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WWII victory ribbon question


VenitHora
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I don't believe that any devices were authorised for the WW2 Victory Medal. A star would mean the number of campaigns involved in and they would appear on a campaign service medal not the Victory Medal. Basically it shouldn't be there.

Hope this helps.

Rob

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Captainofthe7th
Does anyone know what a star in the wwii victory ribbon is for?

 

It's a bit of a mystery but the most popular theory is that many GIs put it there to indicate combat service, to set them apart from other individuals who were behind the lines.

 

It's also another ribbon to put a device on to look fancy for the ladies.

 

Rob

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collectsmedals

I have seen several absolutely authentic World War II Victory Medal ribbons with the star, so authorized or not many veterans did it.

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carbinephalen

It is definitely in fact to represent actual "combat". It was never authorized but was in a sense an insider type of thing the vets did to separate them (the boys sleeping in foxholes, eating rations, and fighting daily) from the rear echelon troops who (although important) had a little bit easier of a time overseas. Although everybody in the Division got the campaign stars...the infantryman added the campaign star on the victory medal for that very reason. Straight from a WWII vet's mouth! Hope this helps! :thumbsup:

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carbinephalen

I thought I was just having a severe case of deja vu. The funny thing is the threads follow the same outline most times! This place is great, definitely a highlight in my mundane suburban life :thumbsup:

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  • 1 month later...

As stated earlier, this was something that did happen in the various services. Completely unauthorized of course but, I have seen these on original ribbons and groups as well.

 

If I may offer an opinion here; I think one of the main reasons we see this is because the actual issue of the WWII Victory Medal came out at the same time as the American Defense Service Medal which had the clasps and stars authorized on that ribbon/medal. Like someone pointed out, as anyone in uniform qualified for the Victory Medal, regardless of time in service or if even combat service, those that were in action or assigned to fleet units wanted a way to stand out from those just joining or sitting back in the States.

 

As far as the Navy goes, the WWII Victory Medal Ribbon was originally announced in the All Navy Message (ALNAV) 352-45 (NDB, 31 Oct, 45-1520), and was given precendence immediately following the area campaign ribbons for WWII. The ribbon, though not officially being distributed, was made available through stores authorized to sell these and were available in December 1945.

 

That month, the Navy came out with ALNAV 428-45 (NDB, 15 December), where SECNAV stated that no stars indicating sea or foreign duty have been authorized for wearing on the ribbon bar of the World War II Victory Medal. CO's were directed to take immediate steps to stop unauthorized wearing of such stars.

 

The Victory Medal, along with the American Defense Service Medal, had originally been scheduled to start distribution by April 1946 but, due to various delays did not actually get out to veterans or active duty personnel until August 1st, 1947, as announced in BuPers Circ. Ltr. 110-47 (NDB, 15 June). It should be noted that medals were distributed first, to all next-of-kin of those deceased, and was completed by July 1947, though many did get returned due to inaccurate addresses.

 

At that time, the area campaign medals were still not being distributed and would not until June 1948.

 

Here's another "variation", showing the FLEET clasp. Again, not authorized, but original to the period. The clasp is meant for the American Defense Service Medal but is pretty solid on this ribbon as I cannot move it. I had discussed this in the past with another collector, Bill Dienna, and he wondered if manufacturers might have been confused as well and issued these as is. That I don't know.

 

Tim

post-50776-1311303977.jpg

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In an October 1947 Navy All Hands Bulletin, the following notice was made and we can start to see the problem arising from the Victory Medal coming out at the same time as the American Defense Service Medal with it's associated clasps:

post-50776-1311304582.jpg

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Keeping in mind that the time period is now late 1947 and roughly two years since WWII ended, I can see where "enterprising" sailors and veterans would want to add items to their ribbons/medals and certainly some confusion existed out there among those "fleet" personnel wearing these devices.

 

As supplies of clasps (for the American Defense Service Medal) were still laying around at various commands, I'm sure the opportunity to get some of those and add to bars was easy enough. In fact, BuPers had to come out again in March of 1948 to request commands to return excess stock, in part, to reduce the ongoing abuse of using these attachments to the Victory Medal.

 

So, again not something authorized, but surely a part of history!

 

Tim

post-50776-1311305294.jpg

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Sorry, still getting used to the attachment limitations and I see I'm losing a bit through resizing. Here's a closeup of the article:

post-50776-1311305434.jpg

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  • 7 years later...
usn-etr2-1973

My father served active duty in USNR from 1941-1945. In awards listed on his NAVPERS-553 Notice of Separation it lists "VICTORY RIBBON - 1 STAR".

(The medal was not approved until 1946.)

This 'star' might be because he served two enlistments during the period covered. First was 12-12-1941 to 3-25-1942. Second was 10-8-1942 to 11-20-1945.

He did not receive a Victory Medal until 1997 when he requested copies from Dept of the Navy - never had a star on that medal.

He also did not have a Victory Ribbon on his uniform ribbon bar - just American Theater, Asiatic-Pacific with 3 stars, and Philippine Liberation with 2 stars.

Although they listed some things on the NAVPERS-553 like Victory Ribbon and Good Conduct, he did not receive them at separation. I think if they were out of stock at the separation center, they just told people to request them later. Most never bothered until years later, just glad to be out.

Multiple enlistments might be a rationale for star on WWII Victory Ribbon / Medal.

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