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Ribbon bar question


Mac.military
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Mac.military

I recently picked up this ribbon bar. Appears to be army, but has the Navy Cross. So my thoughts are:

 

1. Could be post WWII as it is not the wide Navy style.

2. Could be a Navy Cross awarded to an Army member. There were not a lot.

 

The back of the bar is clutch type. My question for the forum. The stars are wearing off the MOH. It appears that they were painted or printed on the ribbon. Most I have seen are stitched with white thread. Is this an older or newer style? Any additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

post-106355-0-99108700-1534716040_thumb.jpg

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Looks like the top row of an impressive navy rack. Not all navy ribbon racks in WW2 were 1/2", and not all army ribbon racks were 3/8".

 

There were 57 USN MOH recipients, I'd cross reference them with NC recipients: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/awards/decorations/medal-of-honor/world-war-ii-medal-of-honor-recipients.html

 

NC list: https://valor.defense.gov/Portals/24/Documents/ServiceCross/NavyCross-WWII.pdf

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Mac.military

I was only thinking Army due to the 3/8" Ribbons....as most of the WWII Navy uniforms in my collection or have run across have 1/2" ribbons. There were some Navy Cross awards to the Army as well, not many, like a dozen. Additionally, maybe this is not a WWII ribbon rack. Maybe post war. However, I am most interested in the MOH ribbon and the printed or painted stars. Might help give an indication of the age.

 

I appreciate your posts!

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USMC and Navy had transitioned to 3/8" by Korea. Viking Kwiket being the most popular maker. Also, painted stars were done during Korea on that one, have seen a few

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I've handled several MOH ribbons that have had printed on stars. Without seeing the reverse of your bar, I'd say it could easily be from the 40s or 50s, and it's definitely a Navy or Marine Corps bar. Very nice!

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  • 1 month later...

I have done some research. The only person that seems to fit would be Pappy Boyington. Not saying it was his....that would be quite a stretch without provenience. No matter what, it has been a fun research project. There were lots of possibilities, but drilling down to posthumous and multiple award recipients narrows it down tremendously.

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