philippine medals - philippine army, philippine constabulary, philippine state decorations

[Kalveni]

I thought I'd mention that I have a copy of the Official Constabulary Register for 1923, published in Manila. I've never seen another one and acquired this one at great expense. It's like other US Army officer registers with information about date of rank, appointments & promotions, assignments, schooling, date & place of birth, and decorations (like the photo in the earlier posting concerning Major Yance, minus the photo). I'd be willing to copy relevant information for folks interested in particular officers from this period who are found in this register. Just drop me a note. -Kalveni

[Argonauts2]

Kalveni

 

Thanks for youtr note and offer. I too have a number of these registers for other years including the 1931 Issue of Khaki and Red that covers all officers as well. If you are looking for information let me know. Is your are of interest primarily the Philippine Constabulary?

[mov]

4starchris

 

here is a close up of the miniature philippine commonwealth medal of valor. only five was ever struck officially for the following recipients 1. maj. emigdio cruz 2. gen. douglas macarthur 3. gen.skinny wainwright 4. adm. chester nimitz 5. comdr chick parsons. i have no idea how these 3 miniature movs came about. i was thinking these are trial strikes for the filipino recipent -lt.col (then maj) emigdio cruz. there are no marks at the back of the medal. i had a replacement ribbon made for the medal. enjoy the pictures

[mov]

another picture. very rare to see one

[4STARCHRIS]

Stunnig version of this medal. I posted a pic somewhere on this Forum I think of MacArthurs and NImitz. I see if I can find them. I even think I have a pic of MacArthur being awarded his somewhere in my collection.

Do yo have any pics of our guys being awarded the medal?

Thanks again for the closeups.

4starchris

[mov]

4starchris

 

i would really appreciate if you can provide me a picture of adm. nimitz's ACTUAL philippine medal of valor (mov) medal. i'm about certain the medal is somewhere in the nimitz museum. if anybody out there also have a picture of wainwright's phil. mov it is much appreciated. i have pictures of mac's actual mov when i visited his memorial in norfolk virginia last year.

 

i have pictures of macarthur, nimitz and wainwright receiving their movs.

 

i am writing an short article on the philippine commonwaelth type mov for our local collector's gazette entitled "bayanihan".that is why i am very much interested in this subject

 

p.s. mr 4starchris i am a fan of yours. your collection of military uniforms of famous generals is simply fantastic

[4STARCHRIS]

Mov,

Thank you for the compliment. I will search my pics. Nimitz medals are mini only. They are not in the museum in Texas for they medals were loss in a fire many, many years ago.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

Mov, Found them. This is essentially the only pic I know of of the FADM medals of any size. I hope this helps. If other members have any I would love to see them.

Also I would like to see the pics of the getting the medal.

4starchris

[mov]

i am so sorry to hear that nimitz's medals including his philippine mov got lost in a fire. i was planning to visit the nimitz museum to take pictures but my hopes were dashed by this unfortunate news.

 

i see that my mini philippine commonwealth mov is very similar to nimitz's including the ring that attaches the medal to the ribbon. argonaut pointed out that the insular mov had a different ring. now i learned something. the only difference that i see is the arrangement of the 13 stars on the crimson ribbon. very unusual arrangement.

 

may i call on anybody from the forum, if anybody has a picture of the actual philippine mov of gen. jonathan wainwright, WAINWRIGHT'S PHILIPPINE MOV IS A MYSTERY THAT NEEDS TO BE SOLVED. in may 1947, commisioner elizalde representing pres. roxas awarded that mov to wainwright at the philippine embassy/consulate i think in washington. i have a picture of elizalde awarding a neck ribbon mov on wainwright. THAT IS THE MYSTERY. why? the design of the phil. mov in 1947 was that it was suppose to be worn as a breast medal. the neck ribbon type was instituted in 1949 onwards! i will post picture of the awarding ceremony so that you'll understand what i mean.

 

my theory is that the mov awarded to wainwright was a phil. commonwealth type mov worn in a cravat similar to the congressional moh awarded to such well known awardee like maj. richard bong, the highest scoring american fighter pilot in ww2...unless the mov awarded to wainwright was the republic type mov which i doubt.

 

i will try to post the picture of gens. mac, skinny and adm nimitz and lt.col emigdio cruz. i have no pix of parson receiving the award. i hope somebody has that pix. paging the son of chick parson who i know is still alive and kicking.

[KASTAUFFER]

Absolutely stunning collection! PC material is very scarce. I never see it.

I collect groupings to Americans or Filipinos who fought in the defense of the Philippines. I specialize in POW material.

I have a question about a medal in this group. This soldier served in the 1st Regular Philippine Division.

