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Grandfather's Purple Heart


SM Baker
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Hello from Massachusetts,

My grandfather was awarded this PH for wounds sustained in the attack on Bari Harbor, Italy on Dec 2, 1943. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism that night. He was a Navy Armed Guard gunner's mate aboard the SS John Bascom, which took 3 bombs right down the center (1,3, and 5 holds) and sank.

 

Could someone tell me if it's possible to have someone restore the plating where it's come off? Also, is it unusual for the date and place of the event to be inscribed on a Purple Heart? I think it is Navy Type 1.The drape is wrapped around the bar.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

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That's a superb Purple Heart with an amazing story. To answer your questions:

 

1. There's no way to restore the areas where the gold is gone. Just leave it - this is how it is and it doesn't affect the importance of the medal. Technically, you could remove the enamel portions and get the entire medal gold plated, but it would be extremely expensive, and the potential for damaging the enamel on it wouldn't be worth it in my book. I think we'd pretty much unanimously tell you to simply leave it. It looks fine (and trust me, I have seen well over a thousand Purple Hearts in the last few years...)

 

2. As far as the engraving, no this is not normal for Navy awards. If he was killed in action, it would have his name and rank engraved on the reverse, but otherwise, being wounded in action, it would have been awarded to him with a blank reverse. Some Sailors did go and have information or their names engraved on them, but it might be a one-in-ten sort of thing, if even that. It's pretty awesome that your grandfather did this, so that way his sacrifice could be remembered.

 

You mention the Bronze Star. Do you have that? Did he engrave his name on that as well? Would love to see it if he did.

Thanks for posting this!

Dave

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That's a superb Purple Heart with an amazing story. To answer your questions:

 

1. There's no way to restore the areas where the gold is gone. Just leave it - this is how it is and it doesn't affect the importance of the medal. Technically, you could remove the enamel portions and get the entire medal gold plated, but it would be extremely expensive, and the potential for damaging the enamel on it wouldn't be worth it in my book. I think we'd pretty much unanimously tell you to simply leave it. It looks fine (and trust me, I have seen well over a thousand Purple Hearts in the last few years...)

 

2. As far as the engraving, no this is not normal for Navy awards. If he was killed in action, it would have his name and rank engraved on the reverse, but otherwise, being wounded in action, it would have been awarded to him with a blank reverse. Some Sailors did go and have information or their names engraved on them, but it might be a one-in-ten sort of thing, if even that. It's pretty awesome that your grandfather did this, so that way his sacrifice could be remembered.

 

You mention the Bronze Star. Do you have that? Did he engrave his name on that as well? Would love to see it if he did.

Thanks for posting this!

 

Dave

 

Dave,

You know, you just made my night. Thanks so much for the info and advice. I agree wholeheartedly about leaving it alone. These 2 medals were actually in my great-grandmother's casket on the day she was buried, My father asked his cousin for them and fortunately they were saved! Reginald died in 1958, 8 years before I was born, so I never knew him. He got leukemia, probably as a result of the mustard gas exposure that night. I've attached pics of the Bronze Star. Great talking with you!!

 

 

 

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Wow - thanks for rescuing these! From your posts, it sounds like you're pretty familiar with what happened at Bari. I actually toyed around with writing a book about it, but sadly, I don't have the time to invest in it. :(

 

You almost never see Navy Bronze Stars engraved on the reverse, so the fact your grandfather did this was really neat.

 

Have you pulled his service file from the National Personnel Records Center? It might be really interesting for you, should you not have many of his original documents.

 

I have spent a lot of time involved with the Armed Guard, and wrote a book that featured their exploits on the Murmansk Run, so these are near and dear to me. :)

Thanks for posting them!

Dave

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Thanks for sharing the memory and heroism of your relative!

 

Kyle

You're welcome!

Attached are the pic of my grandfather, Reginald J Baker, receiving the BS and the citation associated with it. Also a Boston Herald article, 1944 detailing a Navy press release on citations given after Bari, Italy was attacked. I have been working on trying to get a copy of that press release.

 

 

 

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"There's no place like home" as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for sharing your grandfather's engraved medals and service history. Very cool.

