Posted 13 years ago
stepback_a…
(363 items)
This Marine jacket and cap were worn by a WW II vet who served in the Pacific during WW II. The rank is that of a staff sargeant. The FMF-PAC shoulder patch denotes Fleet Marine Force Pacific. The quartermaster stamp dates 1943. The jacket features the "Ruptured Duck" on the right breast. The ribbons are as follows: Philippine Defense Medal with Star, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with Star, Purple Heart, Navy Presidential Unit Citation with star, and the Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf. I hope I am right about the ribbons.
Hey guys I found the missing ribbon bar in one of the pockets. Let me know the correct order if you can,
Thanks
You are correct with the ribbons. The order of the ribbons on the jacket is not correct. Everything on the bottom row is higher than those on the top row. I am not sure how the Navy/ USMC works in the unit awards-- I believe they are worn with personal medals/ ribbons.
In the Army, unit awards are worn on the other side of the uniform-- it would be in the area below the "ruptured duck".
Thanks for sharing,
Scott
The two presidential unit citations are higher than campaign medals.
I like the way the Army separates unit awards from individual awards. The Presidential Unit Citation is the unit equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross (2nd to the MOH) and looks odd to me below a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, or Commendation Medal when worn by a Marine or Sailor.
Scott
AR8Jason, I guess it is based on what we know and are used to. I, an Army guy, like the "Army way" and you, a Navy veteran, like the "Navy way".
It just all adds to collector confusion!
I'm really confused now I always thought it was the Marine way, lol
That is what's great about this site. Any new collector researching their family items would believe what ever they would find out about their specific branch of the service and then would probably stop looking. By having all branches represented here we learn the big picture. There isn't a right or wrong just a service branch specific order. Thanks to all of you.
Yeah, what you said...
I always remember my drill sergeant saying-- there are two ways to do anything: "My way or the f _ _ _ ing highway".
Thanks everyone for your comments. This is the way the ribbons were when I got the jacket.
Maybe it was an error by a family member?
It looks like it is an easy fix: move the bottom row to the top and then flip the new bottom row (a point on the stars should face up, but in WW2 era items I don't see them always arranged that way).
Scott
I just looked up the Phillipine ribbon and it has the one star at the top, so a "flip" would make it upside down!
The Phillipine ribbon was awarded to early war defenders of the island, so it may have held a significant importance to the marine.
The order in post #2 is not correct-- the two Presidential Citations are higher than the Campaign ribbons.
The lower bar is correct: PH, Navy PUC, Army PUC
All or some may be wrong.
Are they all mounted on the same bars or are there two separate bars? Photographs of the back may confirm that they are at least WW2 manufacture.
Scott
Hey guys, I found the missing ribbon bar in the pocket. It has the ribbon for the WW II Victory Medal, the American Defense Medal with Star, and the Marine Good Conduct Medal. Please let me know the correct order of ribbons if possible.
Thanks,
Mike
Good Conduct
American Defense
American Campaign
Asiatic Pacific Campaign
Victory Medal
Phillipine
Yep-- after your previous post, I tend to agree that the PUCs don't really make any sense (so I didn't include them in the fray).
It is very rare for Army units to have a Navy PUC-- I think it would be equally rare for Navy unit to have the Army PUC, much less two.
Scott