Posted 12 years ago
Chrisnp
(310 items)
Don’t worry folks, I’ve nearly run out of boxes to talk about. Here we have a six clasp US Victory medal with its mailing box.
Issuance of the victory medal began in mid-1920, when most of the entitled veterans had already returned to civilian life. To get the medal, applicants had to fill out a form at the nearest recruiting office or military post, and attach a certified copy of their discharge. For Army veterans across the country, a victory medal distribution center was set up at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot (note the return address) which sent out the authorized medals to the veterans at home. Veterans still on active duty had their medals issued at their current duty station.
Clasps for the victory medal were based on the individual’s participation in each of the campaigns commemorated on the clasps. Having said that, if you know which campaigns a unit was part of, you can get an idea about what unit someone may have been in by the combination of clasps warn. This medal’s combination of clasps corresponds to the Third (Rock of the Marne) Division. No other division level unit has as many clasps as this. (The highest number of clasps known to be authorized one individual is nine, awarded to an ambulance driver.)
This recipient, Isidore(?) D. Rosen (the second and possibly the third letter is typed over) had an address in the Bronx. I’ve been researching the recipient of this particular medal, and am amazed at how many Isidore, Isiddore, Isadore and Isaddore Rosens lived in the Bronx in the years before and after WWI! I haven’t matched the address to any of them, so I am not sure which person this was, but most of them had stories as similar as their names. Most were recent Jewish immigrants from places like Russia and Poland. These were men who crossed an ocean in pursuit of the American dream, but put the dream aside to re-cross that ocean and fight “the Great War for Civilization.” What better men to memorialize this Veteran’s Day?
The New York State WWI service medals are numbered and I read somewhere that the numbers and names list is partially available some where. May be that could help narrow down the Isadore list.
Your veteran is Isidore D Rosen was born in Russia on Sept 15, 1896 his family imigrated to the USA in 1903. Isidore served in the US Army from May 29, 1918
to June 30, 1919. After the War he married and lived in the Bronx. He passed away Feb 17, 1959 He is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery at Farmingdale, NY
Hi Tom and Kevin. Thanks for taking the time to help out.
Tom, I did see the Isidore that was buried at Long Island. The problem with this Isidore is that the Aisne Campaign was 27 May-5 June 1918, so he would not have been in France yet. If this Isidore is the one the box is addressed to, then the medal does not belong to the box.
Kevin, the information you found on Isidore’s stone is also a problem. The 7th Division was not in any of the campaigns on the medal except Meuse-Argonne and the Defensive Sector. Of course there could be an explanation. As mentioned, battle clasps are based on the person, not the unit, so Isidore could have transferred into the 7th after participating in the first four battles on the medal – but that still does not explain how he could have been at Aisne.
Personally I don’t think it’s this Isidore. I found WWI draft registrations for 16 different Isidore Rosens in New York City. Of course not all who registered ended up serving, but it does indicate that Isidore is a more common name among turn of the century born Polish/Russian Jewish immigrants than I would have thought.
For further information on the US Victory Medal, see
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/36233-the-wwi-victory-medal-series-united