USMC NAVY CROSS Group to Percy Franklin Archer - Nicaragua

[bobgee]

PERCY FRANKLIN ARCHER, COLONEL, 0-20, USMC

 

 

This is a photo of Colonel Archer taken in 1931. He has that look that suggests to me you had better get it right the first time or else!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an un-mounted group of eight medals which includes the Navy Cross, awarded for distinguished service in Nicaragua (only 89 awarded for that long campaign), *Haitian Campaign, 1915, USN reverse #2518, USMC Expeditionary Medal M.No. 858, **WWI Victory, 2nd Nicaragua Campaign M.No. 12, Yangtze Service Medal M.No. 78, Medaille Militaire - Gendarmerie d’ Haiti (marked BB&B silver), and the Nicaragua Military Merit Medal, ornately engraved on the reverse, “JOSE M. MONCADA, PRESIDENTE DE NICARAGUA, TO LT.COL. P.F. ARCHER, U.S. MARINES, 1929”.

 

* Research shows that Col. Archer’s service in Haiti indicates that he was present in Haiti for periods entitling him to both the 1915 medal AND the 1919-1920 bar. No bar was with the group when obtained. ** Further, his dates of service indicate that he is qualified for the “West Indies” bar for his WWI Victory medal though none was present with the group when obtained.

 

Archer was born 7 Nov 1876 in Maryland and was appointed to the USMC on 11 July 1903. Served in the Philippine Islands from 1904 to 1906, and again from 1909 to 1911; in the Republic of Haiti, as Quartermaster-Paymaster Director of the Haitian Constabulary from 1915 to 1918, and again from 1919 to 1922; in China, as Brigade Supply Officer of the Third Marine Brigade from March, 1927 to February, 1928; and in Nicaragua, as Brigade Quartermaster of the Second Marine Brigade, from April, 1929 to September, 1930.

 

For his services as Quartermaster-Paymaster Director of the Haitian Constabulary, he was awarded the Medaille Militaire by the President of Haiti.

 

For distinguished service in 1929/30 as Brigade Quartermaster of the Second Marine Brigade in Nicaragua, he was recommended for a Distinguished Service Medal but was awarded the Navy Cross*, one of only 89 awarded to Marines during the 2nd Nicaraguan Campaign, with the following citation:

 

“For distinguished service in the line of his profession as Brigade Quartermaster, Second Brigade, U.S. Marine Corps, operating in the Republic of Nicaragua from 19 April 1929 to 3 September 1930. During his entire service with the Second Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Archer loyally and efficiently carried out the policies of his superiors. By careful planning, initiative and by his untiring energy, Lieutenant Colonel Archer overcame the difficulties presented by bad roads, mountain trails and treacherous streams and meager facilities for transportation available to him he maintained the supply of the troops in the field at a maximum, thereby rendering valuable service to the Brigade Commander in suppression of insurrection and the maintenance of friendly relations with the Nicaraguan people.“

 

He also received the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit from President Moncada, as noted above.

 

 

He was Apptd 2nd Lieut. - 11 July 1903; 1st Lieut. - 3 March 1904; Capt AQM - 31 March 1904; Major AQM - 29 August 1916; LtCol AQM - 4 Apr 1922; Colonel AQM - 20 May 1931. He retired 1 July 1937 and died in Maryland on 2 March 1939.

 

*Authorized on February 4, 1919, the Navy Cross was originally the Navy's 3rd highest award, following the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service medal, given for both combat heroism and other distinguished services. On August 7, 1942 Congress made the Navy Cross a COMBAT ONLY decoration with precedence over the Distinguished Service Medal, making it the Navy's 2nd highest award ranking below only the Medal of Honor. It shares its position with the Army's Distinguished Service Cross and the Air Force Cross.

 

With the group was a small assortment of EGAs and a "Gendarmerie d' Haiti" Hat badge.

For you USMC emblem afficianados out there, the USMC hat badge is interesting. I believe it dates to his commissioning which was in 1903. It has no markings of any kind and has had a hard life. It was originally a screw-post but that along with its retaining pin are gone. It was then made into a pin-back and has a Tiffany-style lock catch but the pin has broken!

 

Enjoy..........Semper Fi.....Bobgee

[bobgee]

OMG - how did I miss this group, there are so few pre-war groups of this nature. Amazing foriegn service record... Bob was he advanced on the retired list to BG? Thanks for preserving and sharing his history us. Semper Fi, Darrell

 

Darrell - To my knowledge he was not advanced post-retirement to the next highest rank - probably because to get that honor you had to have been awarded a decoration in combat. His NC was for Meritorious achievement. It was not until Aug 1942 that the NC was designated a "combat gallantry only" decoration.

Semper Fi.....Bob

[Rustykamel]

Darrell - To my knowledge he was not advanced post-retiremet to the next highest rank - probably because to get that honor you had to have been awarded a decoration in combat. His NC was for Meritorious achievement. It was not until Aug 1942 that the NC was designated a "combat gallantry only" decoration.

Semper Fi.....Bob

 

 

Hi, Well, this explains how Alphonse Carbone, Mess Sergeant, USMC, and a member of Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Expedition, received his Navy Cross. Thank you for this information.

 

Best wishes, Jim