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China Service Medal - Was the 2nd Bn/15th Inf Reg. Entitled?


Leatherneck 1918
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Leatherneck 1918

Question for you guys,

this was brought up and don't have the answer for it.I know the 2nd Bn/15th Infantry regiment was Stationed in Shanghai ,China from Nov,1911 to March 1938 right before the war started.Were they awarded the China Service Medal (i know it's a Navy-Marine Service Medal ) but have to ask this.

Steve

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That is an interesting question, Steve. The China Service Medal was authorized August 23, 1940, for award to members of the Navy and Marine Corps for service in China between July 7, 1937, and September 7, 1939. The qualifying period was later modified to include Navy and Marine Corps service in China from September 3, 1945, until April 1, 1957. Authorization for the China Service Medal (Extended) included the following provision:

 

"... the Secretary of the Navy may tender this medal to personnel of the Army or other components of the Armed Forces of the United States for service which he may determine to be commensurate to and consistent with the services for which the award is made to personnel in the naval service, and this provision for tender shall apply for all periods of time for which award of this medal is authorized....(ALNAV 25 of 22 Jan. 1947; Navy Department General Order No. 255 of 28 Jan. 1948.)" (link here).

 

15th U.S. Infantry (less 1st Bn.) was in China from 1911 until it sailed for the United States in March 1938, therefore, it was nominally eligible for the award of the China Service Medal for the period from July 1937 to March 1938. However, neither my Navy nor Army sources show evidence that Secretary of the Navy tendered this medal to members of 15th Inf.

 

By way of analogy, here is how the similar case of awarding the Yangtze Service Medal to members of 31st U.S. Infantry was handled in 1935:

 

post-1963-1211842738.jpg

The Army and Navy obviously knew how to handle cross-service awards. Has anyone else seen proof that Navy authorized the China Service Medal for 15th Inf.

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Steve: I didn't know the 15th was in Shanghai in 1911...After a short Boxer stint they left in 1900 and retunred to Tientsin Jan 1912 where they remained as noted above until 1938. I would be suprised if they got the China Medal for such a short time 37-38. Dirk

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Leatherneck 1918

Why won't they? if the Sec.Of the Navy could award the Yangzte Service Medal to the "Polar Bears" of the 31st Infantry Regiment for the short service they did from 5 February 1932 -1 July 1932 (that's a very short time) why wouldn't they award the China Service Medal to the 2nd and 3rd Bns,15th Inf Regt.that were stationed there for 26 years and i got the city mistaken no big deal and the 2nd Bn arrived in China Dec 1911 sorry.

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Steve: The reason why I was questioning the dates and city is because I've been doing a bit of research on the 15th, as a side note to the Marine Legation Guard and did not want to miss any date or location when they first arrived in country....Dirk

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....Thanks Wailuna for the info helps out alot.I think they were issued the medal....

Glad to be of assistance. Based on the precedent of 31st Infantry's Yangtze Service Medal, it seems reasonable to surmise that 15th Infantry eventually ended up with the China Service Medal. If so, there will be paper somewhere.

 

...I've been doing a bit of research on the 15th, as a side note to the Marine Legation Guard and did not want to miss any date or location when they first arrived in country....

This source narrows the apparent discrepancy of 15th Infantry's date of return to China down to a difference of one month:

 

"When the Chinese Revolution began at Hankow (Wuhan) on October 10, 1911....As a result of the revolution the State Department requested an enhanced military presence to protect American interests. The U.S. Army's 15th Infantry Regiment was dispatched [from Ft. Douglas, Utah] to Tientsin to show the flag, provide additional security, and add weight to the other international forces in the region. The 15th began arriving in December 1911 and was fully on station by the end of January, 1912...." (link here).

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