Isn’t it amazing how fast things can change? One of my favorite military medals is the Humane Action Service medal issued to those who took part in the Berlin Air Lift from June 1948 to Sept. 1949. The Soviets had cut off all land supply routes into the western sector of occupied Berlin in order to starve the city into submission. The US then flew in all the food and fuel needed to save the city’s population from starving and freezing to death. The children of the same population that only four years earlier we were trying to bomb into oblivion were now being bombed with candy tied to miniature parachutes. This medal is a historic milestone commemorating one of our finest moments.

Yet another interesting military medal group to show you. This one was an easy research job since it came with the soldier’s discharge! Emil Nelson served with the 127^th Ambulance company (32^nd Division) which was made up of mostly Racine Wisconsin men. On his WWI Victory medal he has the normal four bars for the 32^nd: AISNE-MARNE, OISE-AISNE, MEUSE-ARGONNE and the common DEFENSIVE SECTOR.

On his discharge Nelson is credited for action in the Alsace Sector for which there is no bar. As I found out on the US Militaria Forum when I asked the question, the Defensive Sector Bar was a catch all for all the so called quiet sector actions for which no actual bars were issued. Sergeant Nelson’s service during the post war occupation of parts of Germany is also mentioned on his record and again there was no bar for that, but later in the 1940’s the medal with General Pershing’s profile was issued for that.

This is a great group and as a collector I should be happy with it but darn I sure would have liked to have gotten his dog tags too.

The two years following the end of the First World War saw the greatest flood of military service medals in our history. Since the Federal Government didn’t show any interest in issuing a WWI service medal nearly everyone else decided to make sure that their veterans got a medal. State and local government units, veterans and fraternal groups, employers and even mothers groups issued medals. The medal illustrated below was issued by the Mothers of The 32^ND Division to their boys. The obverse has the American Eagle, the Wisconsin State Arms and the 32^ND Division Red Arrow symbol. The reverse has a blank name space and a nine line inscription. The medal was issued as a pocket piece without a loop or ribbon and a blank name space. When you see one like the one below with a ribbon and a name engraved on the reverse then you know that someone went the extra mile for their veteran or to sell you the medal. If the name checks out then you really have a nice medal.

It may bug me more than others but I think this topic needs to be aired. Almost every where I look I find locally issued WWI souvenir and service medals listed as though they are the same thing. They are not the same thing!! One needs to read the inscriptions on the medals. If on the medal we find the words SOUVENIR or WELCOME HOME CELEBRATION or similar wording like the two medals illustrated below on the left it is a SOUVENIR medal which was issued to organizers and workers of the event and sold to the public to finance the event. To get this medal one did not have to be a military veteran. Like the ribboned medal at the right, if we find the words “Presented by…. For…. World War…” then we have an actual service medal that was only given to actual war veterans. That distinction makes a world of difference and I sure wish that everyone would care enough to list these medals correctly.

War On Terror

The real War on Terror should not only be directed against an enemy that is depicted so unrealistically as on the privately issued medal below which portrays an Arab on a camel surrendering to a jet plane or even the much more deadly Islamic Jihadists who can’t think of anything better to do with their lives than to commit suicide in the name of their religion while expecting to be rewarded with a 72 virgin heavenly orgy. No the real threat to the American way of life are the cyber terrorists world wide who create spy ware and computer viruses. These are the true evil geniuses who will someday bring our lives to a grinding halt. If our government isn’t already doing so then it is about time we establish a special agency to back track these destructive creations to their sources. If we find that the terrorists responsible are within our jurisdiction; they should be given an extended tropical island vacation at our world famous government resort in Guantanamo, Cuba. For the creative terrorists who are beyond our reach or even part of a hostile foreign government, we should present them with our first place grand prize, a Tomahawk Cruise Missile delivered free of charge to their front door or computer location.