And a minor miracle occurs - the MOH for Osmond K Ingram

[emccomas]

I recently reported that the Medal of Honor, a Purple Heart, and a few other medals attributed to Osmond Kelly Ingram had been located. They are part of the collection on the Birmingham AL Museum of Art.

 

I have had calls into the museum curator department, and I got a call back a few minutes ago.

 

After a few pleasantries, I asked if it would be possible to get photographs, front and rear, of all of the medals. I was literally holding my breath, but not for long. The lady on the other end very happily replied "Of course, I just need an email address."

 

I gave her my email address, and this is what showed up. So, without further ado (drum roll please), the medals of Osmond Kelly Ingram

 

THE MEDAL OF HONOR - TIFFANY CROSS VERSION

 

 

[emccomas]

THE PURPLE HEART - OBVIOUSLY A LATER AWARD (SLOT BROOCH, MODERN ENGRAVING)

 

[emccomas]

THE WORLD WAR I VICTORY MEDAL

 

[emccomas]

Croce di Guerra Medal (Italy War Merit Cross)

 

[emccomas]

Cruz de Guerra Medal (Portugal War Cross)

 

 

[emccomas]

And there you have it, the medals of Osmond Kelly Ingram.

 

I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is confirmation that Osmond K. Ingram is a recipient of the Tiffany Cross version of the Medal of Honor.

 

FYI: The Birmingham Museum of Accession numbers for these medals are:

 

MOH - 1967.250.1

PH - 1967.250.2

WWI Victory Medal - 1967.250.3

Italy War Cross - 1967.250.4

Portugal War Cross - 1967.250.5

 

Items donated in the year 1967, they were the 250th group of items donated that year, and they are items 1 through 5.

[bobgee]

Great work! Looks like the PH was named around 1967 as well. Any info on the donor? Perhaps family had contacted Government, got a "new" Purple Heart and then donated it as a collection. Just wondering. Any ideas? Bob

[LuftStalg1]

Yea Ed, way to go!

[decwriter]

Nicely done and persistence pays off once again! Thanks for the details.

[Mark Costa]

Fantastic research. Congratulations of finally clearing up this mystery. That makes 20 absolutely confirmed recipients and two most likely's -- Hamman and Osborne. I still keep Osborne as a probable as his known TC is a fake.

 

Mark

[Dave]

Very nice! And the engraving on the Purple Heart is "classic" 1960's Navy engraving...I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was engraved in 1966 or 1967, quite probably obtained by the family as Bob says.

[FFZFlyer]

A feather in your cap, for sure, and a nice contribution to the study of various engraving formats on the MoH.

 

The other 5 official WWI Tiffany Crosses from WWI exhibit of which photos are available all have 4-lines of engraving, as seen in my WWI Navy & Marine Corps MoH engraving threads. Ingram's is, of course, 5 -line, the only difference being his rating is on a separate line below his name. I'm assuming this is due to the length of the rating. Interestingly, Izac's piece, while it has 4-line format, has his rank and name on an arced/curved line in what I am sure was an attempt to make it fit in the available space, probably because of the length of his name. This also forced the UNITED STATES NAVY to be engraved off center.

 

Congratulations to you for a fine sleauthing effort!!

[emccomas]

The donor of these medals to the Birmingham Museum of Art was Kelly Ingram, the nephew of Osmond K. Ingram.

 

The medals were donated in 1967.

[emccomas]

Posted 04 February 2018 - 01:46 PM

Hi all;

 

I am continuing my Tiffany Cross research efforts, and still anticipating an article for the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America.

 

We have identified 22 likely recipients of the Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor.

