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DAD'S OSS/DET 101 BURMA CAMPAIGN BAR


INIMICUS
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he was a supply officer with the detachment. thought you'd like to see a good one. thanks for the eyes-on and any comments (btw mod-I havent been getting alerts in my personal email to responses or PMs.)

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Yup that looks like a real one as the copies don't have that sharp 90 degree edging along the inner perimeter as well as the sharpness in the lettering. I've read where these Burma Bars were meant for the Jingpaw/Kachin Rangers however a long time ago I had the opportunity to speak with Colonel Carl Eifler the first CO of OSS Detachment 101 who happened to live in a neighboring community. I saw his medals and a Burma Bar within a shadow box in his den. I asked him about the Burma Bar and he told me that they came about because his OSS personnel were ineligible for the combat infantry badge. The Burma Bar was their CIB.

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closing in on 148 views and aside from brother dennis, mum's the word? c'mon guys and chime in, willya please -- these things don't grow on trees ya know!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great high res photo! Thanks for posting! This is one of the few insignia Id consider adding to my collection. Definitely a reference Ill use. A couple of days ago, I went to a party a couple of blocks away. There was a very interesting group of military stuff framed on the hosts wall. It contained a 101 bar, Jingpaw Rangers patch, CMA medal, Chinese jump wings, OSS lapel pin, a CIB (apparently 101 got them at some point, CBI patch, other misc insignia. Ive known the host for years. I didnt know that his dad was Maj. Robert Bob Moore, S-3 of Det. 101. My friend told me that as he grew up, he spent a lot of time with Uncle Ray Peers. His dad worked with the infant CIA for years as a paramilitary guy, largely in China (Taiwan) The friend still doesnt like talking much about his dads postwar activities. Ill see yall if I can get a picture of the grouping sometime.

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Great high res photo! Thanks for posting! This is one of the few insignia Id consider adding to my collection. Definitely a reference Ill use. A couple of days ago, I went to a party a couple of blocks away. There was a very interesting group of military stuff framed on the hosts wall. It contained a 101 bar, Jingpaw Rangers patch, CMA medal, Chinese jump wings, OSS lapel pin, a CIB (apparently 101 got them at some point, CBI patch, other misc insignia. Ive known the host for years. I didnt know that his dad was Maj. Robert Bob Moore, S-3 of Det. 101. My friend told me that as he grew up, he spent a lot of time with Uncle Ray Peers. His dad worked with the infant CIA for years as a paramilitary guy, largely in China (Taiwan) The friend still doesnt like talking much about his dads postwar activities. Ill see yall if I can get a picture of the grouping sometime.

I would love to see a picture of this shadow box of OSS insignia. You mention the CMA (Civilian Military Assistance) medal which besides being ultra rare has a funny back story as to how it came into existence. Former Colonel Eifler showed me a copy of this medal as there is supposedly only one original medal that was brought back to the states and given to General Joseph Stillwell. This is what Colonel Eifler told me. I don't know what became of this medal as whomever was in charge of the general's estate in Carmel, California was probably unaware of it's rarity and importance to OSS history. Colonel William R. Peers had been placed in charge of OSS Detachment 101 after Colonel Carl Eifler was send back to the states after a severe head injury in the field. Near the end of the war Colonel Peers wanted to give out some kind of citations and/or medals to a number of their Jingpaw/Kachins Rangers who were leaders and/or showed exceptional bravery in combat. So Colonel Peers sent a radio message to their headquarters in I believe Colonel Eifler told me Calcutta. Supposedly when writing down a radio message received the punctuation mark of "comma" in a sentence is actually written out in abbreviation form as "CMA". On the received written radio message the "CMA" just so happen to be placed in-between citations and medals. The officer who received the message was unaware of this radio practice of writing out punctuation marks in sentences and read the request as Colonel Peers wanting citations and CMA medals. The officer had no idea what a CMA medal was and since there was no such thing in their inventory someone at headquarters decided on their own to honor this request from the field and made up the CMA medal. So someone interpreted CMA as Civilian Military Assistance probably because the Jingpaw/Kachins Rangers were technically civilians. They had a batch of these medals made up somewhere in India and parachute them into Burma where they were given out during a ceremony. Since a number of these tribesmen didn't wear shirts these CMA medals hung on a green ribbon that was placed over their necks. There is a picture of this event in one of the time life military books showing a number of tribesmen wearing the medal.

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