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Not much help from me except to say I’m very familiar with all the authorized lapel pins and insignia used by DOD and this one is not an official item for which IOH has made a specification sheet. You may be correct that it is a War College item but it would be unofficial. I’ve never seen one like it and haven’t been able to find anything in my books like it.
The plastic covering will certainly change the colors of the underlying ribbon. That one is unmistakably the American Campaign Medal.
I’ve seen that one several times, and I believe it is simply a generic planchet that a school can put on any ribbon, or one of the approved N or R series ribbons and award it as needed.
I believe you will find that most of the newer military valor medals and civilian medals are going to have that notation attached. Collecting US medals is going to get a lot harder.
That looks to me like one of the old Lordship medals without a maker’s mark, which is how they usually sold them until the prosecution we all know about.
Regardless, that medal is/was being offered by a seller in the UK so US laws do not apply.
Graco does have those ribbons. Here’s the Mexican Campaign:
Jeff I also have a reprint dated 1991 on the flyleaf and it indicates this was printed by the London Stamp Exchange. It is exactly like the original BB&B version, blue hard cover but marked London Stamp Exchange Limited in the lower left corner where the original was marked BB&B. This one also has great color plates but no embossing and no tissue interleaving with the color plates. Ever seen this one and any idea of value?
I disagree with that suggestion. Anyone who’s ever been in the service knows full well that there are always some guys (and gals) who manage to get their ribbons on upside down or backwards. I remember years ago telling someone their WWII campaign ribbon was on backwards, but when he looked down at the ribbon on his uniform, he said no, the red was on the right side. Of course it was, looking down at it, but it was backwards to anyone else looking at his ribbons standing in front of him
No one should use any military award for any purpose, whether an obsolete award or not. The award is still an authorized award and it’s always possible it could be reinstated one day…especially the way current US awards are being handed out.
Possibly now the act can be written as it should have been the first time: Allow recipients, families, collectors, and museums to own, buy, or sell the medal as they see fit. Allow the display of the medal. Allow the collecting of the medal. Allow the study of the medal. Allow the sale of the medal. Take those who unrightfully claim to be recipients of the medal and "war heroes" and toss them under the jail.
To answer your questions in order:
(A) SW Asia Service: 6/91 is the date of acceptance of the initial lot of medals. The same date was used on subsequent lots in order to achieve the lowest price in printing the cartons, all the same date. The A is the packing level of the medals, which has to do with contact packaging. Too complex to deal with here but it’s not an acceptance date. Packing levels can be A, B, or C.
(B) WW II Victory Medal: The date is the date of the Quartermaster requisition used in ordering the medals.
(C) Vietnam Service Medal: That’s maybe a goof, should have been a date, unless the contracting office was in a rush and ordered them on a commercial order which did not require an acceptance mark. This would be equal to ordering medals not on a competitive bid but just picking up the phone and ordering from a company. Send us X number of medals and we’ll pay Y dollars each.
Military medals are generally but not always contacted through DSCP (Defense Supply Center Philadelpia, the successor to DLA.) Sometimes contracts are awarded directly by the using agencies. DSCP buys everything that goes into the various depots, but agencies can buy directly from a supplier if the shipment is to go directly to the using agency. Non-DOD agencies (USPHS, EPA, DOT, etc) buy directly from suppliers. Some contracts are generated centrally, others may be "local purchase" and paid with a credit card by a local office. For example, the EPA office in Washington may purchase their expected annual usage through their contracting office, but nothing prevents a local office say in Los Angeles from buying directly from a local supplier. It’s a real hodge-podge of purchasing, and there’s no hard and fast rules.
I don’t think you can do any kind of research on contracts due to this method of buying, and also because I don;t think the central offices will allow anyone to go through their closed records. Frequently purchases are made on a non-competitive basis, they may get 1, 2, or 3 bids and award it to the vendor they believe will deliver the best product, or maybe in the shortest time frame. Sometimes they award based on the phase of the moon. Who knows? I really never understood some awards, and they would not discuss non-competitive awards or tell exactly why they were awarded as they were. I believe it may even been to spread the business around sometimes.
I believe the recipient of a CIB during WWII could convert his award to a Bronze Star on request. This could also account for some later awards of the medal.
There is no way the AF would have the means or ability to reribbon medals. Any unusable medals go straight into the rubbish can. The AF GCM was a new contract, duly noted on the box end, May 1963 inspection/acceptance date.
Here’s some information on box dates. When a contract is issued, it may be for a number of monthly delivery dates, ranging from a single delivery in the case of a small contract, to deliveries spaced monthly over several years. The contract date is the date the contract is signed. The boxes should be marked with the actual date of of the medals (or other items), which is not necessarily the date of manufacture nor the date of delivery. Then after inspection, if the medals pass inspection, there is an acceptance date by a government inspector. A contract might be signed in June of 1963, with deliveries scheduled to start in May 1963 and be scheduled over 48 months, so each lot of medals inspected may have a different date. One lot of medals might not all be shipped at one time, but be spaced out over several months, but yet they may all have the same inspection and acceptance date.
Don’t confuse the inspection and acceptance date with a contact date nor a manufacture date. It does get confusing.
