was service dress, not full dress. For example, the Army four-star general I saw was wearing the new pinks & greens uniform which specifies ribbons not medals. Medals are are worn with full dress, which for the Army is blue. In the photo above all these gents are in service dress. The blue service dress worn by the Army general center front has been replaced with pinks & greens and the blue uniform is now either dress - with ribbons, or full dress with full medals. I saw no one wearing full dress uniform. At some point, usually governed by regulation, someone decides what will be the uniform for the event . . . in this case, service dress as opposed to fancier dress or full dress. Had there be inauguration balls, obviously forgone this time around, the uniform specified would probably had been mess dress (full dress with bow tie optional since mess dress is not a required article of uniform) worn with miniatures. Service dress, by definition with ribbons, not medals, is specified for inaugurals in regulation 670-1.

With the lettering on the front, it is not a regulation USN officers cap device of any era.

Hope attached helps, army jargon translated orders extract.pdf

Here's a set, my father's. I've eight of these sets,oddly, only one sports a national defense ribbon (obviously not this one) . . . guess he didn't like it.

And just when did he qualify in submarines?

Here's a set. Interestingly, the Navy Cross on the full size set is a "Black Widow" variety and I've seen miniatures of that variety, so I'm presuming the one here was procured after the fact.

A T Jones is a costumer. What you have is probable a costume as opposed to a uniform. https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2018/3/12/on-with-the-show-a-t-jones-sons-costume-shop-turns-150 You can make a reenactor discussing the accuracy of his uniform really angry if you say something along the lines of, "Oh, you were never inducted into or actually served in the German Army? Well, then, what you are wearing then is a costume, not a uniform."

Thank you.

Who is the Colonel with the Canadian ribbons? Idle curiousity.