need help identifing my Grandfathers WWII medals

Friends,

These are pics of the Medals, etc. my Grandfather received in WWII. He was in the 89th INF and crossed the Rhine with Patton.

View attachment 12419
View attachment 12423
View attachment 12422

Thank you for all your help!!

Sean

 

welcome sean, I'm sure you'll get an answer from one or more of the rogues here...

 

Welcome to the forum!

These are the ones that I can ID:

Bottom left - Silver Star. This is the third highest medal for bravery in the US Army, after the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross
Middle left - Army Good Conduct Medal

I can't help with the other ones, but I can tell you they are all foreign medals. The one at the top looks eastern-European (maybe Czechoslovakian), and I have no idea on the other two. Your grandfather should also have recieved the European Theatre Campaign Medal (European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

If you can tell me your grandfather's name, I might be able to track down his Silver Star citation.

 

Thank you Alan,

My grandfather's name was Kenneth B. Otis

Thanks again,

Sean

 

Hi Sean , It hard to identify the 3 last ones but here is my go :

-I have seen the one on the top before : it is a meritorious service cross from a Commonwealth Country, but I can't figure out which one yet. The two figures holding a huge shield look familiar .


- the one on the right also makes me think of a Commonwealth medal ( West Indies + I can read Kingston on it )

-The round sivler one makes me think of a Middle East Crest with a Falcon on it .

 

Thanks for all helpful replies. I have identified the first one...It is the New York Conspicuous Service Cross for recepients of a Federal Decoration (Silver Star and PH, in my Grandfathers case) and for a NY resident (he was from Kingston, NY). I am working on getting better pics of these, and since the medals are not in my possesion I have to rely on others to photograph them.

 

Hi Sean,

I haven't had any luck finding his citation, but I have a few more sources to check.

In case you are interested, this is what his medals would have looked like. A few of them he should have received (based on what I know), so don't take this as being 100% accurate. I haven't included the New York medal (I don't know if it is authorized for wear on a federal uniform), or the other two (pending their ID).

​

​

Combat Infantryman Badge (Combat Infantryman Badge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Silver Star, Bronze Star (this was awarded to recipients of the Combat Infantry Badge), Purple Heart, POW Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, European Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal

If he was on occupation duty, he also would have been eligible for the Army of Occupation Medal (Army of Occupation Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

It's a State award often awarded through State Veterans groups

 

So it was" conspicious" Ithought it was "meritorious" . Good show.

Could you tell us the wrtings of the two last ones. I can only decypher the word "Kingston" due to high pixelisation.

This would really help and save time for those who are checking foreign archives as the two other ones are likely U.S. domestic medals as well then.