USMC Marksmanship Badges

[Bob Hudson]

Found a couple of these in the thrift store today: Gemsco card "C" catch, but no hallmarks. Any guesses as to dates?

[cutiger83]

I just bought this one yesterday. I was very excited to find my first one. How does this one look?

 

Thanks, Kat

 

 

Back of it:

[Brig]

nice early c-clasp with a great patina...unmarked I presume?

[cutiger83]

nice early c-clasp with a great patina...unmarked I presume?

 

Thanks Brig! I could not find any markings on the badge. ....Kat

[teufelhunde.ret]

nice early c-clasp with a great patina...

Agree, good find Kat and priced right too...

[cutiger83]

These two are a Christmas present from my sister. From the clasp, I believe these are either pre WWII or early WWII. What do y'all think about these?

 

...Kat

 

 

Back of the badge

 

 

This one is very small. Does anyone have an idea of the era?

 

 

Back of the pistol sharpshooter

 

[Brig]

Sharpshooter badge I'd say is roughly WWI, but the c-clasp was used pre-WWII, as well. Expert badge is probably early WWII...

[cutiger83]

Sharpshooter badge I'd say is roughly WWI, but the c-clasp was used pre-WWII, as well. Expert badge is probably early WWII...

 

Brig,

 

Thanks so much for your help! I wasn't sure about the dating of these....Kat

[teufelhunde.ret]

This one is very small. Does anyone have an idea of the era?

 

Hey Kat, this "Pistol Sharpshooter" badge was unofficial in nature (ALLOT of USMC badges are unofficial and fall outside of the prescribed reg's of the period). Its ring design puts it at 1922 when the Corps adopted pistol marksmanship badges for the first time (however there is evidence that Marines were indeed wearing unauthorized pistol badges before this). Nonetheless the Corps chose to adopt the Army badges in 1924 and from that point until the 50's one can see all sorts of unusual combinations of USMC badges, USMC qualification badges and Army badges worn together, seemingly a myriad of personal choices until the Corps put a stop to it... in the 50's. This PDF is a primer on he topic and by no means a bible, but a good read - good resource. s/f D.

 

http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/PDF_Files/Pub...e%20Present.pdf

[jcroach1]

Looking for some help.

 

I'm working on a tribute to my late father-in-law as a surprise for my wife. He served in the Marine Corps from 1951-1953. His discharge papers do not mention any qualification badges and the photos of him in his uniform do not show any badges. From what I've read on the web, my understanding is that all Marines earn the basic rifle qualification badge through the course of boot camp. Is this correct? Would this have been true in the early 1950s also? Any idea why it wouldn't be listed on his discharge papers or why he wouldn't have worn it?

 

Secondly, I'm confused as to what this basic badge would have looked like in 51-53. Which of these is correct?

 

 

or

 

 

Thanks in advance everyone!

[jcroach1]

 

Update on my post above. I found a copy of his boot camp platoon photo from 1951. It appears that nearly every Marine in the picture is wearing the second badge, like above. Some of the Marines are wearing other badges, which I assume are expert or sharpshooter badges. Unfortunately, my Father-in-law's left breast pocket is obscured by another Marine's head! Some of the other Marines have no badges shown. Is it possible he never earned this? That would explain why it's not on his discharge papers.

[Brig]

I believe, and please guys correct me if I'm wrong, that Marines were not required to necessarily qualify on the rifle back then, just train with it.

 

This I do know...the mentality of 'Every Marine a Rifleman' stems from the Korean War, when units of cooks and mechanics had to act as Grunts to survive. That's what the requirement these days is credited to

[Alec]

I believe, and please guys correct me if I'm wrong, that Marines were not required to necessarily qualify on the rifle back then, just train with it.

 

This I do know...the mentality of 'Every Marine a Rifleman' stems from the Korean War, when units of cooks and mechanics had to act as Grunts to survive. That's what the requirement these days is credited to

 

 

It was known as target practice and if you achieved a certain score you qualified for one of the badges as well as EXTRA pay. They tried that angle for Marines to be better marksman. I figure being a better than your enemy is always a better thing!

