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Philippine Insurrection


Wailuna
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This veteran of the Philippine Insurrection served with Thirty-fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry (1899 to 1901). This picture was made in the 1920s or -30s in Long Beach, California, where he was an active member of one or more veterans' organizations and a volunteer at the Naval Hospital. The uniform clearly is of his own design. However, he is wearing two medals and an insignia on his hat, which may be issues of veterans' organizations, but which are unfortunately indistinguishable to me. And the bugle? Don't ask; I do not know.

post-1963-1198621238.jpg

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...This veteran of the Philippine Insurrection served with Thirty-fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry (1899 to 1901)...

 

post-1963-1198656182.jpg

 

Co. H, Thirty-fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry (QMG pattern 1896-1905).

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...This veteran of the Philippine Insurrection served with Thirty-fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry...

After the defeat of Spain in the Philippines in 1898, an armed resistance commenced against United States forces forces remaining in the islands. The Philippine Insurrection began with a skirmish on the night of February 4, 1899, just outside of Manila. Approximately 125,000 troops served in the Philippines during this war. After more than three years of fighting, at a cost of approximately 4,200 American dead and 2,900 wounded, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed an end to the insurrection in the Philippines on July 4, 1902.

 

On March 2, 1899, Congress passed a bill maintaining the Regular Army at sixty-five thousand and authorizing the secretary of war to enlist a maximum of thirty-five thousand volunteers for twenty-five regiments to be recruited from the nation as a whole.

 

Volunteer units specifically raised for service in the Philippine Insurrection bore "U.S. Volunteer" designations and not state designations used in previous American conflicts. U.S. Volunteer units raised for the Philippine Insurrection were the Eleventh U.S. Volunteer Cavalry and the Twenty-sixth through Forty-ninth U.S. Volunteer Infantry.

 

Thirty-fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry was organized at Fort Logan, Colorado, July 1, 1899.

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In the Philippines itself they refer to it as the Philippine American War. This was America's venture into colonialism and was the subject of intense national debate at the time because of it. While the American casualties have been mentioned, 20 to 30 thousand Filipinos died as a result of this war which was had some very nasty episodes.

Subsequent American policy had a remarkable ability to win over the Filipino and that is reflected in their loyalty and sacrifice to the United States during WW2 which has never been repayed in kind.

But to address this picture, it surely is a mix of contemporary uniform articals with his medals attached. The cap badge looks similar to the ROTC officers badge.

 

CB

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...Subsequent American policy had a remarkable ability to win over the Filipino and that is reflected in their loyalty and sacrifice to the United States during WW2 which has never been repayed in kind...

You will get no argument from me on this point.

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Would it be possible to scan the photo at a higher resolution and then crop the picture in the vicinity of the medals? From just the scan alone, it is my guess that the medal on the left might be a mini United Spanish War Veterans membership badge.

 

Kevin

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How's this?

 

Medals.JPG Hat_badge.JPG

 

Let me know if you want me to have another go at this...thanks, Wailuna

 

 

I think I can identify both medals now with certainty. The one on the left is definitely a mini- United Spanish War Veterans membership badge.

 

Based upon the two tone color of the ribbon and the jagged outline of the pendant, I am 95% confident that the badge on the right is a Military Order of the Serpent 1st degree membership badge.

 

Does this veteran have a name?

 

Kevin

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...Does this veteran have a name?

Indeed he does. He is Merrill Hiner.

 

Thanks very much for identifying the medals. Have you posted images of these medals on U.S. Militaria Forum or elsewhere? I'd like to see how they look.

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The United Spanish War Veterans full sized medal can be seen in this thread on the US Militaria Forum:

 

UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS MEMBERSHIP BADGES

 

The Military Order of the Serpent first degree membership medal can be seen in this thread on the US Militaria Forum:

 

MILITARY ORDER OF THE SERPENT COLLECTION

 

Kevin

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Thanks very much, Kevin. I agree with your identification of the two medals Mr. Hiner is wearing here. Great pictures and it is interesting to know that he was a member of USWV and Order of the Serpent.

 

What is your opinion as to whether Mr. Hiner was entitled to the Army's Philippine Campaign Medal (notwithstanding that he might not have worn it on this uniform)?

 

Now that I know about USWV, I am beginning to believe that I see those letters between the eagle's wings on his hat badge. Do you have any leads that I might follow to find illustrations of USWV insignia other than medals?

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I would think that Mr. Hiner would qualify for the Philippine Campaign Medal based upon the criterion of the U.S. Army for the issuance of this medal.

 

Mr. Hiner might have been awarded several medals from the US Army. But, it is not out of the ordinary for a veteran to wear only insignia related to his affiliation while acting as a member of that group. I think what he is wearing is right as rain.

 

I thought that the letters USWV might have adorned the hat insignia, but I withheld suggesting it as I was not sure. I've not seen an example of the USWV atop an eagle like that. The most common hat insignia you see is a pair of laurel leaves with the letters USWV in between them. (They are on eBay all of the time.)

 

As for other insignia, they have a collar bar with the letters USWV on them. There are buttons with the USWV cross. There was an article in the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America featuring the various USWV membership badges and officer bars written by Barry Weaver (if I recall correctly). It had many, many photographs of the badges. I've also seen grave markers with the USWV cross. (A quick Google Images search didn't yield any interesting results.)

 

I am a collector of Military Order of the Serpent related items and I think your photograph is a treasure!

 

Kevin

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