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Is the engraving legit on this Purple Heart?

USAF29thINFvet

By USAF29thINFvet,
in DECORATIONS/VALOR AWARDS

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USAF29thINFvet

USAF29thINFvet

Posted
Posted

Any and all opinions  / thoughts appreciated!

 

 

WWII 29th PH.png

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted

I don't think any were engraved by the government. I think they were done by the person who received it or by a buddy. I think a lot were done in the hospital. The font sure looks 40s.

jweitkamp

jweitkamp

Posted
Posted

Your conjecture is completely wrong; see the multitude of posts on this subject on this forum.

KASTAUFFER

KASTAUFFER

Posted
Posted
On 1/4/2025 at 8:34 PM, USAF29thINFvet said:

Any and all opinions  / thoughts appreciated!

 

 

WWII 29th PH.png

 

 

 

Looks like official WWII US Army engraving to me. 

 

Kurt

USAF29thINFvet

USAF29thINFvet

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Kurt!

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, jweitkamp said:

Your conjecture is completely wrong; see the multitude of posts on this subject on this forum.

Honestly don't think the government did engrave purple hearts, that it was done by the servicemen or they took it somewhere to be done. I see so few that are engraved. My dad's look like he engraved it himself. But that engraving does look familiar. Love some more info on this.

Brian Dentino

Brian Dentino

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, JohnK83882 said:

Honestly don't think the government did engrave purple hearts, that it was done by the servicemen or they took it somewhere to be done. I see so few that are engraved. My dad's look like he engraved it himself. But that engraving does look familiar. Love some more info on this.

Not at all correct.  Have a look at this thread for some examples of "Officially Engraved vs. privately engraved" medals.  Also a member here wrote a great book on WWII officially engraved medals of all sorts (the originator of the link I posted below).  You will see many examples of officially engraved medals issued by the gov't out of the Phil. Depot during the war.  In fact, WWI medals that were issued post-war were engraved to the veterans.

 

 

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted

I know medals were engraved but the question was does the government do it on ww2 purple hearts. I'm only seeing examples of engraving in the link but so far not seeing anything about government engraved or officially engraved for WW2 purple hearts. But if that was the case, I'll take your word for it. Certainly most of them share the same font.

Dave

Dave

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, JohnK83882 said:

I know medals were engraved but the question was does the government do it on ww2 purple hearts. I'm only seeing examples of engraving in the link but so far not seeing anything about government engraved or officially engraved for WW2 purple hearts. But if that was the case, I'll take your word for it. Certainly most of them share the same font.

 

I wrote a book about this. I recommend picking up a copy as it would answer a lot of questions. The link is below.

 

As far as the medal in the first post, it's correct government engraving.

 

Dave

 

https://www.amazon.com/Sacrifice-Remembered-Posthumous-Awards-Purple/dp/0979284910/

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the correction. Was it mostly the posthumous awarded PHs that had the government engraving?

Mr.Jerry

Mr.Jerry

Posted
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Dave's book is outstanding! A "must have" for any U.S. collector. Truly the definitive work on the subject.

 

and yes I would say "Most" of the engraved PH's were indeed government done. Mostly KIA, but also POW, WWI WIA and KIA, and severely wounded. But anyone could actually send their medal in for official engraving.  Sometimes you see the cards that were included.

The font style changed over time, Dave's book covers that.

Some were also "unofficially" (locally) done by jewelers when guys got home. These are not as sought after as they can be too easily reproduced.

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Mr.Jerry said:

Dave's book is outstanding! A "must have" for any U.S. collector. Truly the definitive work on the subject.

 

and yes I would say "Most" of the engraved PH's were indeed government done. Mostly KIA, but also POW, WWI WIA and KIA, and severely wounded. But anyone could actually send their medal in for official engraving.  Sometimes you see the cards that were included.

The font style changed over time, Dave's book covers that.

Some were also "unofficially" (locally) done by jewelers when guys got home. These are not as sought after as they can be too easily reproduced.

My dad lost a leg and his was only hand scratched in, likely by him in the hospital bed. Maybe if I go over his letters, I'll find mention of it.

Spartan19

Spartan19

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, JohnK83882 said:

My dad lost a leg and his was only hand scratched in, likely by him in the hospital bed. Maybe if I go over his letters, I'll find mention of it.

I have read all your previous messages in this thread and to say you have a lot to learn is a understatement. You are disagreeing and argureing with some of the formost experts when it comes to Purple Hearts. That and you failed to do you own research either online or on here. There are tons of very good and informative threads on here about purple hearts and purple heart engraving.  And as mentioned in this very thread David Schwind wrote the book on Ww2 purple hearts. The book is available on Amazon and probably a few other places. 

 

This should be a learning experience but I have a feeling you will ignore all of us who are telling you something and go with your own narrative. 

 

My intention isn't to be mean or come off as nasty but some people need to learn the in's and outs of this hobby. 

 

Also almost all engraved Ww2 Purple Hearts were to killed in action. 

 

 

JohnK83882

JohnK83882

Posted
Posted

Okay, okay. My last post was just my two cents regarding ONE example of an engraved PH. Mostly, I had questions. I never put myself out to be an expert in anything. Anybody can read my posts. "Also almost all engraved Ww2 Purple Hearts were to killed in action." That is the info I needed.

  • 5 months later...
Wharfmaster

Wharfmaster

Posted
Posted

I would not use the term "almost all" officially engraved Army Purple Hearts were awarded to KIAs. I would use the term "large percentage".

 

Many were awarded to Army WIAs and wounded POWs. They are not at all rare.

 

You could say almost all Navy and Marine Corps WIA Purple Hearts were issued unnamed. There are exceptions here too.

 

I have Army non-fatal officially named Purple Hearts in my collection.

 

 

W

 

 

TLeo

TLeo

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Dave said:

 

It's a remarkable story! Here's the engraving - exactly correct and government engraved.

 

image.png.ab8b8bedaa8907911bcefca370286da5.png

That is truly amazing that it survived the crusher!

  • 2 weeks later...
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MWalsh

MWalsh

Posted
Posted
On 7/3/2025 at 10:49 AM, Haze99 said:

One PH Medal spared from sell off.

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/purple-heart-of-kansas-city-wwii-veteran-rescued-from-auction

 

Well, not really... he is leaving the door open to a "historian", whatever that is. Arguably many Purple Heart collectors are just that.  Its just that some historian or hisotrian / collector, may not actually have to purchase this one. 

 

From the linked news story - "Ford hopes to eventually connect with any surviving relatives or historians who may want to preserve the medal or include it in an archive."

 

HAZE99 - keep in mind that it is because of collectors buying these, that they have value enough - monetary and / or historical - to ever be saved in the first place. 

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