Re-ribbon or not ?????

Brig and 268th C.A.... 

Agreed. We're 100% on the same wavelength: at a very young age i realized that regardless of potential this should be the "asterisk exception" and not a candidate for reuse as other scraps were to be. Notice the added thickness in the rectangular area of the star field:  yes, that further complicates the folding and crimping and so isn't something that can be done at the kitchen table by some 14 year old Vandal.

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Thankfully, I also resisted replacing the ribbon in the following instance even though I was able to acquire a replacement ribbon; as you see that is a very good representation - right down to its unbound edges:

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So, for now, together they rest, side-by-side. 

 (Not so though a bit earlier with a very salty USS New Orleans Sampson Medal. But even that decision was subsequently reversed because I never threw anything out) 

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The lesson learned was caution and a healthy respect for history (and mythology: would the separated parts forever after then be seeking to reunite?) As it is, I still shudder at the probable fate of those other irreplaceable parts of the 1904 style suspension - and maybe even the pendant. Landfills are stocked with such things. 

 So re-purposing of the MH drape was never a serious consideration. And it was 

the free-for-all 60's when other opportunities presented themselves. 😉

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I'm going a bit off topic but I did seem to remember, lo these many years, seeing older, wide versions of a MH service ribbon with many stars. But the only evidence I found is the Navy Department ribbon chart in the October 1943 National Geographic;  i can't be sure that they photographed actual ribbon bars and whether this configuration was ever authorized. It may have been very limited: the inverted stars are indicative of the Tiffany Cross.

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So, back as my answer to the original question,: if you do replace, save everything...it costs nothing.

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Jim T