Question regarding the Submarine Combat Patrol Badge

[dhcoleterracina]

So a guy on the WAF posts a frame of medals and ribbons topped with a Submarine Combat Patrol Badge. There is a name plate of F P Roess within the frame too. In WW2 Navy Muster Rolls in Fold 3 there are four Roess' and one is Frederick Peter Roess. He served in 45-46 on the USS Ira Jeffery APD 44, a high speed transport. Is there any way that this submarine badge could be awarded to anyone NOT on a submarine? Stupid question but thought I would check.  Thanks

 

  U.S. Navy Submariner WWII - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums (wehrmacht-awards.com)

[RustyCanteen]

Well, this is one of those questions where any number of answers can apply because we don't have the optimal information at hand. It could be that the man on ancestry is the same man mentioned in the framed group, but it's also possible that the initials match out of coincidence. 

I'm assuming we are talking about the patrol badge, in which case no, there was no way I have ever seen it could have been earned without service on a submarine. But the same cannot be said for the 'dolphins'  - I've seen cards and papers authorizing men aboard certain submarine tenders to wear it during WWII, apparently solely based on local authority which was an overreach as those men did not meet the criteria for it from that duty alone.

 

So if he did not qualify for it, it may simply be something he picked up or was given along the way.

[dhcoleterracina]

Thanks, that makes sense.

 

The name is unusual and I think someone else checked the others for sub service and came up empty. The medals looked like re-issues so maybe the family put it together after his death and somehow this got mixed in. 

[Josh B.]

Certain individuals in the USMC were issued submarine combat patrol pin in WWII and there were a few awards in the Korean War timeframe that are very difficult to track as well.