 

To that end, I have devised the following classifications for below listed Tiffany Cross recipients and confirmation of the same:

 

These classifications and recipients I label as 100% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

 

I. Picture of the reverse of the Tiffany Cross, clearly identifying the name of the recipient = 11 recipients

II. Picture of the recipient wearing the Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor = 4 recipients

 

 

1. Bennett, Floyd - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

2. Boone, Joel - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

3. Byrd, Richard - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

4. Cukela, Louis - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

5. Ingram, Osmond K. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

6. Izak, Eduardo - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

7. Janson, Ernest - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

8. Kelly, John J. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

9. Lyle, Alexander - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

10. Madison, James J. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

11. Petty, Orlando - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

12. Pruitt, John - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

13. Robinson, Robert - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

14. Schilt, Christian F. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

15. Siegel, John Otto - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

16. Talbot, Ralph - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

 

These classifications and recipients I label as 99% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

 

III. Tiffany Cross on display and clearly attributed to the recipient (reverse not shown)

 

17. Balch, John - medals on display at Navy Hospital Corpsman Hall of Honor, Walter Reed (formerly Bethesda) Hospital

18. Hayden, David - medals on display at Legion of Valor Museum, Fresno, CA

19. Kocak, Matej - newspaper article with picture of medal attributed to Kocak

20. Sullivan, Daniel - medals attributed to Sullivan on display (location?)

 

These classifications and recipients I label as 75% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

 

IV. Tiffany Cross previously seen identified by forum member as attributed to recipient

 

None

 

These classification and recipients I label as 65% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

 

V. Navy MOH recipient identified in newspaper article with other recipients know to have received the TC on that date.

 

21. Hammann, Charles - assumed TC recipient based on 11/11/1920 newspaper

 

These classification and recipients I labeled as 55% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

 

VI. Navy MOH recipient with Tiffany Cross image on their headstone

 

22. Osborne, Weedon - Headstone at burial site has image of TC engraved in the stone

 

If anyone can provides any additional information on any of these recipients, please let me know so I can update my database.

[Mark Costa]

Ed:

 

I believe this photo of David Hayden actually holding his TC and its replacement should be good enough to give him a 100% listing instead of the 99% you gave him!

 

Mark

[emccomas]

Ed:

 

I believe this photo of David Hayden actually holding his TC and its replacement should be good enough to give him a 100% listing instead of the 99% you gave him!

 

Mark

 

Done and Done, I had not seen that photo before. Thanks Mark.

[emccomas]

Hi all;

I am continuing my Tiffany Cross research efforts, and still anticipating an article for the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America.

We have identified 22 likely recipients of the Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor.

To that end, I have devised the following classifications for below listed Tiffany Cross recipients and confirmation of the same:

These classifications and recipients I label as 100% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

I. Picture of the reverse of the Tiffany Cross, clearly identifying the name of the recipient = 11 recipients

II. Picture of the recipient wearing / holding the Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor = 5 recipients

1. Bennett, Floyd - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

2. Boone, Joel - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

3. Byrd, Richard - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

4. Cukela, Louis - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

5. Ingram, Osmond K. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

6. Izak, Eduardo - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

7. Janson, Ernest - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

8. Kelly, John J. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

9. Lyle, Alexander - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

10. Madison, James J. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

11. Petty, Orlando - picture of recipient wearing Tiffany Cross (II)

12. Pruitt, John - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

13. Robinson, Robert - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

14. Schilt, Christian F. - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

15. Siegel, John Otto - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

16. Talbot, Ralph - picture of reverse showing engraved name (I)

17. Hayden, David - pic of Hayden holding his medals (including Tiffany Cross) on display at Legion of Valor Museum, Fresno, CA (II)

 

These classifications and recipients I label as 99% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

III. Tiffany Cross on display and clearly attributed to the recipient (reverse not shown)

18. Balch, John - medals on display at Navy Hospital Corpsman Hall of Honor, Walter Reed (formerly Bethesda) Hospital

19. Kocak, Matej - newspaper article with picture of medal attributed to Kocak

20. Sullivan, Daniel - medals attributed to Sullivan on display (location?)

These classifications and recipients I label as 75% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

IV. Tiffany Cross previously seen identified by forum member as attributed to recipient

None

These classification and recipients I label as 65% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

V. Navy MOH recipient identified in newspaper article with other recipients known to have received the TC on that date.

21. Hammann, Charles - assumed TC recipient based on 11/11/1920 newspaper

These classification and recipients I labeled as 55% confirmation of receipt of the Tiffany Cross:

VI. Navy MOH recipient with Tiffany Cross image on their headstone

22. Osborne, Weedon - Headstone at burial site has image of TC engraved in the stone

If anyone can provides any additional information on any of these recipients, please let me know so I can update my database.

