Correct me if I am wrong but he is not wearing any wings in the picture either. Seems odd to me.

This is an original WWI NC ribbon from a WWI USN Officer.

Also, was this something that was commonly done or rarely seen?   Or is this just a reenactor thing that didn't really happen at all beyond an example or two?   And assuming they did, what exactly did it "say" or "do" if anything?   Any help is appreciated.

Keep in mind IMA is located in New Jersey. Enough said.

State laws throw confusion into the question. An expended launcher has no “ energetic” ( explosive) in them. They are ( as logic states) nothing more than fiberglass tubes. I am not going to get into discussions about why mortars and bazookas have holes cut in them. 

"The Aircraft Crew member Badge makes me wonder if they operated in helicopters in some capacity." Yes, the 1st Cavalry used helicopters extensively.   "For the Recondo patch, I cant tell if its ab earlier RAIDER School badge or if its the later 82nd Recondo school, but awesome either way" I believe the "AA" in the patch indicates 82nd Airborne Recondo School.                    

Thanks for the input JL With the size of the hole and it being an entry hole it’s just way too large, also the shape/size is consistent with a flak/mortar fragment.  He described the piece of metal being The size of a silver dollar which is 38.1 millimeters in diameter, which is equal to 1.5 inches. In his letter he statutes they pulled that out of his head, a 1.5inch piece of metal. That’s a big fragment to have in your melon, whether bullet or flak that’s a massive hole in the helmet.   

. Hi AG,   thanks for the comments on the correspondents post, here is the actual chateau that they stayed at.  Next time I am passing I will call in at the chateau I believe they still have the room available to view for those interested, perhaps I will pass on a bottle of red for their kindness, I intend to drop a letter of thanks into the post-box of the house for their efforts displaying the correspondents photos...         Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,   June 16  2024.    ...    

Hello This came from a local family, who's greatgrandfather was a Captain in the Union Army.  It came with a note pinned to it from 1901 stating the location and date of his commission in Philadelphia.  Any concerns?  (Per family request, I did not post the name.) Thank you  

Unlike the Colt models which list a shipped date and usually a destination, the Clawson book shows only the number of pistols completed by  Remington-UMC with a week ending date. I added them from the first week of production, week ending Aug. 10,1918 to Dec. 7, 1918 and came up with 10,014 total to Dec.7 (21,676 were completed by May 24, 1919) so your pistol S/N 9808 was completed during the week ending Dec. 7, 1918. There were 1478 pistols completed that week, which was the largest number of pistols ever completed in one week for all Remington-UMC production during 1918-19. The left side of the frame should have initials EEC with eagles head and either E1 or E28. The upper left side of the trigger guard and also forward of the slide stop should have an E stamp also. The barrel should be marked with a P on top of the chamber or on the right barrel lug(early models). There should also be an E on the bottom of the mainspring housing.  Hope this helps somewhat, the slide info would need close-up photos to determine it's age. Thanks for posting.       Steve