ww1 wounded notation on discharge

[Marchville1918]

I have a WW1 30th Division soldier group complete with pictures and sale bill. there is a wound chevron on the lower left sleeve and a late issue unnumbered purple heart listed in the sale with the uniform.  I have a copy of his discharge and statement of service card which do not list any wounds. I also have a copy of the unit history which shows him in the hospital listed as sick. I'm wondering if he may have been "sick" from gas? any ideas?

[everforward]

Wound chevrons were normally on the right sleeve in WW1, overseas chevrons were on the left sleeve…all that being said, being gassed did classify as a combat wound.

[AustinO]

A purple heart for WWI wounds should be engraved with his name.  If it's not, I would assume it's been added to enhance the grouping.

[jemo4570]

Please show some pictures of your find? 

[Marchville1918]

I miss spoke. his overseas chevron is on the left sleeve and his wound chevron is on the right sleeve.  the story at the sale was that as an old man he complained that he should have gotten a purple heart and the Legion got him one.  They also got his victory ribbon replaced with the 3 battle stars he earned according to his discharge. I don't think a late unnumbered purple heart for a wound would be engraved even for a WW1 wound.  he died in 1978 and the purple heart is listed in the estate sale bill along with the uniform etc. The wound chevron and the cloth insignia appear to have been on the uniform since 1919 when the division came back from France. I've owned it since the sale and it has been a mystery to me. In the end I am drawn to the conclusion that it is just a military paperwork screw up or there was something about how gas sickness was reported.  

[jemo4570]

My great grandfathers discharge papers show he was wounded at Bellicourt on September 29, 1918 (he told me he was shot in the upper leg). The Tennessee State Museum records show he was wounded at Bellicourt also.

The Federal govt records list him as "sick" on October 10, 1918. 

While he never talked about any of his time in Belgium and France, occasionally, he would correct me if I said anything wrong about something I had read. 

My point is, govt records are not always correct and WW1 records are nearly impossible to to verify. The archives stock answer blames the fire of 1972. 

[everforward]

16 hours ago, Marchville1918 said:

......  the story at the sale was that as an old man he complained that he should have gotten a purple heart and the Legion got him one.  They also got his victory ribbon replaced with the 3 battle stars he earned according to his discharge. I don't think a late unnumbered purple heart for a wound would be engraved even for a WW1 wound.....

 

From my own experience with collecting these items, the PH medal was something that WW1 veterans were made aware of when they were adopted in the early 1930s, but weren't automatically sent one and had to fill out a request to have one sent to them (and it was engraved at the time), so perhaps he didn't know about the process back then....I am thinking there was also a similar form from around 1920 that had to be filled out for the WW1 Victory Medal so that it would arrive with the proper campaign clasps.

 

I also have an example from a WW1 soldier that was sent an engraved PH either late in WW2 or sometime in the late 1940s as the style of engraving fits that time period. 

 

[Marchville1918]

I agree with ever forward (soldiers had to apply) and I presume present a copy of their discharge to prove what they were entitled to. his discharge showing no wounds I assume he would have had a hard time getting one when they first came out and may have just not bothered.  Still he has the wound chevron. I have no idea what the Legion might have done to get him his heart. Of course, he knew the nature of his injury and possibly an affidavit processed through the Legion got it for him. who knows. I don't know if his file in St Louis had been burned up by the time this was going on or not.

[everforward]

Here is another example of how some soldiers received authorization to wear insignia from their superior officers concerning matters such as being wounded in action, and it would also provide later credibility for receiving a Purple Heart, which is what happened in the case of this soldier with the 29th Division…….a written acknowledgment from a former commander, and the Purple Heart award that followed some years later.