Colonel Van D. Bell his 1st Navy Cross - a Legend in the Corps.

[Rogi]

First, a small intro and then some photos, a couple months ago I had a bit of luck and opportunity to purchase Colonel Van D. Bell's ("Ding Dong Bell" to his Marines) first Navy Cross awarded for action on May 29, 1951 in Korea from a forum member, it is engraved on the reverse with his name and date of the action. He received a second Navy Cross for Vietnam as well (Gold Star), as well as many other medals for his courageous actions.

 

This opened up an amazing research journey and showed just how much his Marines loved and respected this great leader/warrior. I would like to post some of his history if fellow forum members are interested in a following post (just say the word , as he had served in the Corps from 1936 to 1967 and even further in his role as CO of Marine Barracks and Ground Defense Force at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from 1969 to 1971 (as well as stateside service that I can outline later).

Col. Bell passed away in 2009, R.I.P Col. Bell.

 

His first Navy Cross citation reads:

 

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Van D. Bell, Jr. (0-44563), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as Executive Officer of Company B, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Hwach'on, Korea, on 29 May 1951. Accompanying the reserve platoon during the initial phase of his company's assault against a series of strongly defended hostile positions on a steep, rocky ridgeline, First Lieutenant Bell was quick to act when the leading elements suddenly came under devastating automatic weapons and small-arms fire and the platoon leader and several men became casualties. Moving quickly forward through the intense barrage, he assumed command of the disorganized platoon and, effecting a prompt and skillful reorganization, spearheaded an attack to neutralize three enemy bunkers in succession. Blown from his feet and painfully wounded by a bursting grenade upon reaching the fourth, heavily fortified emplacement, he succeeded in regaining his feet and, although partially blinded from facial wounds, led a final charge to capture the hill. Refusing medical attention, he continued at the head of his platoon to another ridge in pursuit of the fleeing enemy and, although wounded in the leg during the advance, personally directed machine-gun fire on the remaining hostile positions to the front, staunchly refusing assistance until the position had been consolidated. By his valiant leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious perseverance in the face of tremendous odds, First Lieutenant Bell served as an inspiration to all who observed him, and his selfless devotion to duty throughout the bitter action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

 

Here are the photos of his Navy Cross:

 

I'll have to attach some more as I've reached the memory limit in this message.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rogi]

Here is the reverse of the Navy Cross:

 

 

one more post to follow.

[Gary B]

Please post more!

 

Gary B

[Rogi]

Final picture of the reverse engraving:

 

 

Thank you all for looking and your comments and opinions are greatly appreciated I have a huge passion for Korean War History and it is a great privilege to have this beautiful piece with such a great history reside in my collection.

[Brig]

Great, unofficially engraved medal

 

BTW, it's "Corps", not "Cores"...I edited the title for you, as a Marine, you can understand how it would eat away at me if I didn't, I'm sure!

[Rogi]

Great, unofficially engraved medal

 

BTW, it's "Corps", not "Cores"...I edited the title for you, as a Marine, you can understand how it would eat away at me if I didn't, I'm sure!

 

Its been a long week of tests and sleepless nights studying so my spelling went out the window Thank you for catching and fixing the error.

[KASTAUFFER]

At some point someone replaced the original USN/USMC US Mint contract brooch with a US Army brooch. Its the same brooch used on Army Air Medals.

 

Kurt

[Rogi]

At some point someone replaced the original USN/USMC US Mint contract brooch with a US Army brooch. Its the same brooch used on Army Air Medals.

 

Kurt

Thank you for letting me know I thought the Ribbon might have been repaired/replaced (since the stitching is heavy on the top) and I took the photo so the stitching could be visible, it looks like it makes sense that another brooch was added, I'll keep it as is. I don't like changing things if it isn't original to how I obtained them. Sometimes amazing stories come out of the "modifications".

Was it normal for these brooches to fail, and then the Veteran (or family member) replaces them with whatever is at hand for a repair?

[KASTAUFFER]

My guess is that the Navy Cross was bar mounted with other medals and then the bar was taken apart at some point. I would guess a collector added the Army Brooch because it was easy to find an Army wrap brooch. I doubt a family would have had a loose Army brooch laying around. If the original brooch had come loose the family would have just reused it.

 

Kurt

[Rogi]

My guess is that the Navy Cross was bar mounted with other medals and then the bar was taken apart at some point. I would guess a collector added the Army Brooch because it was easy to find an Army wrap brooch. I doubt a family would have had a loose Army brooch laying around. If the original brooch had come loose the family would have just reused it.

 

Kurt

 

The previous forum member that obtained the Navy Cross told me he got it straight from a member of the family and that he'd share the info. on how it ended up in his collection, its been a couple months of waiting as of yet, but I hope he can share it with me soon . So that may leave only two options on how the brooch was changed.

Regardless of the brooch, it still is a lovely Navy Cross to me, especially with the history it has to share.

[KASTAUFFER]

Here are the 2 brooches side by side for comparison. Look closely at differences in the catch.

 

USN

 

 

 

 

US Army

 

 

[KASTAUFFER]

With US Medals, and especially those that are unofficially machine engraved, it is very important to try and get other items tying the medal to the person such as paperwork, dogtags, or other named medals such us a Good Conduct Medal ETC. If this came from the family, I hope the person you bought it from will go back to the family and try to get some more items for you. A pair of dogtags would be awesome.

 

Navy Cross medals, even posthumous ones, are rarely ever named, making them very scarce.

 

Kurt

[Hermanus]

Hi Rogi.

 

You have a great medal there with even a greater story behind it. I googled the Colonel. What a guy.

 

In one of the previous posts it was mentioned that the family originally sold his military belongings. Any idea where the rest of his medals, certificates and momentos went?

 

Such a pity that the family part with it. There's already enough said about that, so the medal is better of in your collection.

 

Best regards

Herman

[Rogi]

Hi Rogi.

 

You have a great medal there with even a greater story behind it. I googled the Colonel. What a guy.

 

In one of the previous posts it was mentioned that the family originally sold his military belongings. Any idea where the rest of his medals, certificates and momentos went?

 

Such a pity that the family part with it. There's already enough said about that, so the medal is better of in your collection.

 

Best regards

Herman

 

Thank you for your comments Herman it is greatly appreciated, I'll try and post the Colonel's entire history that I've found, (or at least a good portion) today.

 

To my knowledge this is the only medal of Colonel Bell's that is in a collection and I wasn't aware that the family sold his other military belongings, it would be nice to re-unite them if this is the case, maybe one day if possible.

[Harold Bell]

This supposed Navy Cross awarded to my uncle and sold, is a scam. His family would NEVER sell ANY of his awards. If anyone in this group sees any others of his awards for sale, please contact me directly at [email protected]. 

[Brig]

19 hours ago, Harold Bell said:

This supposed Navy Cross awarded to my uncle and sold, is a scam. His family would NEVER sell ANY of his awards. If anyone in this group sees any others of his awards for sale, please contact me directly at [email protected]. 

 

 

Rogi said the seller he bought it from got it directly from the family. Have you tried to reach out via private message to trace it to its source? Unfortunately, as much as we would all like to believe that nobody in our families would ever sell or otherwise discard treasured heirlooms, sadly we as collectors have seen it happen countless times.

 

You state that no one in the family would ever sell it, so can we assume that the family still has it in their possession? If so, could you provide photos? I'm sure the poster would be very interested in using them as part of a fraud report, since he likely spent a significant amount of money purchasing this. I would certainly want to recoup my losses if I were in his shoes.