Posted 8 years ago
Chrisnp
(310 items)
In the last months of WWI, while most of the US Army was fighting in France, the 332nd Infantry Regiment with attached support units was sent to Italy. Their mission was to deceive the enemy into believing the Americans were entering the Italian front in force. The Regiment made a series of marches to falsely impress the enemy about the size and locations of the American contingent.
On 24 October 1918, the Vittorio-Venito offensive kicked off. The 332nd was an advance element of an allied corps pursuing the retreating enemy and capturing key positions. The offensive ended when the armistice between Italy and Austria went into effect on 4 November.
Members of the 332nd Infantry Regiment also earned the Defensive Sector Clasp. In addition to this regiment, 30 American ambulance sections, a base hospital and 54 pilots would serve in the offensive.
Total number of US Military entitled to the Vittorio-Venito clasp is only about 1,200. This makes it the third scarcest clasp and originals are very difficult to find.
Thanks for the love Designer, ho2cultcha, sanhardin, chrissylovescats (so do I), Nicefice, vintagelamp, Militarist, officialfuel, usedcarlady, Manikin, blunder, Longings, ttomtucker, racer4four and fortapache.
Chris one more question, how do you locate items on this website that are forsale?
Collectors Weekly does not have it's own sales site. It's linked to eBay and you'll find a tab for eBay auctions when you click on the topic.
I should warn you, because the Vittorio-Venito clasp is rare, there are fakes out there being sold as original. A few things to look for in the original are that the stars are the same size as the one above, the type face is the same as the one above, and the "ears" on the sides should look like the letter O cut in half and with a gap between it and the rest of the bar.