My grandpa's medals came today!

I want to thank everyone that has been so helpful here with my research. My grandpa's medals came today just in time for Veterans Day. One of his favorite restaurants is offering free dinner to all vets and he never has participated but he wants to go this year. I'm so very thankful for him-for being a wonderful grandpa and for being a soldier.
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That's great to hear about the medals - I hope you all have a great time and your Grandfather has a chance to be really proud and show everyone the medals he earned for his service.

Any info you need to help getting them all set up, just ask

Good for you too - you deserve to get some of the glory for all your work

 

Unfortunatly I won't get to go, but my grandma was very excited that he was wanting to go and of course she will enjoy a dinner out as well. My dad is coming for a visit and will get his medals to him and then we'll start working on some kind of display case. It was just neat to get them around Veterans Day.
As for the display, is there a certain order or arrangement that is correct for the medals? He has a combat infantryman badge, WII victory, good conduct, asiatic/pacific campaine, Japan army of occupation and a bronze star as well as a ribbon of some sort-can't remember what it was called.

 

Here is the correct order:

Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Pacific Campaign Medal
WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, Phillipines Liberation Medal
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Generally, the Combat Infantryman Badge will be displayed above the ribbon bars

I can't make out what the ribbon is (photo is too small), but it should be listed on this site: Ribbons - Order of Precedence. If not, try Wikipedia: Awards and decorations of the United States military - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck with the display case

EDIT: As per Nigel's message, I have added the Philippines Liberation Medal (PLM) ribbon bar to the graphic. There is also a medal that comes with the ribbon bar, but I don't believe the medal is authorized for wear on a US Army uniform (as they army is very specific about the wear of foreign awards, and I believe the PLM is authorized as ribbon-only). This would explain why you did not receive it with the other medals. If you wish to buy one for display anyway, it is available from a few sources, including this one: http://www.wwmeinc.com/mm5/merchant...&Product_Code=USM177&Category_Code=10-500-088.

 

The ribbon appears to be a Phillipine liberation medal?

Philippine Liberation Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If that is correct, I believe it should be placed last, perhaps Alan can say exactly where?

 

I believe that is correct. Good catch, Nigel. I updated my previous message to include it.

 

Thank you. For the display, do I add the medal under the ribbon in the order above then or do most just display the ribbon alone in the shadow box?

 

Congratulations and have a great day with your grandpa!

 

You can pretty much choose how it's to be - here's a selection. Generally they seem to show medals as well.

medal shadow box - Google Search

If you are wanting to track down rank badges, unit patches etc. let us know what you need

Have a look at this recent one from the forum;

http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/48084-wwii-shadow-box-my-grandpa.html

 

So glad you received the medals, and their coming when they did is super! What great timing. Glad the fine people on the forum here were of some help.

 

Well I would, but again thanks to everyone on here, I was able to find the unit insignia etc. with a few people pointing me in the right direction. I have been just waiting on the medals to arrive. Now my dad and I need to figure out which shadow box to buy. The link to the one just done was perfect. I think that is the route we want to go.

 

The Phillippine Liberation Medal is a foreign award and not issued by the Department of Defense. I'm surprised they sent the ribbon. But there is a beautiful medal that goes with the ribbon and would go nicely with the display-you just need to purchase it from one of the dealers. Good job--show us when you're finished.

 

Is this the one you are talking about? Why is it a foreign award?

 

Philippine Liberation Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

That is really fabulous. I agree, you should get an award for doing all this for your Grandpa. But of course, I know that just seeing your grandpa's reaction is enough. You've done a wonderful thing! You will probably never really know how much it meant to him. WWII vets are all so humble and if he's anything like my WWII dad, he probably won't be telling you a lot about his feelings. But rest assured, just the fact that he's going out on Veteran's Day to get his meal is really huge! Nice job!

 

PLM is a ribbon only award for the USA, USMC and USN.