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Life Saving Medals, any branch any era just show um if you got um


dskjl
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I just bought a small collection and added an additional medal thought is would be nice we had a show and tell post that might end up as a reference for the forum.

 

So show um if you got um!!!!

 

My small collection.

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An excellent collection...congratulations! The period engraving is impressive and definitely a lost art.

 

Mike

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Stunning medals. I personally feel these are among the finest US designs of all time. Early period engraving just sends them over the top.

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Here is a group to Lieutenant (j.g.) William R. Spooner who was born in Newport, Rhode Island on August 31, 1907. Spooner attended Rogers High School in New Port, Rhode Island. He enlisted as Seaman 2nd Class in the United States Coast Guard at New London, Connecticut, on September 8, 1925. Spooner spent most of his career serving on the Great Lakes and with St. Mary’s River Patrol. William R. Spooner was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal of Honor on December 9, 1927.

Commendation: Rescue of Fireman First Class Oscar Griffith from drowning.

“The conditions under which Spooner acted make his actions one of extreme heroism. The temperature of the air was 25 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of the water was 38 degrees Fahrenheit. The current was setting under the pier. From the pier to the water was a jump of nine feet. The water close to the pier was dark, so conditions could not be made out clearly. Spooner jumped overboard without any hesitation. There is transmitted herewith a silver Life-Saving Medal of Honor awarder to you by this Department under the acts of Congress approved June 20, 1874 and May 4, 1862, in recognition of your service in bravely rescuing a shipmate from drowning December 9, 1927. It affords the Department great pleasure to have this opportunity of commending this service rendered by you on the occasion mentioned.”

 

Spooner rose to the rank of Chief Boatswain’s Mate. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant (j.g.) in 1942. Spooner was assigned to the U.S.C.G.C. Muskeget on June 28, 1942. The Muskeget was the former freighter S.S. Cornish, she served on the Great Lakes. The Muskeget was commissioned as a vessel in United States Coast Guard Service on July 1, 1942. The Muskeget was then assigned to duty with the Weather Observation Patrol. The U.S. Weather Observation Station Ship U.S.C.G.C. Muskeget departed Boston on the afternoon of August 24, 1942, to Weather Station No. 2, 53°N - 42° 30'W. The last report on the weather was received from the Muskeget on September 9, 1942, when she was awaiting the arrival of her relief, the U.S.C.G.C. Monomoy. On September 11, 1942, the Monomoy reported she was unable to effect relief of the Muskeget due to failure to establish communications. After the report from the Monomoy’s inability to communicate with the Muskeget, all aircraft and ships in the vicinity were directed to search for the Muskeget, this search proved fruitless. German naval records recovered after the war indicated that U-755, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Walter Göing, reported torpedoing a U.S. auxiliary merchant cruiser in Muskeget’s area of operation on September 9, 1942. U-755 was herself sunk in the Mediterranean by a Royal Air Force Hudson Light Bomber on May 28, 1943. At the time of her sinking, the Muskeget had 121 men on board: 9 commissioned officers, 107 enlisted men, one Public Health Service officer, and four civilian employees of the U.S. Weather Service. Lieutenant (j.g.) William Roger Spooner’s body was never recovered. His name is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the East Coast Memorial, Missing in Action or Buried at Sea, Memorial, New York City, New York.

 

 

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Beautiful medals !! I remember several selling in the early FJP auctions...one was a live auction at the OMSA convention in Chicago way back when. It might have been their first auction !?! That was a while ago....

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Here are a couple more:

 

One to a Navy Sailor on the USS Michigan (ship name engraved on the obverse of the medal)

 

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And one to a USCG Lt (Aviator #26) for an attempted rescue of the pilot of a crashed plane off of Cape May, NJ in 1935

 

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Here are a couple more:

 

One to a Navy Sailor on the USS Michigan (ship name engraved on the obverse of the medal)

 

attachicon.gif LS1a.jpgattachicon.gif LS1b.jpgattachicon.gif LS1c.jpg

 

 

And one to a USCG Lt (Aviator #26) for an attempted rescue of the pilot of a crashed plane off of Cape May, NJ in 1935

 

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Both beauties!!!! Really like the engraving on the front side, 1st I have ever seen one like this.

Thanks for posting

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Harrison M Jones, 1914. Suspension ribbon fraying from the brooch over the years. Ive taken pictures in two different lights so you can see the engraving.

 

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