UN Medals awarded for the KOREAN WAR and my collection

[demir]

2.

A lighter having enamel Turkish Flag and Turkish Brigades Northern Star on it and working perfectly.

Made in Japan by Penguin the seller says. Penguin High Quality Lighter No: 18245

[demir]

3.

An Officers Baton, 50 cm . The baton has its original tassel.

It is made of wood and mother of pearl inlays on it. Mother of pearl 'KOREA -1957-58' is written in the middle and 4 small diamond shape figures are located 8 cm before the tip . The mother of pearl piece is missing at the tip.

The handle is silver with an enamel 'Northern Star' insignia attached on the side and the enamel star and crescent of the Turkish flag at the top.

Above the star 'TURKIYE' is written.

Enjoy

Demir

[demir]

Hi,

I forgot to post this bracelet.

Here is the silver bracelet (made in Germany), of Mr. Nevzat Tanertan who was in Korea, which I bought for my collection last year

.

Obverse: Miniature Emaille Tropic Lightning for serving under the USA 25th Infantry Division, Emaille Northern Star for the Turkish Brigade (the position of the stars are wrong they have to be on the right side) and Emaille Turkish Flag fixed on the silver bracelet and also left side of the Northern Star written numbers "949 149" ( I think his enrollment no) and right side of the Northern Star the word "Korea".

Reverse: Germany, silver, and the name Nevzat Tanertan

Regards

Demir

Edited September 27, 2012 by demir

[Dfifer]

A little off the beaten path, but there was a post in regards to the the Korean War Service Medal also known as the ROKWSM. The internet is full of misinformation on this medal and now I see that some of this misinformation has crept into this website.

If anyone is interested, I have posted a web page which gives the full story on the ROKWSM with all of the support documents that I have been able to find. If anyone is interested you can find the information at http://home.earthlink.net/~kwsm/

I hope it is of some interest to the members.

Sincerely,

Don Pfeifer

[demir]

Thanks Don,

Thanks for the very clearly documented information.

So the medal I shared here in my earlier thread has to be named "6.25 Incident Participation Medal". It is Korean War Service Medal - Type 2 according to your research. Don't you thing it would have been better should you name it 6.25 Incident Participation Medal-type 2 if the name of the medal is "6.25 Incident Participation Medal" why still call it Korean War Service Medal.

I am quoting your writing from http://home.earthlink.net/~kwsm/ on the subject here:

"Korean War Service Medal - Type 2

At some point in time, the Korean government must have realized that they could not afford to manufacture a million or more of the enameled Type 1 KWSM. They may also have been influenced by the fact that service medals are rarely done in enamels. The medal and box pictured on the left are original Korean War issues. On the right I have digitally enhanced/lightened a picture of the reverse. The line down the center says "6.25 Incident Participation Medal". The rocker across the bottom says: "Republic of Korea". Most of the Korean War Service medals issued by the Korean government, were manufactured by a company called Jung Il Sa. According to Mr. Chang Hui-kwan, the son of the original owner, they have produced this medal with both a dark and a light planchet. Since these are legitimate pieces, I refer to the darker pieces as Type 2 and the lighter planchets as Type 2A.

Edited November 8, 2012 by demir

[Dfifer]

There is no problem with calling this medal the "Korean War Service Medal", the "ROKWSM", the "Crossed Bullets Medal", or to use the Korean term the "6.25 Incident Participation Medal". In fact on my webpage, if you look at Yi Ki-Poong's 1951 letter to the Commander in Chief. In the first paragraph, he calls it the "War Service Medal". As the title of my webpage states, "The real story behind the Republic of Korea's War Service Medal, or more precisely, the Republic of Korea's 6.25 Incident Participation Medal".

My problem is with all of the "Purported Facts" that are floating around the internet, some of which have unfortunately crept into this website. You commonly find: "In 1951, President Syngman Rhee ordered that the Incident Participation Medal be renamed as the War Service Medal and further authorized the decoration to any troops who were defending South Korea against invasion. In 1954, the South Korean government authorized the now called Korean War Service Medal to all United Nations troops who had fought in the Korean War between the dates of June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953."

As you see from my webpage, Syngman Rhee never ordered the medal to be renamed, and that the medal was offered to all United Nations troops on Nov. 15th, 1951. In none of the Korean Presidential Decrees regarding this medal, does it lay out the basic requirements for earning the medal. That was left up to the Ministry of Defense.

I have made several attempts to correct the Wikipedia entry (and others), but to no avail. I put my webpage together to try, in some small way, to clear up some of the BS, that is so common. (I even put a link to my webpage on Wikipedia, only to have it removed. I am assuming that the truth hurts.)

And there is also the problem with phony award documents that show up from time to time. As you saw from my webpage, I show one which references Presidential Decree #390, but shows the Crossed Bullets style of the Korean War Service Medal.

In putting the webpage together, I took great pains to make sure that anyone who doubts the information that I present, can do the research themselves. And in that regard, I gave them all of the basic information needed to pursue it.