[jcroach1]

Brig and Alec, thank you for your help. That cleared some things up. I was under the impression that a Marine had to earn the Marksman bar to “graduate” boot camp.

 

Brig, your comment about cooks and mechanics made me wonder, would failure to earn a Marksman bar influenced a Marine’s MOS? My father-in-law was a heavy truck driver with a howitzer battalion. I’ve put in a request to the Navy for his OMPF, so hopefully there will be some clarification in it.

 

Would Marines typically wear the Marksman bar once they left boot camp? I’ve never personally seen a Marine service photo with a Marksman bar and service ribbons. My father-in-law’s boot camp platoon photo shows one Staff Sergeant that I assume was his drill instructor. He’s wearing 7 service ribbons, but no qualification badges. I assume he would have earned at least the Marksman bar.

 

If anyone is interested, out of the 73 Marines shown in the photo, all but 6 have earned either the Marksman bar or the Rifle Expert badge.

47: Marksman

5: Expert

12: Sharpshooter

6: None

3: Obscured (Including my Father-in-law)

[Brig]

per orders, it is not actually required to wear marksman badges, even today

[jcroach1]

per orders, it is not actually required to wear marksman badges, even today

 

Thank you! Now to wait for his records for final clarification.

[charleston]

Hello all,

I am fairly certain that this is probably a WW2 sweetheart pin, but I have never seen one before so I was hoping someone could let me know forsure what it is. Also any idea of a price? It is marked sterling on the back and it a pinback.

 

Thanks

 

[Brig]

are we talking the rifle pin? Never seen it before, who knows, sweetheart is a possibility...Without the attachment I'd say the value is relatively low...5-10 bucks on eBay

[charleston]

Thanks Brig

 

Yes the rifle,

That is what I was kinda thinking. I was hoping to have someone recognize it, and possibly let me know what it is missing, cause that was another question of mine.

[cutiger83]

I looked thru this entire thread jotting down the makers marks. Here is a list of what I found. If anyone has any additional examples or knows of any others, please post them as well. If I made any mistakes, please let me know.

 

I thought some people might like to see a list of the different makers marks to look for.

 

NS Meyer

H&H (Hilborn & Hamburg)

JR Gaunt

Gemsco

BB&B (Bailey, Banks, & Biddle)

Blackinton

AE Co

Robbins

KRAG

FH Noble & Co

JK Davison

OEC (Officer Equipment Corps)

E&F Simon Inc

Antaya GI

HLR

LI GI

KREW

Sugarman

HLP (His Lordship Products)

 

Thanks, Kat

[Brig]

not to forget that Gaunt can be divided into JR Gaunt England and JR Gaunt New York...

 

and NS (cannot recall company name)

[Keith]

3 badges from the same estate. 1944-1951. Of the two Expert Rifleman badges; is one WW2 period and the other Korea? The 3rd badge, Marksman?, has the EGA applied to it and looks like the gold paint has run off of it and onto the badge. I understand this EGA is not an authorized application? One a dress green coat; am I right thinking there would only be one of these badges worn or would the Marine wear an Expert Rifleman and the Marksman both?

thanks.

[Brig]

the Marine would wear both his expert rifle and 'basic' marksman badge, Great basic badge with unauthorized EGA attached!

 

and that BB&B is spectacular!

[Brig]

A nice Robbins Co expert that brought 45 on eBay last week...

[Keith]

I originally thought this was paint at the 6-7 o'clock position but have determined it is solder or whatever was used to attach the EGA. The rest of the STERLING badge has tarnished, but the solder did not. I have tried to remove it and to blacken it with no results. If I am to get it off I think I would need to use heat and probably would end up having to polish the entire badge. If heat and polish to a bright condition is a no-no I could use a colored felt tip or something like that to try and blend in the untarnished area. Any thoughts....leave it be, polish it bright, cover it up with color? Thanks. PS: It will be going on a uniform and it probably would have been kept bright by the Marine who wore it?