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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Victory Medal to a US Army Officer


Keith_history_buff

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Whilst the majority of MICs in the range WO 372/1 to WO 372/22 relate to campaign medals and/or silver war badges, there are also those index cards which document a request for medals which was subsequently turned down. With regard to Americans, there are several hundred MICs that pertain to medical staff, which is worthy of a topic in its own right, and there are about 100 index cards from non-medical staff of the US Army.

In this latter category, it has been my understanding that these men had friends who had perhaps served with the French, and had received the French Médaille Commemorative de la Guerre, thus prompting them to apply for British equivalents. I have been bemused to see specific battles specified with some of these requests, too.

There is a MIC for Captain Hamilton Vaughan Bail (03-Feb-1892 - 27-Aug-1997). He has details recorded in several datasets available via Ancestry, in particular New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, and New York, Record of Award Medal, 1920-1991. What I found particularly interesting is that he spent the duration of the war in the States.

Whilst he got nothing from the War Office, he did receive a Victory Medal. I was surprised to read that, unlike the British criteria of having served in a theatre of war, the eligibility was for those to have served, regardless of home or abroad, during the qualifying period between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918. I had assumed that as well as a common design of medal being issued by the various Allied nations, that there would have been a commonality in the eligibility criteria.

Also of interest is that on the NY abstracts of military service, specific battles get a mention, and I now see that this is because of the battle clasps that were issued with the Victory Medal to members of the AEF.

His MIC states

 

Quote

'App for medals d/ 8-Apr-23

NW/5/30078 56

 

Pine Street

New York'

  

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Is the medal named and if what are the details ?

Cheers

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All that there is to tell is that this prompted me to look at the US military eligibility criteria. It is the first instance I have come across of a speculative request to the War Office for medals where the requestor had never served overseas. 

I don't have this man's medal, only access to Ancestry. I found this a quirky tale, so I thought I'd share it on here, along with the difference between the eligibility criteria of the US military versus that of Great Britain's War Office.

Thanks, Keith

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