JBFloyd

That's correct. Seattle Aerie No. 1 was the first local group established.

Interesting that the ribbon is very close that of the Panamanian Medal of Solidarity of World War I.

Paul, Not sure if this will work better.

And the reverse.

Anyone know what this might be? It's in silver with gilt star on the obverse (possibly something missing from the star's center). Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks for the information. This one is a copy, but quite well made.

Possibly Austrian, but not in any of the sources I've checked. Anyone have an accurate identification for this one (the reverse is blank).

60th Diamond Jubilee of King Bhumibol (Rama IX). For those of you not aware of a superb source for ribbon identification, see Antonio Prieto's site: http://www.coleccionesmilitares.com

They may have been fully integrated into US units for many purposes, but they were not members of the US armed forces and that's the critical distinction. The were attached to US units, not assigned. A number of the allied units wore US field gear and used US equipment. This was a matter of convenience and cost (the Dutch/Greek/Turkish/Colombian/etc governments were not going to maintain full logistical trains to Korea when an agreement with the US would allow them to tap into the US logistics system). The Dutch, I believe, modified the US gear with their own regimental insignia (There are photos of Dutch soldiers wearing the 2nd Division Indianhead patch, but they wear it halfway down the sleeve, in keeping with Dutch practice, rather than at the seam).

The phrase "any member of an Armed Force" refers to members of the US Armed Forces, not to anyone in the world. While the Purple Heart criteria are not as specific as those for some other decorations, it has always been a US-only award. In fact, I can't think of any country that will routinely award its wound medal or badge to an allied soldier. While a fine semantic distinction, serving "with" the US forces is not the same as serving alonside US forces. Properly, these Dutch soldiers should not have received Purple Hearts. They wore Dutch uniforms, were paid by the Dutch government, and their service records were maintained by the Dutch forces. Ultimately they were responsible to the senior Dutch officer in their chain of command. They simply took operational orders from US officers in the UN Command. While you will find general orders for many of the other decorations awarded to allies, I've never seen a GO for a Purple Heart to an allied soldier. And, as far as the Army is concerned, if there is no source document (GO, letter order, etc) making the award, it didn't happen. Did allies receive Purple Hearts? There were certainly cases where awards were made in error (e.g., medals pinned to pillows of unconscious wounded in hospital), but I would most interested to see what the documentary back-up is for any Purple Heart award to an ally.

Malcolm Gordon - Gray's Market, off Oxford Street -- some Imperial items, but more Third Reich Ray Holdich - Whitcomb Street, by the National Gallery -- worldwide stock Steve Wheeler - Cecil Court -- worldwide stock

There are a couple of Thai government publications with English captions on the photos, but none have the background of the medals in English. These are lavish productions and expensive, with limited utility. I use Ernst Blass' "Die Orden und Ehrenzeichen von Thailand", a little paperback with black and white photos. Undated, but published in the 1980s, I think. The German text is far easier to work with than the Thai.

Many thanks for that.

And three unidentified badges

I need help identifying these, please. The piece on left says "Distinguished Pioneer" to my rudimentary Magyar ("Pioneer" as in youth group?)

It came with his Bulgarian group.

And the interior.

Just ran into this certificate for the Medal for 30th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces awarded to Bulgarian Maj Gen Rangel Kashev.

My copy arrived a week or so ago, but I live 5 miles from the author. The book does fill in gaps and having good color illustrations is worth the price of the book.

A short synopsis of the "Houston Riot" is at http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/...es/HH/jch4.html

To amplify HUgh's comments, it was issued for the 5 May 1950 coronation of Bhumibol, the current king (Rama IX) and now the longest reigning monarch in the world.

Unfortunately, I only have numbers and no names for Korean War awards. The names would be in the General Orders of 8th Army or Far Eastern Command, but finding them could take many hours of research in the National Archives. The Bronze Star citation is similar to many others I've seen to allied troops. The chance of an American newspaper running the story of a Soldier's Medal to a Dutch soldier is rather limited. I think it far more likely that the story would have been in a Dutch newspaper.

US awards to allied soldiers will appear in General Orders somewhere, but finding them can be a chore. For Korea, awards to Dutch soldiers will probably be in the General Orders of 8th Army, which are in the National Archives. The second most likely option is Far Eastern Command (MacArthur's headquarters). The GOs may or may not have a full citation. Kevin Ingraham's book on Korean War awards notes 4 Legion of Merit awards, 14 Silver Stars, and 62 Bronze Stars (12 Chungmu with Silver Star) to Dutch soldiers for Korea.

You'll find these or smaller wallet cards with the same data. They were carried by the individual while on liberty. The object was to verify service and prevent guys from decking themselves out like Christmas trees. I've seen similar cards for Army troops, but all of those were from occupation zones.

The bars for the Algerian medal could be: Algerie, Tunisie, Maroc, Sahara or Mauritanie. The Medal for Volunteer Service was created in 1975, so it should still be awarded. There are quite a few bars possible for the National Defense medal. See Marc Champenois' excellent site: http://france-phaleristique.com/accueil.htm