This is an interesting 17 place ribbon bar set acquired on eBay, which is attributed to Lt. Colonel Frederick C. Feil. He enlisted from Penna. as an Army reserve 2nd Lt. in 1931 after earning his BS degree from Penna. Military College in 1930. Feil rose to Lt. Col. in May 1943, and fought with the 9th Inf. Division through all 8 of its WW2 campaigns. His Silver Star citation describes his heroic leading of the 1st Batt/47 Inf ashore at Safi, Morocco on 8 November 1942. His 1st Legion of Merit and first two BSM citations are brief boilerplate which quote only meritorious services over 1942-1944. I haven't located his Soldier's Medal citation, but was told he won it during a 1946 barracks fire & explosion in occupied Germany.

 

Lt. Col. Feil served as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, 9th Division over April 1944 to May 1945. Feil received the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre during WW2. I don't yet know in what capacity he served in Korea, but his service was notable enough to earn the 2nd class Korean Order of Military Merit (Ulchi). Could any Forum member locate a WW2-Korean era photograph of Feil in some unit history?? Would any member have information on Feil's Korean duty or assignments??

Nothing on his Korean service, but he received his Belgian Croix de Guerre with palm in Royal Decree 1652 of 12 January 1946.

No doubt he won the Silver Star, but the 47th Regimental History, which lists decorations by campaign, has no mention of him winning it (or any Bronze stars)

 

By May 1943, Feil was separated from the 47th Inf, promoted to Lt. Col., and re-assigned to be Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, 9th Division. His Silver Star was published in MTO G.O. #186 of October 1946 as Colonel, GSC. His 1st two Bronze Star Medals were announced in 9th Division GOs of Sept 1944 & April 1945 as Lt. Col. Gen. Staff Corps. So his awards might not have been considered part of the 47th Infantry WW2 history.

 

The Korean Order of Military Merit turned out to be a very confusing array. The first of three different design sets was instituted in 1950. The first set had four classes to the order, each of which was divided into three grades as indicated by a gold star, silver star, or no star on the ribbon. Feil received the 2nd class (Ulchi), 2nd grade (silver star).

 

To make identification worse, each class had a very different design of the medal. A fifth class was added later, so the Order totaled 5 x 3 = 15 varieties. The order was re-designed twice in later years, so the numismatic total may add up to 15 + 15 + 15 = 45 varieties!!

This is a very old thread, but I thought it would be interesting to post a photo of this man...