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This was posted on another militaria forum, and a suggestion was made to ask on OMSA, so here it is:
I was curious if anyone out there could answer a question for me about the short-lived Army Wound Ribbon. It was established on September 6, 1917 for wounds received in combat, and later rescinded on 6 January 12, 1918. My question is this…was the ribbon ever officially awarded to any service members? If so…does anybody know how many were awarded? Last and final question…are there any surviving examples of the ribbon?
woundribbon.jpgI’ve never seen a reference to this ribbon/award and it generates more questions than answers.
Created by whom?
Rescinded by Whom?
Where did the description of the ribbon come from?Jeff Floyd
The description I got came from the Internet (surprise). Here is one reference:
WOUND RIBBON
(Army)(Obsolete)
ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY
The Wound Ribbon was established by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on September 6, 1917, and implemented by Paragraph XI-1 of War Department General Orders Number 134 of October 12, 1917. However, it was rescinded by Paragraph 1(d) of War Depart-ment General Orders Number 6 of January 12, 1918, which replaced it with wound chevrons.
EFFECTIVE DATES
The Wound Ribbon was in effect from September 6 to October 12, 1917.
CRITERIA
The Wound Ribbon was to be awarded to each officer or enlisted man who was "honorably wounded in action."
ORDER OF PRECEDENCE
No order of precedence was established for this ribbon.
DEVICES
No devices were authorized for this ribbon; a separate ribbon was to be worn for each successive award.
I also found this reference regarding this ribbon:
wounds.jpgThanks for the reference. I had never run into that GO. Nor have I ever run into any documents or correspondance relating to such a ribbon or the administrative paperwork that would have been generated. You learn something new every day.
Considering the 6-week life span of this award, it is very unlikely that the Army placed a contract for anything more than a sample of the ribbon. There is no way the manual procedures would have moved quickly enough to get in bids, write a contract, and have a manufacturer set up his manual looms to make the ribbon. In the same period, I suspect that there not too many US non-fatal casualties who would have qualified, had they known about it. The original GO probably made it to Europe about the same time that it was rescinded, so the G-1 people probably never had time to react in any real way. In 6 weeks, where the Army supply system was more concerned with getting the supplies and equipment to the AEF, a new ribbon would not have held real high priority in the grand scheme of things. The practical realities of the administrative and logistics sytems make it highly unlikely that any awards were made or ribbons manufactured.
Jeff;
I think you are absolutely correct, but it is an interesting topic. I have never seen one of these ribbons, and the depiction on Wikipedia may not be totally accurate. Red ribbon with a thin white stripe in the center. I guess the picture is as good as any, but still makes me wonder if something like this was actually produced.
I am also fascinated by the request from a Capt. Sanborn to be issued this ribbon for wounds received while serving in a foreign Army. The WAR Dept response dated Jan 28, 1918 would seem to indicate that the ribbon was still authorized for wear if approved during the time frame in question.
Thanks Jeff.
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