[KASTAUFFER]

Absolutely stunning!

 

Kurt

[Mark Costa]

Attached here is one of the most unusual items related to the Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor that I have ever found. It is an artist's rendering of the TC that was used in April 1944 for the cover of the magazine for the Elks Club. This was almost 16 years after the last presentation and two years since the TC was abolished as a Medal of Honor in 1942. Why the artist chose the TC for his artwork during WWII is unknown? It is also very interesting that he used only the cross itself on a 1944 neck ribbon and left out the pinback "valour" suspension. Very unusual indeed !

 

Mark

[emccomas]

Wow, interesting photo.

 

One other point, regarding Charles H. Hammann's Medal of Honor.

 

I am beginning to suspect that his Medal of Honor was a 5 pointed star version. His grave site has the depiction of the 5 pointed star, his MOH action was in 1918, and he died in 1919.

 

I know we are speculating that he got a TC based on his mention in a newspaper article with other recipients of the TC on Nov 11, 1920.

 

In any event, the location of Hammann's MOH is now my primary focus (now that I have located Ingram's MOH).

[Mark Costa]

Ed:

 

I would not use a headstone as any indication of a TC or not. Most TCs recipients have "stars" on their stones. I doubt very much that any stone cutter in 1919 would have known what the TC looked like at the time to add it to his stone. The confusion surrounding the TC is evident almost everywhere it is found. It would seem unusual and unlikely-- but not certain- if his family received a star during the same presentation when every other recipient received a TC that day. Just my thoughts.

 

regards,

 

Mark

[FFZFlyer]

Is there any way to find out why the medals were donated to an "art" museum as opposed to an "historical" museum of some sort?

[emccomas]

Is there any way to find out why the medals were donated to an "art" museum as opposed to an "historical" museum of some sort?

 

Because that is what the family wanted to do. It is completely their discretion.

 

And other than "The Southern Museum of Flight" near Birmingham airport, I am not aware of any historical / military museums (not counting the Civil Rights Museum).

[emccomas]

Ed:

 

I would not use a headstone as any indication of a TC or not. Most TCs recipients have "stars" on their stones. I doubt very much that any stone cutter in 1919 would have known what the TC looked like at the time to add it to his stone. The confusion surrounding the TC is evident almost everywhere it is found. It would seem unusual and unlikely-- but not certain- if his family received a star during the same presentation when every other recipient received a TC that day. Just my thoughts.

 

regards,

 

Mark

 

Mark;

 

Part of my argument is exactly that, the stone cutter put a 5 pointed star on the headstone.

 

If the grave stone was done in 1919, this was before the Tiffany Cross had really been awarded. The belief is that the TC versions, although authorized in 1919, did not become available until 1920.

 

And that reminds me, I have to contact the archivist at Tiffany and Company about their contract for this medal.

 

Stay tuned....

[FFZFlyer]

 

Because that is what the family wanted to do. It is completely their discretion.

 

 

Well, I understand that.

 

I simply was wondering why the medals went to an art museum that may not appreciate their historical significance as much as a historically-oriented facility, such as a military themed museum. I did not know there was a dearth of such facilities in Alabama. I would have assumed there would have been something in Huntsville, Dothan, or Mobile.

 

I've also stumbled upon MoHs in city/county museums over the years. Some of these have been in relatively small towns and, while they may not have recognized the value of the medals, they certainly understood the significance of displaying such a piece earned by a local resident.

 

Are Ingram's medals actually on display to the public?