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WWI Battlefield Commission SS/PH Pair


tom2001
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I usually don't post medals before I can get them fully researched, but I thought this group was so neat I had to share. As you can see from the info gleaned off the web, Hassett served overseas with the 26th (Yankee) Division, and after his battlefield commission served with the 81st (Wildcat) Division, where he was wounded the day before the armistice!!

 

Newspaper archives show he served at Camp Wheeler in Macon , GA during WWII

 

The ribbon rack is sewn on to l light shirt material. Too bad the Mexican Border Service medal is missing from the group, but the other medals are easily replaceable with period type pieces.

 

Name: Waman S. Hassett
Serial Number: 67072
Birth Place: Bethel, Maine
Birth Date: 22 Feb 1895

Enlisted: Maine National Guard Rumford, May 30, 1917.
Pvt to Cpl Aug. 24, 1917
Org: Co B 2 Inf Maine NG (Co B 103 Inf, 26th Division)

Cited in 26th Division G.O. 74, 31 Aug 1918
Hon discharge to accept commission: Sept. 30, 1918
Appointed: 2 Lt Inf Oct. 1, 1918.
Org: 321 Infantry to -; 47 Inf to disch.
Engagements: St Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne.
Slightly wounded: Nov. 10, 1918
Overseas: Sept. 27, 1917 to July 27, 1919
Hon dischscharge: Sept. 15, 1919

 

WWII service at Camp Wheeler: Capt to Major

 

Retired 1955: rank Colonel

 

Died 1978

 

 

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post-126-0-95711800-1434310975.jpg

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Tom

Doing some digging on ancestry seems he died feb 1978 in Ameri, Bushehr , Iran

will see what else I can dig up

Very nice group !

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Tom

Doing some digging on ancestry seems he died feb 1978 in Ameri, Bushehr , Iran

will see what else I can dig up

Very nice group !

 

Yea, I saw that. I also found a CT death record showing he died on that date in Norwalk, CT.

 

With that first name, he's an easy guy to research, as long as the info was posted on the web (and you have subscriptions to the pay sites). Until I get award cards from St. Louis, I'm guessing I'm at a dead end.

 

The other thing I really need is his Mexican Border Service medal number, but I don't have Al Gleim's book.

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His name does not appear on Gleim's MBSM roll. Perhaps the reason is that he wasn't entitled and the ribbon was self-awarded. He evidently enlisted too late to have served on the border. The 2nd Maine Infantry returned from Laredo/San Ygnacio, TX, on 3 January 1917.

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What are you saying? Early "Stolen Valor"? How is one self-awarded the SS, outside of fraudulant document entries?

 

My post was in response to Tom's request to look up the MBSM in Gleim's roll since the full-sized Mexican Border Service Medal was missing. Waman S. Hassett does not appear on it. Based on the research Tom had already done, his enlistment date was too late to have served on the border with that unit. It's not unusual to see self-awarded MBSM in attributable ribbon bars and miniature medal groups. His entitlement to the SSM and PH was never questioned.

 

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Well, a little update from the Maine AG's annual report courtesy of Google Books. Looks like Hassett enlisted in the Maine NG in March 1916, and was discharged in December to join the Navy (??????)

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  • 3 years later...
Kristan Julius

Waman S. Hassett was my maternal grandfather! While we have some of his medals, I was unaware that these pictured here had been sold. I also read that Tom Lane, the initiator of this post, has since passed away. Is there any family member who has continued on this site whom I could contact? I should dearly love to know how these medals left our family.

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Tom had sold the majority of his collection in the last few years.I have no idea if or when your family members happened to be sold or not.

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Kristan Julius

Thank you to anyone who responded to my query about Tom Lane and his collection of my maternal grandfather, Waman S. Hassett's medals of service. Our family would be very interested in buying back these family heirlooms. Hopefully, the person who now owns them will see this post.

kcj

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