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Really a nice set of medals with the document no less! Thanks for posting them, they are really nice to see. Nice that they weren't taken to the grave, I know of a D-Day KIA Ranger Purple Heart that went in his fathers casket.

BKW

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Really a nice set of medals with the document no less! Thanks for posting them, they are really nice to see. Nice that they weren't taken to the grave, I know of a D-Day KIA Ranger Purple Heart that went in his fathers casket.

BKW

 

Thank you,

Just imagine the number of awards that did get buried...but a D-Day KIA PH! Wow.

It's been a pleasure sharing them.

Stephen

 

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Being a press release, I'm willing to wager a copy of that is at the National Archives. The US Navy holdings are chalk full of images like these with sailors recieving awards.

In the finding aids you can search by name of individuals, likely his name made it to the catalog if it is on the card. There also might be a segment about award ceremonies and of course the ship, they break down the finding aids like a pie.

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Thanks for posting this! I echo Dave's comments concerning the rarity of named Navy Bronze Star medals. Even examples of un-named ones with original citations are scarce.

 

Kurt

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Being a press release, I'm willing to wager a copy of that is at the National Archives. The US Navy holdings are chalk full of images like these with sailors recieving awards.

In the finding aids you can search by name of individuals, likely his name made it to the catalog if it is on the card. There also might be a segment about award ceremonies and of course the ship, they break down the finding aids like a pie.

 

Thank you! Could you give me a link or website?

Stephen

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Thanks for posting this! I echo Dave's comments concerning the rarity of named Navy Bronze Star medals. Even examples of un-named ones with original citations are scarce.

 

Kurt

 

Kurt,

Thank you for this. I had no idea they were so scarce.I real treasure in so many ways. Happy to share them!

Stephen

 

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Baker, what you want is the Still Pictures branch. In the link, it will guide you through how to request a reproduction of the image. If they find anything they will scan it at a high res for you. Give them key words of Name and Ship. The image or images you are seeking will be in Record Group 80-G.

 

https://www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

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Baker, what you want is the Still Pictures branch. In the link, it will guide you through how to request a reproduction of the image. If they find anything they will scan it at a high res for you. Give them key words of Name and Ship. The image or images you are seeking will be in Record Group 80-G.

 

https://www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

 

Wow,

Thank you, Dustin!

Stephen

 

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Baker, what you want is the Still Pictures branch. In the link, it will guide you through how to request a reproduction of the image. If they find anything they will scan it at a high res for you. Give them key words of Name and Ship. The image or images you are seeking will be in Record Group 80-G.

 

https://www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

 

Are you saying that NARA staff, as opposed to private researchers, will digitally scan photos for the public? If so, do they send them via email after you pay their fee, which is about how much per high res scan? I believe the last time (3 years ago or so) I considered obtaining a scan of a photo from NARA College Park, MD, they stated that their staff did not scan photos for the public, and all they did was provide a list of private researchers, none of whom seemed to do anything for less than $50, which was a bit rich for me to get a scan of a single photo.

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I don't know the finer details, never ordered a print. Its free to submit a request and see what they say. Either way you're going to pay for the image so one has to weigh how much its worth to ya, in the case of Baker, 50 is a small price to pay for something sentimental. Years ago I sent in a request and they send back photocopies and paper work for formal requests and pricing but never ordered any. They keep changing their rules all the time so possibly at one time they did and now they don't. The NARA is almost becoming less and less user friendly every year but will say the archivists in Still Pictures are quite friendly. I have determined it more advantageous to just go to the archives then there you can copy all the images you want for free, digitally.

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Are you saying that NARA staff, as opposed to private researchers, will digitally scan photos for the public? If so, do they send them via email after you pay their fee, which is about how much per high res scan? I believe the last time (3 years ago or so) I considered obtaining a scan of a photo from NARA College Park, MD, they stated that their staff did not scan photos for the public, and all they did was provide a list of private researchers, none of whom seemed to do anything for less than $50, which was a bit rich for me to get a scan of a single photo.

