Both of my Dad's brothers served in the military, one in the Air Force and one in the Army. My Dad tried to get in but was 4F'd because of a previous childhood illness and he was only 5' 1" tall. He was awarded this though for watching for the enemy. Still sealed and going with me when it's my time to go the nether world. I would hate to think this might end up at a tag sale someday. Care to share some of your memories?
Speaking of watching for the enemy, I read just a week or two ago that German submarines were very active, and very much a threat, off the Atlantic coasts of North Carolina and Virginia during World War II. I never knew that...
The national defense medals are or were called exchange medals as the bars were in a jar at ever register in the navy exchange. The bars that they were on the dress uniforms. EVERYBODY that was or in the service was allowed to wear one. there would have been a white box that the medal came in. It was established in 1953, by Dwight D Eisenhower The medal was first intended to be a "blanket campaign medal" awarded to service members who served honorably during a designated time period of which a "national emergency" had been declared during a time of war or conflict. It may also be issued to active military members for any other period that the Secretary of Defense designates. Currently, the National Defense Service Medal is the oldest "service medal" in use by the United States Armed Forces. The National Defense Service Medal is authorized for the following time periods: Korean War June 27, 1950 – July 27, 1954 Vietnam War January 1, 1961 – August 14, 1974 Persian Gulf War August 2, 1990 – November 30, 1995 Global War on Terrorism September 11, 2001 – present day
Now you have me wondering about the history of this medal. This was in a blue box, not white and it's a perfect fit. Dad would have been in the Korean War had he been accepted. His brother Bob did serve in Korea. I wonder if Uncle Bob gave this to Dad to make him feel better about not being able to get in. Dad passed in 1995 but my cousin may be able to shed some light on this as he was Bob's son. Thank you for the info.
Blue box is what another of my been there medals was in probably depends on the company that made them. I can't address who, how or why it was given to your father even if one of his brothers did give it to him it may have meant a lot to your dad no matter what the reason was at the time.
It amuses me to see US and Russian generals with so many rows of fruit salad you almost expect a sign saying "Continued on the next general".
We always had to go through a degaussing station before going into Charleston harbor because of the possibility of u-boat mines from WWll.
********************** afantiques: "It amuses me to see US and Russian generals with so many rows of fruit salad you almost expect a sign saying 'continued on next general.'" ********************* And what in the world was going on with Brezhnev's eyebrows? They were almost as big as the salad.
I would think they would be continued on his aide (after all isn't that why he's there, to carry his generals things?). Continue them on the next general he might start thinking they were his, not to mention he doesn't have room because of his own.
While we can all appreciate your family's service, that is not a Medal of Honor. That is a very specific title for a very specific medal, and is an extremely high honor.
If I remember correctly, a number of boats were lost off the North Carolina coast and the Germans lost about 20 U-boats. Also I recall that Jekyll Island, Georgia, once the play area of America's rich, was abandoned during World War II out of fears the Germans might sneak in through U-boats at night and kidnap some of the rich folks involved in the US war effort.
