WW2 Coast Guard items

[Squirrel322]

I inherited these items from my father who served in the USCG during WW2. He was stationed in the Aleutian islands. I would like to display them in a shadow box but I am not completely sure what is actually from his military service. Any information is welcome.

I know what all the items in this fist photo are. The Marksmanship Medal has a touch of corrosion on it, i am curious if there is a safe was to clean it?




I could really use some help with these ribbons. I have identified a couple and could probably figure out the rest. However, I am uncertain why there are duplicates. I’m not sure how or why he has multiple of some. Help narrowing down which ones to include in a display accurately representing his service would be great!



I am pretty sure these bullets are WW2 era and from his time in the service. They still have primers but the powder has been removed. The patch I suspect is from something else, possibly his high school or college days.



I believe this is a hat badge/emblem. Is it something that would have been apart of my father’s dress uniform?



I understand the ring is a civilian item. I’m not sure what the other item is, it has four small hole in the corners.



One of my siblings remembers the gold colored items on top as being buttons for a blue shirt that was issued to my father. I don’t know if that is accurate or not. I don’t really know anything about the rest.



I have my doubts about all of these. I’m pretty sure the ones on the right (2) are BSOA pins. Im not sure what “wings” have to do with the USN. I wonder if they are perhaps just vintage wings given away to airplane passengers? The one on the bottom (3) is sterling.



Any information is welcome! Thanks for looking!

 

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[Molewacker]

The row of pins (G1) are The Honorable Service Lapel Button, sometimes called the "Ruptured duck pins"

Honorably Discharged personnel of all four military service branches ( and Coast Guard personnel during wartime assignment to the War Department, Navy Department or Department of Defense ) are eligible. The Pin may be worn on civilian clothing. The Pin should be displayed among military medals in shadow boxes.

 

[Rmeav8r]

Last photo item 1 are Army Air Corp branch insignia, or today are Army Aviation Branch insignia.
Item 2 is the Boy Scout pins.
Item 3, the wings are hard for me to see, the shield in the center will determine if they are crew wings or pilot wings. They look like early Air Corp wings if they are sterling then they are the real thing.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Duplicates of ribbon/award racks occur quite frequently. During this time they didn't wear dress uniforms unless in port or on leave etc. So before you get all dressed up, you do a ribbon rack up, afterwards not wear the uniform again for months or a year. Then get a set of uniforms for a liberty call and have to do the awards rack up again, plus update it. Racks get misplaced while not being used, dirty, etc.

Ribbons L to R

C1

American Campaign Medal. Note center stripes the red would be on the right when looking at it.
American Defense Service Medal
Navy Good Conduct Medal

C2

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. Note center stripes the blue should be on the left when looking at it.
American Campaign Medal. Note center stripes the red would be on the right when looking at it.
American Defense Service Medal

C3

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Campaign Device. Note center stripes the blue should be on the left when looking at it.
American Campaign Medal. Note center stripes the red would be on the right when looking at it.
American Defense Service Medal with Campaign Device

C4

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. Note center stripes the blue should be on the left when looking at it.
World War II Victory Medal
Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon

C5

Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Medal
Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal

A3

Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Medal.

A4

World War II Victory Medal

A5

American Defense Medal

 

[Retired Sarge]

H3 are USAAC aka USAAF Pilot wings.

G1 is the "Rupture Duck" Honorable Discharge Lapel Pin, given so you can wear it on your civilian suit and show you served and were honorably discharged.

G2 is the US Navy Reserve Honorable Discharge pin. given so you can wear it on your civilian suit and show you served and were honorably discharged.

G4 is the US Coast Guard Honorable Discharge lapel pin, given so you can wear it on your civilian suit and show you served and were honorably discharged.

G3 I don't know much about our water bourne brethren to know if that is a Military or Commercial button.

E looks like a USA, USAAC, USAAF Officers visor hat insignia, but........It's missing the stars insignia from the top part. If so basically an Army or Army Air Corp hat insignia. See below image.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Post the head stamps, bottom, of the ammo and we'll be able to ID the caliber and country of the rounds.

