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Guadalcanal SILVER STAR MEDAL Grouping


MBMorley
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I picked this small grouping up this past Sunday at the Fort Worth Military Show. Grouping consists of Wesley Haggard's U.S.N./U.S.M.C. SILVER STAR MEDAL in the early burgundy colored box, his temporary citation signed by Vice Admiral W. F. Halsey and two PhM2c rating patches . . . one in khaki and the other in blue.

 

His citation reads as follows . . .

 

SOUTH PACIFIC FORCES

OF THE UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET

HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMANDER

 

 

In the name of the President of the United States,

the Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Forces,

takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL to

 

WESLEY BURTON HAGGARD, PARMACIST'S MATE SECOND

CLASS, (372 09 05), UNITED STATES NAVY.

 

for service as set forth in the following

 

CITATION:

 

"For distinguished service in the line of his

profession on the northern coast of Guadalcanal

Island on August 10, 1942. While a member of a

patrol advancing through enemy territory, HAGGARD,

with utter disregard for his own personal safety

fearlessly faced the accurate rifle fire of numerous

enemy snipers to treat the wounds of incapacitated

marines. Largely as a result of his valorous action

the lives of several of the wounded were saved, and

he set a fine example of courage to the members of

his company."

 

W. F. HALSEY

Vice Admiral, U. S. Navy.

 

 

Temporary Citation

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Hey Brandon !

 

Very nice Silver Star medal and document !! The medal itself is fairly scarce to come by in the maroon box let alone attributed to a corpman AND awarded for Guadalcanal !! :thumbsup:

 

WWII corpman groupings don't pop up very often and I've just missed a few over the years but if your patient they'll show up. I was lucky enough to obtain one several years ago to a corpman who was killed in action on Omaha beach.

 

Thanks for showing !!

 

Vic

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Hi Bob, it was a pleasure meeting and visiting with you at the Show this past weekend!! Yep, the Silver Star grouping was a sleeper, I didn't see it until late on Saturday after repeatedly passing the guys table . . . he must have put it out later on Saturday or it was hidden under some of the uniforms he was also selling. I was tickled when I found it and knew I just had to have it!!

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Wow, Omaha Beach!! I'd love to see that grouping sometime!!

 

 

Hey Brandon !

 

The group consists of his posthumously awarded Purple Heart medal, dog tag, and research. He was a member of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion and is memorialized on the 5th ESB monument on Omaha Beach.

 

Thanks,

 

Vic

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  • 4 months later...
I picked this small grouping up this past Sunday at the Fort Worth Military Show. Grouping consists of Wesley Haggard's U.S.N./U.S.M.C. SILVER STAR MEDAL in the early burgundy colored box, his temporary citation signed by Vice Admiral W. F. Halsey and two PhM2c rating patches . . . one in khaki and the other in blue.

 

His citation reads as follows . . .

 

SOUTH PACIFIC FORCES

OF THE UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET

HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMANDER

In the name of the President of the United States,

the Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Forces,

takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL to

 

WESLEY BURTON HAGGARD, PARMACIST'S MATE SECOND

CLASS, (372 09 05), UNITED STATES NAVY.

 

for service as set forth in the following

 

CITATION:

 

"For distinguished service in the line of his

profession on the northern coast of Guadalcanal

Island on August 10, 1942. While a member of a

patrol advancing through enemy territory, HAGGARD,

with utter disregard for his own personal safety

fearlessly faced the accurate rifle fire of numerous

enemy snipers to treat the wounds of incapacitated

marines. Largely as a result of his valorous action

the lives of several of the wounded were saved, and

he set a fine example of courage to the members of

his company."

 

W. F. HALSEY

Vice Admiral, U. S. Navy.

Temporary Citation

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Here is WESLEY BURTON HAGGARD, PARMACIST'S MATE SECOND

CLASS, SILVER STAR MEDAL . . .

 

 

Wow! This is my Granddad. I met him once in 1972, a week before he passed away. He was very proud and slightly disabled from bullet wounds that he received on Okinawa in 1945. As a small boy he inspired both me and my brother to join the Marines (which we did when we were old enough). I was infantry in Desert Storm and Somalia. My brother was infantry in Liberia (Embassy evacuation) and Desert Storm. We are now both Policemen. Me in Colorado, my brother in Lousiannia.

I recently ordered Granddads Silver Star and Purple Hearts from the Government and presented them to my Mother. She was delighted because I explained to her just how special they were.

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  • 2 years later...

Brandon,

Great early Silver Star grouping and to a corpman in August 1942. Truly Heroic Navy man a credit to his service, family and his marines. Thank for posting.

Regards,

John

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Sorry guys, but Brandon originally posted this back in 2009.

 

I recently purchased the Silver Star citation and wanted to make sure that I didn't purchase a copy on Ebay.

 

I PM'd Brandon and I am awaiting a response.

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If you look at the one Brandon had, and the one on EBay, the folds in the two documents don't match. I bet one is real and the other a copy.

 

Kurt

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aerialbridge
Brandon did contact me and he still has his docuement.

 

I never heard of two temporary citations being issued like that.

 

 

Hi Rocco, I was curious about what the seller said about the item in your auction. It seems to me that his description fairly represents the situation of even multiple copies -

 

"I believe this is a copy of what was provided to the sailor after receiving his medal. The Navy did not provide certificates for medals, only citation letters like this. More then one copy may have been issued or given out. This letter is not typed onto the paper, it is a copy.**

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  • 5 years later...
Raidercollector

I use to own that citation. I sold it on Ebay. I Remember seeing 2 of those citations floating around on ebay, Their where no medals . I own that Citation for years. I will look in my files to see if I still have a photo of it. But I know there where 2 citations 100 % sure an no medals. The other citation was all so sold on ebay.I did fine a partial Picture on the Citation. I,m showing it below. Its the same Citation Morley is Showing by the folds.

Nick

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I've also found online a letter from Flanagan to FDR's private secretary Marguerite Le Hand discussing Haggard and enclosing yet another copy of the silver star citation. Unfortunately, only the citation will load, not the letter (so I'll keep trying on that). Flanagan of course was famous because of the hit movie Boys Town (1938), which is why Haggard says in the v-mail that everybody on Guadalcanal knows about his work. Also came across a mention of Haggard in action from Tregaskis's famous Guadalcanal Diary. I'll keep trying on the letter to Le Hand but for some reason no matter how tiny I make it the loader keeps saying it's too big (???). Hope these dos come thru at a decent size.

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The only thing that is strange about the citation is the color of the Halsey signature. I have a number of Halsey temporary citations, and I have never seen one signed with that color of ink. I have seen them with both printed signatures and real signatures depending on the time period.

 

Boys town printed up copies of a POW postcard that was sent to them from Taiwan and sent the copies to donors. I wonder if they did the same thing with this citation??

 

Kurt

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