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Medal of honor engraving


salfred
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Jack's Son posting looks to me like it was the original medal that was presented to Pittman and the rest were (probably official Government?) replacement medals for Pittman.

I've heard over the years that there are many replacement Pittman MoH's out there in collector land.

 

Johnny R.

 

I believe it is.

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johnnyrocket
John Willis - KIA Iwo Jima. Original medal was lost in a fire. Replacement medal was presented to the widow in 2009

 

This is very interesting, never seen a replacement what looked like the engraving was stamped as this one appears to be.

 

Usually these government "replacement" MoH were/are machined engraved.

 

Johnny R.

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This is very interesting, never seen a replacement what looked like the engraving was stamped as this one appears to be.

 

Usually these government "replacement" MoH were/are machined engraved.

 

Johnny R.

 

I think it is a panagraph engraver with a motorized bit that cuts the material and not a stamp. I used do a lot of engraving and it looks much like what a motorized bit produces, particularly when you examine the chattering look in the well of the engraved letters. Just my two cents. ;)

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johnnyrocket
Mrs. Willis and John Willis's son that he never met.

 

Is there a USN Ship named the "John Willis"? I believe it was a Destroyer Escort.

My brother served on that ship in the 60's.

 

Johnny R.

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johnnyrocket

JOHN HARLAN WILLIS

Pharmacist's Mate First Class

10 June 1921 - 28 February 1945

 

 

 

Upon graduation from high school, Pharmacist’s Mate First Class John Harlan Willis enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 5 November 1940, five months after his nineteenth birthday. After his enlistment in Nashville, Tennessee, he completed recruit training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia. In January 1940 he was transferred to the Hospital Corps School at the Norfolk Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia, and then he was assigned duty at the Naval Hospital, Parris Island South Carolina.

 

In November 1943, Willis went to Camp Elliot, California, for combat training with the Marines before being transferred to Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Late in December 1944 he embarked with them for Iwo Jima.

 

The Marines liked and respected the young southern gentleman with curly brown hair and a roguish, round fact. He appeared too young to be a member of this tough Marine force, but the appearance was deceptive. When it came to dealing with the most serious injuries, he never hesitated. His four-year training had prepared him for the harsh reality of war.

 

On 28 February 1945, during the furious fight for Hill 362A, many Marines were wounded from continuous artillery and mortar fire. Willis tried to render aid to as many wounded men as possible, until he was wounded by shrapnel. His superiors ordered him back to the aid station, but instead he went back to his company because so many casualties were waiting for help. Spotting a wounded Marine lying in a shell hole at the extreme front lines, he defied heavy mortar and sniper fire to reach him. He was busy administering blood plasma, when suddenly a grenade landed in the crater. Willis calmly but quickly picked it up and threw it out of the shell hole. He did the same to seven other grenades as he continued working on his patient. The ninth grenade, however, exploded in his hand and killed him immediately.

 

Willis left behind a wife and a son, John Harlan Willis Jr. Destroyer escort U.S.S. John Willis was named in his honor. Launched on 4 February 1956, it was sponsored by his widow.

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John Finn - Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941

 

 

I've had that one in my hand at John Finn's house. Wrinkled ribbon and all. Darn coolest thing EVER.

 

Dave

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I've had that one in my hand at John Finn's house. Wrinkled ribbon and all. Darn coolest thing EVER.

 

Dave

 

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

Whoa !! Dave...that must hae been sooooooo cool !! Any pics of the meeting !?!

 

Vic

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  • 5 months later...

QUOTE(Dave @ Apr 11 2012, 11:11 PM)

I've had that one in my hand at John Finn's house. Wrinkled ribbon and all. Darn coolest thing EVER.

 

Dave

 

 

thumbsup.gifthumbsup.gifthumbsup.gif

 

Whoa !! Dave...that must hae been sooooooo cool !! Any pics of the meeting !?!

 

Vic

 

Vic -

 

Sorry for not seeing this earlier!

 

We took plenty of pics at John's house as my dad and I used to go shooting there (he was a gunsmith after the War). However they are somewhere at my dad's house and I've yet to convince him to look for them... sigh...

 

Dave

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Speaking of MOHs....Richard Bong's engraved medal is on display at a tiny museum in his home town of Superior Wisconsin. Superior is the sister city of Duluth Minnesota (waay up north) and isn't exactly on the way to anywhere else...but the museum and that medal are worth the trip. I'm not well versed in MOH types...but the medal in the museum is the exact one he is wearing in this portrait, and is engraved on the reverse.

 

The center piece is a restored P-38 done up in Bong's paint scheme. Really a well done museum!

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Here is an interesting image I just found on the OMSA site. It shows a Korean MoH with a rather modern engraving on its reverse, quite different from what has been previously post on the Forum. The MoH style is accurate for the Korean period, but I have never seen this type hanger for this period award.

 

Johnny R.

 

http://www.omsa.org/...p?searchid=8052

 

This engraving looks like classic early 1950s era official machine engraving. You see this exact style frequently on early KW KIA PHs and early 50s WWII reissue medals....CIB conversion Bronze Stars in particular.

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  • 1 year later...

(credit for this photo goes to the OMSA website however to resize it under 150k I had to cut off the obverse view) This decoration was a victim of the 1906 earthquake wherein General Frederick Funston's quarters at the Presidio were reduced to rubble. Archeologists found it decades later, in its original case and intact, buried there. There was an OMSA article written about the discovery but I'm not sure of the date right now. The last I knew the medal was on display at the Presidio museum. If you happened to catch the PBS documentary of the earthquake, Funston (very briefly) appears wearing his 1904 Gillespie breast badge while surveying the destruction.

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  • 7 months later...

 

That's Tom Lane's website...quite a good one to boot!

Yes, the site is very informative.

 

I was studying this morning all the various engraving styles on the reverse of the MoH. This made me think of all the variations—especially the hallmarks from Lordship Industries from the years they had the Government contract.

It would be interesting to do a research project and post all their Hallmark changes and variation that they use from their beginning to their end.

 

Johnny R.

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The one thing that stands out with most of the Naval MOH's is the anchor suspension to the two wire rings coming off the pendant. Whether they are modern or older medals they all appear to be the same. You see some examples with the wire rings have been flattened to better hold onto the anchor and yet others with wire or string to keep the anchor from popping out of the rings.

 

This seems to be a rather strange suspension design so prone to having the two pieces come apart much too easily. Its very perplexing that this design has remained unchanged since the early versions of this medal. The example I own, the anchor can slip out of the two loops with hardly any effort at all. Has this ever been discussed or investigated further.? Why was it like this?

 

The MOH presentations by Presidents ... how on earth did they not come apart and go flying? Surely there must have been some modification done to these at the time of award?

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  • 1 month later...

Here is an example I just grabbed as a screenshot from my TV . There is a show on the History channel that featured this medal.

 

It was awarded to one of the first U.S. Army soldiers to receive the medal. They were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

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