It seems possibly that several members of the family (Brothers, cousins etc) served during WWII and he ended up with their stuff also. Because you have a assortment of Coast Guard, Navy, and Army memorabilia here.

I would recommend contacting the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), see link, and requesting a copy of his records, along with a request for replacement medals and awards. This will enable you to get his complete awards list, afterwards you can get with one of the awards and decorations sites and have them build the complete and proper rack. As most veterans didn't update their racks after military service ended and belated awards showed up. So it's quite possible he has additional awards that aren't represented on the rack.

https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals

 

[crashbandicoot]

D1 looks like a 8x56 French Lebel,it has that weird shape to the case body.D2 looks like a 30-06 used in the Mi Garand in WWII and several other weapons as well to include Browning machine guns.the color of the projectile or bullet throws me though.Never seen one that shade unless it,s a inert dummy round.Most of those have a hole drilled in the case or flutes in the sides though.No color code on the bullet tip so I,ve got to say "calf rope"other than it,s a 30-06.Nice bunch of stuff you,ve got there,I like them.Edited to say D1 could be a 7.62x59 Russian but the shape looks wrong.Without some measurements to compare can,t be sure.the headstamp should tell the story as you could determine where it was made.Confused?Hell,I confused myself! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TommyB]

I believe the ribbons with the stars on them represent a second award of medal for each star

 

[Retired Sarge]

I believe the ribbons with the stars on them represent a second award of medal for each star

True in a sense, but in Campaign medals it represents the number of campaigns a person served. Which can be confusing, seeing the ribbon itself is typically the first award and the stars represent additional awards. But for Desert Storm you could get a maximum of 3 stars on the South West Asia Service Medal (Campaign Medal).

Ribbon and 1 star for one campaign
Ribbon and 2 stars for two campaigns
Ribbon and 3 stars for 3 campaigns

But you could not get the ribbon by itself. The 3 campaigns being Operation Desert Shield (Pre-war), Operation Desert Storm (War), and Operation Provide Comfort (Post-war).

Not a 100% sure on WWII awards and decorations rules, so one wouid have to research the rules for that period.

 

[Retired Sarge]

D1 looks like a 8x56 French Lebel,it has that weird shape to the case body.D2 looks like a 30-06 used in the Mi Garand in WWII and several other weapons as well to include Browning machine guns.the color of the projectile or bullet throws me though.Never seen one that shade unless it,s a inert dummy round.Most of those have a hole drilled in the case or flutes in the sides though.No color code on the bullet tip so I,ve got to say "calf rope"other than it,s a 30-06.Nice bunch of stuff you,ve got there,I like them.Edited to say D1 could be a 7.62x59 Russian but the shape looks wrong.Without some measurements to compare can,t be sure.the headstamp should tell the story as you could determine where it was made.Confused?Hell,I confused myself! Thanks for sharing.

I was thinking a French Lebel (8x50R or 8x51R) round for the odd shapped one.

 

[Squirrel322]

Last photo item 1 are Army Air Corp branch insignia, or today are Army Aviation Branch insignia.
Item 3, the wings are hard for me to see, the shield in the center will determine if they are crew wings or pilot wings. They look like early Air Corp wings if they are sterling then they are the real thing.

So just to be clear, there is no relation for these to the USN, USCG?

Here’s a better pic of the sterling wings -

E looks like a USA, USAAC, USAAF Officers visor hat insignia, but........It's missing the stars insignia from the top part. If so basically an Army or Army Air Corp hat insignia.

Upon closer inspection it appears you are correct. There seems to have once been something attached on the top. Thanks!

Post the head stamps, bottom, of the ammo and we'll be able to ID the caliber and country of the rounds.

It seems possibly that several members of the family (Brothers, cousins etc) served during WWII and he ended up with their stuff also. Because you have a assortment of Coast Guard, Navy, and Army memorabilia here.

I would recommend contacting the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), see link, and requesting a copy of his records, along with a request for replacement medals and awards. This will enable you to get his complete awards list, afterwards you can get with one of the awards and decorations sites and have them build the complete and proper rack. As most veterans didn't update their racks after military service ended and belated awards showed up. So it's quite possible he has additional awards that aren't represented on the rack.

https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals

I believe the one is a 30-06 not sure about the other.