 

I think it depends...I spent a week up there scanning photos and being very nice to to the staff. I later found that I had missed a portrait that I needed, so I sent them an e-mail and about a day later, had not one, but two photos scanned and e-mailed back to me. I haven't asked for anything since, so I don't know if that works all the time or if it was just because I had a recent, positive impression on the staff.

 

Also, regarding the photos specifically for the Armed Guard and related ships, I was pretty surprised at the lack of material they had on them at NARA. Of the ships I was researching, only about 20% had photos available, and that included any photos I found in the ship's files over in the other locations at NARA. Same thing went for photos of people...I ran about 10% of the ones I was researching, even for men who had received high awards. Not sure where all of the photos ended up over the years, but only a small fraction ended up at the Archives.

 

Dave

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Way to go, Dave. If anybody deserves that kind of good treatment, it's you. And no substitute for being there in person. This is the most appropriate link I could find if you're trying to find info on line about ordering scans of their "stillpix". Not exactly a wealth of information on "how to" get scans of their images, or pricing or anything else. Note the link to private researchers. I couldn't find it this time, but when I last looked online and spoke to a human there about 3 years ago, I was told you had to go through a "private researcher" to get a scan. I wrote NARA College Park and gave a subject name, they responded back by regular email with a xerox of images they have and the call numbers, along with a sheet that said they don't scan them and a list of private researchers. Our tax dollars at work. :huh: On the other hand, while I have nothing good to say about NARA College Park and their "Stillpix", the folks at the Navy Museum in Anacostia are great and helpful from my experience.

 

https://www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

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I don't know the finer details, never ordered a print. Its free to submit a request and see what they say. Either way you're going to pay for the image so one has to weigh how much its worth to ya, in the case of Baker, 50 is a small price to pay for something sentimental. Years ago I sent in a request and they send back photocopies and paper work for formal requests and pricing but never ordered any. They keep changing their rules all the time so possibly at one time they did and now they don't. The NARA is almost becoming less and less user friendly every year but will say the archivists in Still Pictures are quite friendly. I have determined it more advantageous to just go to the archives then there you can copy all the images you want for free, digitally.

 

I agree on your point, $50 for a family historic pic scan, while pretty steep, is getting something that for many of us would be priceless. But for a picture of non-family subject matter that you'd like for your collection, most of us can't afford too many $50 picture scans. I just don't get why the government can't hire a few clerks at NARA College Park to scan pix at a more realistic price, rather than pushing the public off to private researchers, where at least when I checked a few years ago, $50 was the minimum charge and competition did not seem to be keeping prices down. They will copy service files at NARA St. Louis for $75, why not scan pix for the public at College Park? Hire 10 clerks at minimum wage and buy 10 $80 scanners. Bingo. For what I suppose they pay a clerk, who could scan many, many pics in an hour, if they were organized, their price point to break even (since the Govt does not need to turn a profit) should not be more than $10 or 20 a scan. But at least if you live near DC, or have time when you travel there, you can scan them for free as you said, but for remote access, not any good solution.

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It's too bad they don't have a more user-friendly site. I ended up sending an email containing the key points aerialbridge suggested. I'll just practice a little patience (a virtue I have unsuccessfully develop lo, these many years!) and hope for something good.

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It's too bad they don't have a more user-friendly site. I ended up sending an email containing the key points aerialbridge suggested. I'll just practice a little patience (a virtue I have unsuccessfully develop lo, these many years!) and hope for something good.

 

One more question, on the topic of still photos. What I am also hoping to attain a scan of this photo. It was published in the Boston Herald, 1944 (post #7 above). Question is, could this have been taken at boot camp? He first went to NTS Great Lakes. Really hoping they have this. Thanks for everything, guys!

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One more question, on the topic of still photos. What I am also hoping to attain a scan of this photo. It was published in the Boston Herald, 1944 (post #7 above). Question is, could this have been taken at boot camp? He first went to NTS Great Lakes. Really hoping they have this. Thanks for everything, guys!

 

My suggestion is to figure out where the photos went from the Boston Herald. They might exist somewhere. Chances are, this is a photo that was submitted by the family and used by the paper as I've seen that many times.

 

The boot camp photos are available (about 85% of the time) at the National Personnel Records Center. They don't look like your photo though...

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