I have never seen the large bronze cross before. Any idea what it is? Is made by El Oro Tupaz. It has the word for "Valor" on the front.

[Argonauts2]

Here is an example of the Insular Period --pre-1935-- miniature MoV made by C.Zamora. Note the hall mark on the back of the medal. The ribbon is a replacement.

 

 

[Argonauts2]

Here is an example of an Insular period Distinguished Conduct Star, front and back. Though not hallmarked, I suspect this medal given the quality was made by C. Zamora as well. The ribbon is a replacement.

 

 

 

 

[4STARCHRIS]

Here is another mov out of my collection.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

 

Here are LTC Edwin Ramsey Philippine awards. They are just stunning. Another pic out of my collection.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

OFFERED HERE IS THE RAREST AWARD GIVEN TO AN AMERICAN DURING THE PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION. ON 14 SEPTEMBER 1904 CAPT. CARY I. CROCKETT, PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY, WAS AWARDED THE PHILIPPINE MEDAL FOR VALOR IN RECOGNITION OF HIS CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY AND AT THE RISK OF HIS LIFE. THIS DECORATION,AWARDED BY THE UNITED STATES PHILIPPINE ADMINISTRATION, HAS THE SAME AWARD CRITERIA AND IS EQUIVALENT TO THE HIGHEST MILITARY DECORATION THE UNITED STATES CAN BESTOW. ONLY 16 AMERICANS RECEIVED THIS EXCLUSIVE HONOR BETWEEN 1902 AND THE BEGINNING OF WWII.

 

This sold for around 20,000.00 some time ago. Ebay I think.

 

 

Do not know who this belongs too and it is NOT in my collection. I am just providing MOV pic and information for his History and possible book. The pic is out of my collection and was acquired when it was in the public domain.

4starchris

 

 

[4STARCHRIS]

MOV posted:only five was ever struck officially for the following recipients 1. maj. emigdio cruz 2. gen. douglas macarthur 3. gen.skinny wainwright 4. adm. chester nimitz 5. comdr chick parsons.

 

Posting 40 by myself was to clarify and present number #6 recipient.

4starchris

[Argonauts2]

Thank you for your additions to this forum on Philippine Medals.

[mov]

in reply to kastauffer's query

 

i thought i knew a thing or two about philippine medals since that is supposed to be my specialty but you had me stumped. however i do have an idea what that "large bronze cross" is. i believe it is a presidential medal "sagisag ng kagitingan" (steel cross). it was struck by el oro during the marcos years probably in the early 70s. most probably it was awarded for heroic deeds during the war, the specific criteria i have no idea.

 

i posted a picture of an old el oro brochure stating that they offer such medal, i also posted a picture of gen. alejo santos ( guerilla leader of the bulacan military area (BMA) during the japanese occupation. wearing what i believe to be the same " large bronze cross". i suspect that your bronze cross is missing some parts (pls look at the back of the medal there seems to be protuberance that connects it to some missing part)

 

then major alejo santos guerilla unit was under the east central luzon guerilla area (eclga). and do you know who heads the eclga? it was none other than lt. col edwin ramsey! (paging 4starchris)

in fact when col. ramsey was still alive i had the pleasure of communicating with him. he even sent me a signed personalized autobiography entitled "lieutenant ramsey's war". what made the book exciting for me was his area of operation included the san mateo and montalban rizal area which at that time (2006) where i lived! the topographic areas he described in the were very familiar because it is where i lived for 12 years.old timers in san mateo rizal knew of ramsey. heck the grandfather of my wife was a eclga guerilla under ramsey. col ramsey passed away last year in his 90s( i think) and joined his 26th cavalry comrades in valhalla. trivia: he got his silver star leading the last u.s. cavalry charge in u.s. army history). i was an honor to know him.

[mov]

sir 4starchris

 

just a bit of a clarification. mac, skinny, nimitz, cruz and parsons were awarded the philippine commonwealth type 4 mov (given between 1935-1948). crockett was awarded the type 1 insular mov in 1904 but later exchanged it to a type 3 insular mov (awarded between 1923-35) which was sold at ebay for 20k (my paltry bid at that time was a measly $500) in 2006(?). so there were only 5 recipients of the type 4 mov.

 

just the same i am still your avid fan.

[mov]

THE WAINWRIGHT MYSTERY PHILIPPINE MEDAL OF VALOR (MOV)

 

Is it a Philippine Commonwealth Type 4 MOV with a cravat (as shown in the left , this type was awarded from 1935-1948)? OR

Is it a Philippine Republic Type 5 MOV (shown at the right, this type was awarded from 1949 to 2008)?