One of my fathers brothers was killed in action, I believe in France. Not sure about his other brothers but I suspect they served also.

Thanks for the link! I will definitely be checking that out. Earlier I discovered his discharge papers also list his awards.

 

[Rmeav8r]

The wings look to be early WW2 era U.S. Army Air Forces Pilot badge. Not USN or CG. This example is from 1940.

 

[Retired Sarge]

So just to be clear, there is no relation for these to the USN, USCG?

Here’s a better pic of the sterling wings -

View attachment 1911371




Upon closer inspection it appears you are correct. There seems to have once been something attached on the top. Thanks!




I believe the one is a 30-06 not sure about the other.

One of my fathers brothers was killed in action, I believe in France. Not sure about his other brothers but I suspect they served also.

Thanks for the link! I will definitely be checking that out. Earlier I discovered his discharge papers also list his awards.

View attachment 1911372

Yes the Pilot Wings have no USCG connection. US Navy, US Coast Guard and US Marine Corps all wear Naval Aviator Wings (Wings of Gold), which has an Anchor behind the Shield.

30-06 Round FA 3 10 means made in March 1910 at the Frankford Arsenal in PA.

 

[Retired Sarge]

AP and S are French Manufacturer headstamp codes for unknown French companies. So I'm still leaning towards a French Lebel cartridge.

The other two markings on that cartridge should be numbers the first one (Left side when the numbers are correctly positioned to read) being the quarter made and the other one for the year made. If the rounds are French and follow the typical French marking standards of the period.

 

[Retired Sarge]

So just to be clear, there is no relation for these to the USN, USCG?

Here’s a better pic of the sterling wings -

View attachment 1911371




Upon closer inspection it appears you are correct. There seems to have once been something attached on the top. Thanks!




I believe the one is a 30-06 not sure about the other.

One of my fathers brothers was killed in action, I believe in France. Not sure about his other brothers but I suspect they served also.

Thanks for the link! I will definitely be checking that out. Earlier I discovered his discharge papers also list his awards.

View attachment 1911372

If you feel comfortable with sharing the information you can email me at the address I PMed you. I can use the awards information to do a graphic representation of the rack for you. This will give you an idea of what his rack should look like. Here's a graphic representation of mine that was done through the site I order my ribbons through.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I put together a frame of my Uncle's medals and insignia, picture, POW tag and some awards from the Defense Dept. when he worked for them after the war as a civilian. Might give you some ideas. Gary

 

[Retired Sarge]

At a minimum this is what his ribbon rack and medal rack would look like, along with his Rank/Rate/Grade insignia. The rack doesn't take into affect any campaign stars etc. A records request would have more detailed information and could include additional awards. His grade/rate/rank is Motor Machinist's Mate 2nd Class or MoMM2c.

Quick note ribbons are worn on certain uniforms and medals on others, but we don't wear them at the same time, and not every ribbon has a medal.

Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Coast Guard Expert Rifle Medal w/ E for Expert

 

[Squirrel322]

Wow, thank you ffuries! That’s very interesting. I wonder why he only had the ribbons for some of those? I will definitely check out the link you posted when I get some time. Thanks again!

 

[Squirrel322]

That’s a very nice display ToddsPoint! I like that you included a photo of your uncle! Good idea.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Wow, thank you ffuries! That’s very interesting. I wonder why he only had the ribbons for some of those? I will definitely check out the link you posted when I get some time. Thanks again!

He had them all except the USCG Good Conduct Medal, also it looks like he or someone else confused the Navy and Coast Guard Good Conduct Medals and Expert Rifle Medals. During WWII most ribbon racks were put together in individual rows, not like today where we have racks designed to hold the amount of ribbons we have.

Also, most veterans of this time period, tend to have their ribbons in the wrong order. Either by their own hand or by the hands of their relatives piecing them back together.

Here's mine (top) and my dad's (bottom) shadow boxes, to give you some more ideas on how to set them up. Both are awaiting updating, dad's is missing the Korean Defense Service Medal, mine needs the ranks fixed. The one and two stripes should not have stars, and there should be a 3 stripe one with no stars, and with a silver star (shown).