The new clarification on the narrative:

Hi Top,

 

I was looking for my earlier uniform regulation excerpts but can't readily find them at the moment. I do believe thay read the same.

 

Keep in mind, that during the war (WWII) period, only uniform ribbons were authorized for wear on the actual uniform, including full dress. Exactly why, I don't know, but all the period service and campaign medals didn't actually get issued until mid 1947 anyway. Just thought it was interesting.

 

As far as the star orientation on decorations, what I read, they follow suit, one point down.

 

Tim

..............

 

 

Yes, the star orientation did change later on where the single point was up. This is the current regulation as well.

 

Exactly when that change happened, I need to find my references for that period, but I believe it was post Korean War era.

 

As far as the star orientation on the naval officer uniform, it has absolutely nothing to do with the star attachments on medals/ribbons.

 

Tim

Exactly when that change happened, I need to find my references for that period, but I believe it was post Korean War era.

 

 

Tim

 

Right; the quote I posted specified 1964. Perhaps that may narrow down where to look.

Right; the quote I posted specified 1964. Perhaps that may narrow down where to look.

 

Give me a day or two and I can see what I can find. I thought I remember reading it somewhere recently. :thumbsup:

Still looking through the early (1942-'43ish) stuff but, here some information that might help.

 

** Quick note, as the image size is limited to 150 kbyt here, the images are not the best but I'll attach a full page, then a closeup of the highlighted area for ease of reading. **

In the June 1946 All Hands Bulletin, a bulletin board section was devoted towards the uniform/medals regulations of the time. They did this every few years before and after this specific issue. In that, it took excerpts straight out of the uniform regulations and included it in All Hands.

 

On page #72, they discuss service ribbons and show a figure depicting the correct wear and setup of how ribbons and attachments are to be worn. However...

 

Also, I just noted the order of precedence in that 1946 listing. I noted that the Legion of Merit was moved behind the Silver Star; the Good Conduct was moved up to a position behind the Commendation Ribbon; the Reserve Special Commendation and Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal was moved to following the commerative medals, and; the Bailey Medal and the Naval Reserve Medal are still in the position they were in 1937--following the campaign and foreign awards.

 

The latter is bizzare, especially since the Naval Reserve Medal is the Navy's equivalent to the Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal. I would have though that it would have been moved up at the same time the OMCR Medal got moved up. The post-war period must have really been a challenge.

 

Give me a day or two and I can see what I can find. I thought I remember reading it somewhere recently. :thumbsup:

 

Tim: Don't sweat that one on my account. I was really only concerned with the war and immediate post-war period. The funny thing is that most ribbons I see have stars thate are applied any which way. In discussing this with the folks at the Museum or the Marine Corps, the curator told me that most guys did basically whatever they wanted.

Hi Top,

 

I have noted some of those changes and recently commented on another thread relating to good conduct medals.

 

Here's one for you and slightly off topic, so my apologies to the thread starter. I haven't had much time to research and compare the two different versions of the Marine Reserve Medal. Note the one on the left is actually an earlier version that reflects when the medal was only awarded to FMF personnel. Perhaps the change in ranking applied once the medal itself was changed and opened up to all Marine Reserve?

 

Tim

Tim: Don't sweat that one on my account. I was really only concerned with the war and immediate post-war period. The funny thing is that most ribbons I see have stars thate are applied any which way. In discussing this with the folks at the Museum or the Marine Corps, the curator told me that most guys did basically whatever they wanted.

 

Yes, I believe that is the case, even today. Keeping in mind that most service personnel didn't get their medals until after the war was over by almost two years, and many were already out, no uniform regulation was enforced for those people. I'm sure many bought ribbons and made up their own bars. Again, with the ambuguity of the instruction, pertaining to stars, I can see where confusion played it's part.

 

I had started a thread on another forum long ago concerning WWII Victory Medals that had unofficial stars and Fleet bars attached, again a case where servicemen did what they wanted to. I think I added some of that information here on another thread as well.

 

Enjoy! If I find addtional information on the stars, I will add it here for completeness. :thumbsup:

 

Tim

Hi Top,

 

I have noted some of those changes and recently commented on another thread relating to good conduct medals.

 

Here's one for you and slightly off topic, so my apologies to the thread starter. I haven't had much time to research and compare the two different versions of the Marine Reserve Medal. Note the one on the left is actually an earlier version that reflects when the medal was only awarded to FMF personnel. Perhaps the change in ranking applied once the medal itself was changed and opened up to all Marine Reserve?

 

Tim

 

Wow, that's something I never saw. To be honest, I didn't know that there were any non-FMF units in the OMCR.