 

Please see picture below the medals. Your guess is as good as mine. Again if there are anybody who has a picture of wainwright's MOV I'd appreciate if you can provide us a copy and help us solved this mystery.

 

P.S. Another theory (heaven forbid) is that the crimson colored neck ribbon was similar to the neck ribbon of the congressional moh but the actual medal is the phil. commonwealth mov. That would certainly be not aesthetic pleasing to the eye.

 

P.P.S. Just for the benefit of medal collectors i included the Philippine Republic Type 6 MOV sash type ( awarded starting 2008)

 

 

 

 

 

[Argonauts2]

The Wainwright MoV is interesting. I would like to see the back of the medal/neck ribbon. Given the design, I suspect what they did was simply pin the Commonwealth Ribbon & medal onto a neck ribbon and presented it as a neck order since that was the direction the US MoH and the Republic MoV were configured. With the added length of ribbon, he could wear the MoV behind his MoH which would have priority. Interesting, but technically incorrect for the Commonwealth MoV as the regulations during the Commonwealth period called for the medal to be worn on the chest. What is also interesting is that the MacArthur medal was not presented with a neck ribbon, but is the traditional Commonwealth Mov, and the same applied for Nimitz given we have seen his miniature.

[mov]

yes. american medal collectors call this type of neck ribbon a "cravat" popularized during the u.s. civil war. Try to google maj. richard bong wearing his breast MOH with a cravat (or see the book Call of Duty). you can add this wainwright mystery MOV to your article (pls acknowledge me that i pointed that out). i will email you maj. emigdio cruz's MOV citation signed by president manuel quezon very soon.

[Argonauts2]

Thanks for the information and the citation. no problem with the crediting. As to the MoH type IV with Cravet that Bong was wearing was the early transition medal where they had the option to wear the medal on their chest or around the neck. By 1944 that option no longer existed and it was strictly a neck medal. My guess and its just that, Wainwright considered his MoV equal to the MoH he was awarded and wanted to wear them in the same fashion.

 

Given his service and what he did in the Philippines and than as a captive he had the right to wear it any way he wanted. That said, there was no provision in the Philippine regulations allowing for that specific medal to be worn any other war. We often run up against what was regulation and what was done in the field. Douglas Mac Arthur and Patton are great examples of General Officers who stretched regulations with regard to uniforms.

[4STARCHRIS]

Can we go over the difference's between the mov with pics? Since I made that mistake on an earlier post.

This is a great learning experience

4starchris.

[Argonauts2]

4Starchris

 

Good question. During the Insular and Commonwealth periods there were four different versions of the Philippine Medal of Valor as it evolved. The Philippine Islands become a territory of the United States in 1898. The Insular period ran from 1898 to 1935. The Islands during the Insular period were administered by a Governor General appointed by the President of the United States. In 1935, the Philippines received Commonwealth status and elected their own President. The Commonwealth period covers 1935-1948 when the Republic of the Philippines was founded.

 

The Medal of Valor was established during the Insular period where there were three types. No known examples of Type 1 & 2 are known to exist. Type 3 was the last design of the Mov during the Insular period. The upper arm of the cross has the Insular Government's coat of arms while the bottom arm contained an interlocked PC for Philippine Constabulary. Also worth noting is the star pattern on the ribbon is different for the Insular period medal compared to the Commonwealth pattern.

 

During the Insular period, this medal could only be awarded to members of the Philippine Constabulary, and was specifically designed and approved to be a counterpart to the Medal of Honor. Under regulations, the Medal of Honor could only be awarded to US Army & Navy personnel, though Philippine Constabulary soldiers fought side by side in many battles, but would not have been eligible for the award despite being under the command of an Army officer. Philippine Scouts (since they were part of the regular US Army could and did win the Medal of Honor, but a Constabulary soldier could not) The Governor General and War Department addressed this with the creation of the MoV. The MoV Type 3 was struck in the Philippines by C. Zamora. See medal on the left.

 

In 1935, when the Commonwealth was established, the the MoV design was changed, to what is Type 4 of the medal. The upper arm contained the coat of arms for the Commonwealth and the bottom arm now had a star, with the PC removed. See medal on the right. This award like it's predecessors was meant to be presented for extreme heroism in combat, but now in addition to being awarded to Philippine Constabulary soldiers, it could be awarded to all Philippine Armed Forces as well as US military personnel. This medal was struck in the US by Bailey, Banks & Biddle.

 

In all cases, the Philippine Medal of Valor is one of the rarest of US authorized awards for Valor in the field, though few know about the medal.

 

Later this year, there will be a detailed article published in the OMSA Journal on the Medal of Valor during the Insular and Commonwealth periods that will provide greater detail and more photographs. I hope this helps clarify the medals.