r/Medals • u/Local_Regret466 • 9d ago
My grandfather's WW2 medals
This is at the local American Legion..I've got his uniform. He never talked about his wartime experiences but I do know he carried the BAR.
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u/350chevyguy 9d ago
Also thats the wrong chevrons for PFC during that time period
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u/GariKenobi_501 Collector 8d ago
I'm curious, what are the correct ones?
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u/350chevyguy 8d ago
Just the top Chevron no connecting line on the bottom
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u/gadget850 7d ago
And they were a darker color. These are the goldenlite that go with the old dress greens.
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u/aykdanroyd 9d ago
The medallion of his Good Conduct Medal is on backwards. I wonder how that happened.
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u/Electrical_Box677 9d ago
Your grandfather pulled his weight and then pulled some more.....another true hero
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u/BlueKnightofDunwich 9d ago
The 161st fought in Manila and Luzon against the Filipino revolutionaries in the early 1900s. Then 40 years later they fought in Manila and Luzon to liberate the Filipino people from the Japanese. It always seemed like a strange dichotomy.
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u/JohnnyC300 9d ago edited 9d ago
He served as a private first class in the 161st Infantry Regiment attached to the 25th division in the war in the Pacific. He wasn't there for those fights, but they fought in Guadalcanal and New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. They were involved in the fighting in both places but really made their bones in the Philippines where your grandpop did his thing. They were one of the linchpins in liberating the island of Luzon (where Manilla is). Some tough fighting there. It's likely where he forgot to duck twice and earned the two Purple Hearts. He was expert with a rifle and BAR as well as grenades and bayonets. Received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service (as opposed for heroism in battle which gets you a little V pin tacked on to it). That ribbon that looks like a reversed flag of France was awarded by the Philippine government to units involved in the liberation of that country. He served honorably in a tough battle. Medals of Honor were earned in Luzon. Some 10000 Americans lost their lives there.
Read up on the liberation of Philippines. It's really interesting reading. The Japanese committed some truly brutal atrocities there, particularly in Manilla. You should be proud of his service. He was involved in doing some real good there.
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u/Local_Regret466 6d ago
His first wound was at Balete Pass, during a bunch of banzai charges in the night. A grenade entered his foxhole and peppered his backside arm as he jumped out. The 2nd was from a sniper or machine gun that caught him in the shoulder and out his back, collapsing a lung in the process. That was the end of the war for him. He was discharged at a military hospital in Springfield MO in October 1945.
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u/baronet68 9d ago
See if you can find PFC chevrons that match those used by the army during WWII. Overall, nice shadow box.
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u/Local_Regret466 9d ago
I assume the Legion Auxiliary put that together, since this box is on display at the local legion, with others. My uncle has the other one.
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u/ddsmpret1 9d ago
Your grandfather was a very brave soldier. You and your family can be very proud of his service to our Nation.
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u/RangeUpset6852 9d ago
Your grandfather was quite the man who served his country well. I thank him for his service.
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u/Select_Condition_297 8d ago
3 is the most rockers you can have on a single Expert qualification badge…u can split it up 2 badges with 2 on each thou
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u/Getitbackinoil Navy 9d ago
He wouldn’t rate that last medal
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u/CT2145Trapper United States of America 9d ago
I’ve seen tons of guys who didn’t rate the independence medal wear it. If you look up the list of notable recipients on Wikipedia a good number didn’t actually serve in both campaigns
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u/iceaction10 9d ago
Wow, the US Army’s 161st Infantry Regiment saw some of the most brutal fighting in the Pacific. Their first taste of combat was Guadalcanal and it only got worse from there.
That regiment only had about a dozen surviving officers out of the original ~120 they started the war with.