My interest in US awards began over ten tears ago when collecting British & Foreign medals of World War One. My very first U.S. medal (above). WW1 Victory medal bought off the internet for £7 but not realizing at the time it was a restrike or reissue medal. The WW1 Victory medal was originally issued early 1920’s but the above was re struck possibly during the 1990’s. It took me a while to understand this and it was only whilst attending a medal fair that I discovered there were earlier issue medals. I then set about finding an original issue WW1 Victory Medal and bought one via the internet which had 4 battle clasps. This medal sat proudly alongside my other WW1 medals until that is I happened upon 2 rather nice US Bronze and Silver Star medals from WW2. This is what really got me started in collecting military medals of the United States of America and researching further which has eventually led to the writing of this blog. After ten years of research on the internet, reviewing books on the subject and of course purchasing medals I have accumulated a lot of information on these medals and must admit have found this research interesting to the point of almost being obsessive.
It happens to the best of us but think of it as an education and an ongoing one at that. With any hobby especially collecting you never stop learning and that’s the enjoyment I gain from collecting.
Original issue WW1 Victory Medal with battle clasps for Aisne-Marne, St Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Defensive Sector. 4th Division of the American Expeditionary Force.
Please note; I have tried whilst writing this blog to use with the best of intentions the English language as used in the U.K. but alas due to many hours of research there may be a crossover into U.S. English and apologies in advance for what may seem like spelling mistakes. The “Congressional Medal of Honor” instead of “Honour” being an example. Also I have used metric measurements when describing medal brooch sizes. 9mm = 3/8” and 12mm = ½”.
usmilawards.com 