WWII Veteran's Shadow Box
 

Didn't have much to go on, Battle Of The Bulge Purple Heart recipient, tracked down a few pertinent unit assignments.

This was a request from the veteran's son.

Purple Heart and the CIB, front and center, as they should be !!

You should have OldBen show you his Medals he got in the Spanish American War. Quite Impressive. :yesnod:

Hahahahaha

Does someone typically just hand you a DD214 and then you're on your own?

Typically, it doesn't work that way. The veteran receives all the medals, ribbons, mess dress medals, etc. throughout their career and once given, are tough to replace unless they're common. ESPECIALLY, Purple Hearts, Stars (Silver, Bronze, etc.) POW captivity, and MOHs. Once you get the ONE they give you, they won't give you another just because you ask. Most typical/common medals are available for sale at clothing sales. But for the more rare medals, you have to ask (or order) from military clothing sales after presenting the citation.

If someone in your family gifts you a military medal, guard it very closely since to replace it would take a SIGNIFIGANT amount of effort and networking from a non-recipient.

There was no DD214 during WWII, that came about in 1950. Before that, each service provided the veteran with some sort of equivalent paperwork.
Quite a few of these older endeavors I do have very little info to go on, most have lost or misplaced ribbons or medals. I glean the info from whatever paperwork or photo I can obtain, then go from there. I do quite a bit of research.

I don't go through the VA nor does the family to obtain any of these items, no need to, besides no one wants to wait six months for a free item, they would rather pay.

If I can get a name of a unit, time frame served, and where, that's a good start.

Except for the Medal Of Honor (MOH), I can secure just about all that were issued. A few of the medals high in stature like the Navy Cross, can be purchased through several on line vendors, but are not cheap, $166 for a Navy Cross.

The set up alone for the box in this thread was $416. That's just for material, I do not charge for time and labor.

Looks good. :patriot:

My uncle was in a tank destroyer battalion. Same battles and might have served nearby or with him. I have his original patch. My cousin tossed a clock that was brought home from one of their tanks as a souvenir :issues:

https://i.imgur.com/f0Zizkd.jpg