In the pursuit of my own research, I only need two things to really complete the story.

1st: Another search of NARA (or the Korean National Archives) to see if the 4th page of Yi Ki-poongs letter exists showing the design of the medal, and,

2nd: to gain access to the Korean Ministry of Defense and see what information they have in their records.

One small comment that I should add. Koreans have a great tendency to call historical events by the date in which it happened or first started. The Protectorate Treaty of 1905, the Independence Demonstration of 1919, the Military Coup of Park Chung Hee, etc. are all referenced in Korean by the date. Two quick examples, the Japanese Invasion of Korea (1592-98) is simply called the Imjin War. (Imjin being 1592 in the Chinese 60 year calendar system). The Annexation Treaty of 1910 is known in Korea as the Coerced Treaty, but it is also commonly referred to as "The humiliation of the Nation in the Year of the Dog."

I hope I have clarified my earlier comments regarding the misinformation that seems to have crept into this website.

[demir]

Thanks again.

[Sir Denmark]

Very nice collection Demir,

I have already shown this group before but it fits right in here. A group awarded to a (surgical) dentist who served aboard the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia during the Korean war.

The Danish personnel received the English version of the UN medal (and were permitted to wear it).

You can also see the Korean Presidential Citation ribbon on his ribbon bar.

P.S: Are you sure there is a version of the UN medal with Swedish text?

/Mike

About the ribbons on lets say the "Order of Dannebrog" What is the width of the ribbon - and the ribbon bar "Båndspænde" what is the height of the bar?

Very fine collection - wish I had one that looked like

[Great Dane]

The width of the Dannebrog ribbon is 27mm.

The height of the ribbon bar ribbons are 10mm.

/Mike

[demir]

Hello,

The latest addition to my Korean War collection (which I did not receive yet) is explained with the words of the seller:

" KOREA 5. TURK TUG. YILBASI HATIRASI". (Korea 5th Turkish Brigade New Year Memento)

“Unused presentation plaque from the "Turkish Brigade" in Korea. The plaque consists of a 4 3/8" dia. enamel and brass emblem mounted on a 11.5" x 8.5" x 1/2" wooden backing together with a blank engraveable 3 3/4" x 3/4" metal plate. As shown in the third photo the plaque has folding wooden stand in back so that it can be stood or hung by the string.

The emblem consists of a map of North and South Korea in yellow on a light blue backgroud. The cities of Kunuri and Pusan are also located. Kunuri was the site of the Turks toughest battle and where they lost the most men. There is a Turkish soldier holding a globe and laurel wreath (symbol of the United Nations) with 1955 thereon. There is the muslim cresent and star in white as per the Turkish flag. the inscription around the bottom reads, " KOREA 5. TURK TUG. YILBASI HATIRASI". (Korea 5th Turkish Brigade New Year Memento - d)

The wood back has what appears to be some plugged holes showing the wood was probably recycled. The engravable metal plate is tarnished and needs to be polished. The plaque was obtained from my father-in-law who was the U.S. Turkish Liaison Detatchment Commander in Korea from Oct '54 - Feb '55.”

[demir]

23th Anniversary of participation of the Turkish Armed Forces to the Korean War

29 October 1973

Yu Jae Hung

Minister of National Defense

Republic of Korea

Edited April 16, 2014 by demir

[Paul R]

Great stuff everyone! How did the Danish Vet come to receive an American Combat Infantry Badge? Was he in the US Army for a time? This is a US only badge.

[Great Dane]

Are you referring to the Dutch recipient in post #18?

/Mike

[Paul R]

My mistake. That is correct. The DUTCH uniform in post 18.

[demir]

My new Turkish Brigade patch. I think it was used after the 3rd Brigade

[Brett Hendey]

Demir

I am pleased to see that you are still adding to your collection. Many thanks for sharing with us.

Regards

Brett

[Paul R]

Beautifully worn patch. Can you tell what rank the man in the photo is wearing?

[demir]

Thanks Brett, Nice to hear from you, best wishes.

Hi Paul, His shoulder seems to have two stars but his cap has 1 star. I can't see clearly. We have 1 star for lieutenant (Tegmen) and 2 star for first lieutenant (Üstegmen) (UK: second lieutenant, USA: second lieutenant) (UK: lieutenant, USA: first lieutenant)

Best wishes

Demir

Edited October 6, 2014 by demir

[demir]

Latest addition to my collection. NORTH STAR.

It is a very important piece to have in a Turkish Brigade collection.

I have been trying to find it, finally last week I have managed to buy one.

"General Walker announced that General McArthur gave the title "North Star" to 1st Turkish Brigade. A Turkish soldier designed this symbol which was accepted by General Tahsin Yazici. From that time on all Turkish soldiers carried this badge on their uniforms. – Tosun Saral"
source: The Magazine "Yillarboyu Tarih" (History Along the Years) February 1983 Nr:2 p.6o

Edited October 24, 2014 by demir