Hey Everyone! I found my grandfathers box of WWII Medals/Ribbons. He was an Combat Engineer for 78th Infantry Division and served in Europe and was at the Remagen Bridgehead. I've been able to identify all of the ribbons with the exception of one. I've looked EVERYWHERE so this is my last hope! Behold: Ribbon by JD Heinz posted Jun 20, 2018 at 5:00 PM
I've gone thru National Guard medals, and approved foreign medal and came up empty...Can't wait to see how this turns out.
Thanks Takeo, I know! I’ve looked at over 400 medals/ribbons and haven’t seen anything kinda close. It wasn’t that he was in some unique theatre and I don’t think he won any important individual awards. There are some German paraphernalia in the box and I thought maybe it was German...but I don’t know if they do the same thing. I’ll look.
I think it's this but discolored Go here for details, including the campaign stars. American</a> Campaign/American Theater Service Medal Display Recognition On further look, the center stripes look wrong.
Could yourequest his service record from the National Archives? Wouldn’t it have a list of medals earned?
Yeah it’s not the american campaign medal because he has that one too. I suppose I could look him up that would be a good idea. I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to figure out.
No, you got it! The ribbon is upsidedown, so the center colors are reversed. I missed the faint blue stripe earlier, but gave it a closer second look after reading your post. Consider this one solved.
I never thought about it being upside down. The American Campaign ribbon is often not identified correctly.
@takeo I don’t think so because he also has that one (below). If so that would be MAJORLY discolored. None of the other ones are discolored...just faded a bit. Not to mention if it’s an American campaign ribbon how would he have received it twice? It has two stars.
American Campaign Medal - Wikipedia That should be a link; so, if his unit was on a ship in one of the noted convoys he could have been awarded for that. Engineer units traveled by boats
Right but as infantry could you be awarded it multiple times? I read that in a submarine it’s possible.
The more colorful one could just be a replacement. I'd be more interested in how he got the two campaign stars on the discolored one.
You need to get a copy of his discharge, that would have dates of travel and those could correspond to convoy dates. Judging by the amount of campaign stars on his EAME he got around and it wouldn't a stretch to assume his unit was embarked on one of those convoys. The other option is that he just went nuts with a bunch campaign stars and embellished his ribbon.
Yeah looking at it closer I'm thinking maybe it is a discolored American Campaign ribbon. The stars are the only thing weird about it. Looking online at that medal I didn't see a single one that had stars on it...and he really didn't seem like the type to go nuts with campaign starts hahaha. Who knows.
JD, The best way to find out about the stars is to find his discharge papers.They will show the areas he received them in.There are numerous topics on the forum discussing how to find it if you do not have it. The other way is to hire a researcher to dig into it. Good luck, Bob
Thanks everyone! I'm already looking into getting the records. If I find out it's something other than an American Campaign ribbon I will let you know. Thanks for your time!
It was common to replace ribbons that were worn or faded. I think it likely that the stars on the faded American Campaign ribbon are there by mistake. They probably belonged on an EAME ribbon. If you can get a copy of his discharge that will likely provide the answers. If you can't, then send a request to the NARA for replacement medals via form SF-180. At the very least, they should provide a list of his medals/awards.
Not sure how he with the 78th ID would garner five stars on his EAME? The 78th ID was authorized just Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. I suspect he accidentally put two authorized stars on his AC ribbon?