Medal Identification - WWI Medal of Honor Recipient

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

  Request your assistance in identifying two decorations on the attached image.  First, the fifth decoration on the top row (to the right of the Medaille militaire as you view the image) and then the first decoration on the second row (to the left of the Italian War Cross as you view the image).  Thank you.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

18 hours ago, slava1stclass said:

Gents,

  Request your assistance in identifying two decorations on the attached image.  First, the fifth decoration on the top row (to the right of the Medaille militaire as you view the image) and then the first decoration on the second row (to the left of the Italian War Cross as you view the image).  Thank you.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Gents,

  After a bit of digging, I have some possible candidates.  None of them makes sense.  When reading about the recipient's personality and his oversized braggadocio, however, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  His very dubious entitlement to the British MC is yet another indicator.

  It appears the first medal in question is either the Belgian King Albert Medal or the Belgian Political Prisoner's Medal 1914-1918.  In this same vein, the unidentified cross in the second row may well be the Belgian Civic Decoration 1914-1918.  I've attached images of all three for your review/comparison.

  Again, he is a legitimate WWI Medal of Honor, DSC, Silver Star and Purple Heart (w/ 1OLC) recipient.  The French Legion of Honor, French Croix de guerre with bronze palm, Belgian Croix de guerre with bronze palm, Italian War Cross and Montenegrin Medal for Military Bravery all also appear legit based on his WWI service.  The French Medaille militaire I'm less certain of.

Regards,

slava1stclass    

[peter monahan]

Interesting!  We tend to assume that men wearing medals to which they're not entitled are complete fakes, I think.  If what you say is accurate, this fellow was a genuine hero with multpile awards who still felt it necessary to gild the lily!  May one enquire who he was?

[slava1stclass]

18 minutes ago, peter monahan said:

Interesting!  We tend to assume that men wearing medals to which they're not entitled are complete fakes, I think.  If what you say is accurate, this fellow was a genuine hero with multpile awards who still felt it necessary to gild the lily!  May one enquire who he was?

Peter,

  Your characterization, "...this fellow was a genuine hero with multpile awards who still felt it necessary to gild the lily!" is spot on.  For some guys, there is never enough.

  See these for more on him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_R._Edwards

http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/tc/id/53223

Regards,

slava1stclass

[peter monahan]

Odd that.  If I were a Freudian I'd blame it on toilet training or penis envy, but who knows?  Fascinating stry, though.  Thank you.