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Yamamoto Mission Pilot Ribbons & Mini Medals, etc.


ramram
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I just got this in today.  It belonged to Julius "Jack" Jacobson, Major John Mitchell's wing man, for the mission to shoot down Yamamoto.  I got it from his son (neat guy) and he included a COA.  I'm mostly a diary guy (I have Jacobson's diary as well) so I don't know much at all about the ribbons and mini medals, aviator badges, etc.  I've been digging around on the internet and have gained some knowledge but still have a lot of holes so any and all help would be appreciated!  I know the mini medals are the Silver Star (for the Yamamoto Mission), Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and Campaign medal.  The ribbons I guess denote these same awards?

 

Rob M

Ribbons_&_Mini_Medals.jpg

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Javelin4life

Hello,

 

yes, you are correct.  The ribbons denote the medal awards. The far right Medal is the Pacific Theatre Medal. The gold leaves represent major rank, the enamel lapels also represent the aforementioned awards. He was also awarded the American Defense Medal (the yellow with the two red white and blue bars stripes on each side) and a Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with one star. 

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What’s really neat is you have an Army Pilot with a navy Presidential Unit Citation and a gold star on his Air Medal.  Army personnel wore oak leaf clusters but he must’ve received an Air Medal from the Navy as well.  Would be interesting to review his papers!  Thanks for showing this, it’s a really neat group.

 

Kyle

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Thanks for the help!  

 

Why would he have multiples of the ribbon bars?  Was it for different uniforms?  Also, what is the item in the top middle in the attached photo?

 

Rob M

 

Ribbons & Mini Medals Part 1.jpg

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That is a "ruptured duck" lapel pin. I've seen them in a number of different WW2 groupings I believe they were just worn in a button hole to show that the wearer had been a member of the armed forces and is now discharged. Great grouping. 

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I was also kind of curious if a pilot would typically wear anything while on a mission such as his wings?  It would be kind of neat to know that he possibly wore the wings on the Yamamoto Mission. 

 

Rob M

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Here is his award card for the Air Medal and it does document the Gold Star to the Air Medal.

 

 

jajobc.JPG

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it appears his Silver Star was not for the Yamamoto mission. My guess is one of the DFC’s was..
 

BAA4E7B4-5EEF-436F-994C-02F6DD976F3E.jpeg

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You may want to get rid of the foam backing as it will leave residue/stains on your artifacts that they come in contact with.

 

Nice display to preserve

 

Bill

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Kurt, I got to looking again and it appears you are correct, one of the DFC’s was for the Yamamoto Mission. They thought they were gonna get Silver Stars but Lanphier’s big mouth cost them the higher awards. 
 

Rob M

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huntssurplus

Nice stuff! I have a grouping from a helldiver pilot whose bomb was one of 3 that hit the Nagato in 1945. Interesting stuff!

Hunt

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3 hours ago, ramram said:

Kurt, I got to looking again and it appears you are correct, one of the DFC’s was for the Yamamoto Mission. They thought they were gonna get Silver Stars but Lanphier’s big mouth cost them the higher awards. 
 

Rob M

 

Okay, now i'm interested. What's the story behind Lanphier's big mouth? 

 

Regards

Herman  

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5 hours ago, Hermanus said:

 

Okay, now i'm interested. What's the story behind Lanphier's big mouth? 

 

Regards

Herman  

Since it was a secret mission to intercept Yamamoto they didn't want any of the pilots making mention that they knew Yamamoto was in the plane they shot down or it would likely give away the fact that the Americans had broke the Japanese code.  Well, Lanphier blurted out over his mic that he shot Yamamoto down before they had even landed.  He continued to have loose lips even after the mission.  Lanphier, Mitchell and the killer group were going to get the Medal of Honor for the mission and all others were to get at least the Silver Star.  When Bull Halsey found out about Lanphier's breach, he unloaded on Lanphier and tore up his MOH paperwork and told him he should be court-martialled.  All medal awards were dropped down a grade.

 

Rob M

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Amazing grouping! The first thing I noticed was the Gold Star on the Air Medal Ribbon. It is unusual to see a Navy/USMC star on an Army ribbon rack. But since the card shows it to be awarded by the Navy then that is very rare and uncommon. Love the group!

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Brian Dentino

What an interesting and historically significant group of medals.  Very cool that Kurt was able to pull the award cards that show that the USN/USMC gold stars are right as rain.  Very cool grouping indeed.

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Here is the entries from Jacobson's diary after the elation of their return when they thought they were going to get more significant medals.

 

Rob M

Yamamoto Mission Entry (6).JPG

(45).jpg

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I also have one of the photos that is autographed by nine of the Yamamoto Mission pilots along with Jacobson's COA.  This is from his estate.  If anybody's interested in it for $195 drop me a PM.

 

Rob M

Autographed Photo.jpg

Autographed_Photo_COA.JPG

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On 6/16/2020 at 5:50 PM, ramram said:

Thanks for the help!  

 

Why would he have multiples of the ribbon bars?  Was it for different uniforms?  Also, what is the item in the top middle in the attached photo?

 

Rob M

 

Ribbons & Mini Medals Part 1.jpg

Maybe,

 

Might have just worn the top three ribbons on one bar on a uniform jacket or shirt and then changed them out when they got soiled.

 

I'm more interested in the gold star/oak leaf cluster combination on the Air Medal.

 

Interesting.

 

Could be more of a case of ribbons being updated and we don't want to throw them out because they might be useful some day.

 

Used to mount ribbon bars for fellow service members. Always got handed a uni-mount with multiple soiled ribbons that I would replace and put the old ones in a plastic bag. Still do it now for veterans. Have gone back to that bag on several occasions to see if I had a ribbon that isn't available but might be salvaged.

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