Posted 11 years ago
anokienurse
(2 items)
I found this ribbon medal on EBay which is a duplicate of what is on my Dad's uniform (I had to replace all of his medals as we didn't know what happened to them). The stated description was that it was an Asian Pacific Combat Medal (I added the bronze stars afterwards) and he was supposed to send me a copy of the description that was in the WWII Navy Uniform Regulation Book but he never did. Would love to have a much better description of it for the book that I have put together of his time in the Navy. Thank you.
It is the Asiatic Pacific CAMPAIGN Medal-- here is a link to a full description of the medal:
http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/asiatic_pacific_campaign.aspx
The medal was awarded for service in the designated area of operations-- your Dad served in three campaign periods (the ribbon itself represents one award).
Additionally, your father looks to be wearing a purple heart in the first photo; showing he was wounded in combat.
Replacement medals (full size) can be ordered through the US Government at no cost to veterans or their descendants.
scott
Yes, he was wounded on Nov 1, 1944 when a Kamakazi (?) pilot not only straffed the ship but sent his airplane down the smoke stack killing everyone in the boiler room. Mom had sent his original Purple Heart (the only medal that could be found) to my nephew along with all of the other items that Daddy had gotten during that time, to him as he had an interest in it (she didn't ask me). She then later found a 2" ribbon bar with a Purple Heart and the WWII Victory Medal on it and gave it to me. I had sent for all of his paperwork from the National Archives including where he spent his time while wounded, so I knew what other medals he had been awarded. I had tried to send in the paperwork to get his Medals replaced but was have never heard from them. I even tried to call to talk with the person who was in charge of that section but they had moved to another building in another city and even though I left messages my calls were never returned. I replaced them with the period medals I found on EBay so I could make a shadowbox with the items but would really like to also have all of them replaced. Can anyone here help with that as far as where and what to ask for? I know it can take about a year but it has been 2 years since I mailed in my request and I have never received even any acknowledgement of my request. Thank you..