Help restoring/cleaning military medals

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:34 pm

horologist wrote:Heath,

Some additional points.
You want to make your frame from a wood that is not too acidic or you may have damage from long term storage. Oak would be a poor choice. I once bought a cartridge collection that had been stored in an oak cabinet, many of them had bullets that were heavily oxidized.

Also, I'm not too thrilled with brasso. It collects in nooks and crannies and forms a crusty residue that is hard to clean out and can cause heavy corrosion in these areas. I have restored numerous brass clock dials that had such damage and have had better results with simichrome.

I like your design for the frame and hope this isn't how you injured your hand.

We used extruded aluminum framing material from a local craft store ( I know, the easy way out.) and acid free foam board with black velvet for the back. Fine copper beading wire works well to tie down the items that don't have pin backs.

Troy

Our frame:
[ATTACH]6722[/ATTACH]

Nice display, Troy. Those medals, ribbons and insignia wood knot belong to Ralph, wood they?

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:58 pm

a1gutterman wrote:Nice display, Troy. Those medals, ribbons and insignia wood knot belong to Ralph, wood they?

No, they belonged to Cathy's father. He signed up in 1938 and retired in 1970. Unfortunately he passed away shortly after I met Cathy and we have been trying to sort out all the stuff. The next frame will be for the patches.

Troy

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:21 am

horologist, how did you attach the dog tags? I was thinking about using hot glue, but when I mentioned that to my wife, she didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

Some of you might have seen the design I did in Sketchup in the Sketchup 101 thread here. I've put together a couple prototypes of the joinery. My first attempt didn't come out very good at all. I used hardwood of an unknown type, about 1/2" thick by 3" wide. The fingers fit together much too loose.

I tried it again today using pine 2x6 leftover scraps from a picnic table that I ripped down to 4" wide. Much better results this time and I like the way the joinery looks using the thicker wood. But, I still have a way to go. I abandoned the square plugs deciding that was beyond my capabilities right now. Forming the square plugs and the square holes would be entirely hand tool work (I don't have a hollow chisel mortise) and I need a lot more practice for that. Drilling a hole and using a dowel is within my range of abilities.

[ATTACH]6832[/ATTACH]

Also, I wanted some feedback on the layout of the medals for the case. This is what I have. I'm using what I have for now although I'd really like to put in a rank patch if I can get one in time.

[ATTACH]6833[/ATTACH]

The newspaper article details a firefight my dad was involved in. Mom gave it to me with some other stuff she had. I thought it would be interesting to include it to give the display a more human element. Based on pictures I've seen, the medals should be laid out pretty close to how they are worn on a uniform. Can those of you with experience verify if I have that right?

The pictures are placeholders for now. They're not of dad, but people he served with in the Marines. I will make a print of the following image for the picture on the right. I scanned it from a 35mm slide that was in with the stuff mom gave me for this project.

[ATTACH]6834[/ATTACH]

The picture on the left will be a picture taken when he was given the medal right above it (gold medallion with blue ribbon). That was given recently by the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, to Louisiana veterans. Governor Jindal personally handed out the medals.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:29 am

Nice to see your project coming together. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished masterpiece. It's amazing how much us newbies have to learn to become good woodworkers. This forum will be extremely helpful to increase the level of expertise quickly. I look at the projects some have done and just can't wait to tackle a few.

A consideration for the newspaper article. For longevity, rather than using the original, you may want to scan it and print out a color copy to use instead. As you know, exposure to light really kills newspaper over time. You'll see that your copy will be almost indistinguishable from the original when viewed a normal viewing distance. This way the original can be placed safely away somewhere out of the light. Just a thought from a genealogists perspective.

dlbristol · Post by **dlbristol** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:48 am

Nice work! I just skimmed the last entries so I may have missed something, but it occurs to me that if your Dad was in a recon unit, and the picture is of his unit, he probably has other medals. This kind of unit probably has some unit awards, and in this type of unit, the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) was a certainty. I don't see that in your pictures. I think the CIB is universal to the Army and MArines. Most of the Nam Vets I know, including me, consider the CIB to be our most treasured award. Thanks again for the care you are taking, It will be a special thing for both of you.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:53 am

Way ahead of you, MickyD.

That actually is a color copy scanned from the browned original. If you look closely around it, you can see the edges of the sheet of paper it's printed on.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:14 am

dlbristol wrote:Nice work! I just skimmed the last entries so I may have missed something, but it occurs to me that if your Dad was in a recon unit, and the picture is of his unit, he probably has other medals. This kind of unit probably has some unit awards, and in this type of unit, the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) was a certainty. I don't see that in your pictures. I think the CIB is universal to the Army and MArines. Most of the Nam Vets I know, including me, consider the CIB to be our most treasured award. Thanks again for the care you are taking, It will be a special thing for both of you.

Mom gave me a copy of Dad's DD-214 so I could see if there were any missing medals or awards. It did not mention a Combat Infantry Badge. Would it have listed it if he had been awarded it? He attended scuba school, but that's not listed on the form. He did see a lot of combat. He was in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division. He only did one 2-year tour and if I'm reading his DD-214 right, he spent over 1 year in Vietnam. He told me that they offered him embassy duty wherever he wanted if he re-enlisted. He asked how long that duty was guaranteed for and they said 30 days, so he turned it down!

It's amazing how 2 years of somebody's life - a very brief period compared to a full lifetime - can have such a major impact a person.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:22 am

I did some quick Google research and found that the Marine equilavent to the Army's "Combat Infantry Badge" is the "Combat Action Ribbon." According to Wikipedia:

&quot wrote:The Combat Action Ribbon was first created in February 1969 with SECNAVNOTE 1650[1] with retroactive presentation to March 01, 1961. However on October 5, 1999, by Presidential Order of Bill Clinton and under Public Law 106-65, the retroactive effective date of the Combat Action Ribbon was changed to December 07, 1941 which was the entry date of the United States of America into the Second World War.

Dad was discharged in December of 1967, so that was before the Combat Action Ribbon. I guess this is something he would need to apply for now? I'll have to talk to Mom about that. She is familiar with the process as they had to go through the red tape of having his scuba school recognized.

nomoman · Post by **nomoman** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:35 am

Heath,
Try this link for the placement of ribbons. Just check the boxes according to dad's DD-214. It will show you how they were worn.
http://kepler.pratt.duke.edu/USMCRibbons.html

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 5:59 pm

heathicus wrote:horologist, how did you attach the dog tags? I was thinking about using hot glue, but when I mentioned that to my wife, she didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

Heath,

I also considered the hot glue and have used it to secure other metallic objects but can't say if it might cause damage in the long run. Instead I stitched them down with a needle and some mono filament fishing line. I'm visiting my dad at the workshop in the woods and will try taking a close up photo when I get home.

Troy