US medal the silver star

**NickD** · 03-06-2009, 02:49 PM

well there is a big diff between spending £42 & spending £180 but only slightly

yeah the guy i got it from has no idea who he was it was just part of his collection

so i thought i'll give it a shot & try & find out

**NickD** · 03-08-2009, 06:46 PM

well i cant find any easy way of finding this guy & i guess from the over whelming response to my asking of help this got i guess no one else can either

**Adrian Stevenson** · 03-08-2009, 07:04 PM

Researching US medals is not something I have ever done. BUT there are ways and means of doing this. I did some initial research for you yesterday, but I have not come up with anything certain yet.

The basic problem is you don't have a service number. I came up with a long list of exact matching names going via the US death records. Many of the men were possible WW2 Vets going by their ages.

You can apply for service records in the USA but the potential problem is there could be more than one man with this name.

Cheers, Ade.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 03-08-2009, 08:04 PM

Here are some links for you:

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/index.jsp

Social Security Death Index Interactive Search

Military Personnel Records, SF-180

Hope this helps?

Cheers, Ade.

**soalebm** · 03-09-2009, 06:53 PM

I don't know how seriouse you are about finding info on this person but you can start by reading this and then go through the national archives. http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2...ticipation.pdf

I have been working on a book concerning Stalag Luft III & IV so I have been accessing a great deal of POW records lately so I ran the name. My records on POWs show two Robert E Simmons both in the US Army one was an officer # O&775599 European Theatre: Germany. Stalag 13D Nuremburg (Oflag 73) Bavaria 49-11. Which was not a horrible camp you can google it to read about it. The other was from Ohio 35674947 European Theatre: Germany. Stalag 13C Hammelburg Om Main Bavaria 50-10. I'm not familiar with this camp but this camp is still around in fact the German Infantry School is still operating there and they have a nice monument. Here is a website.
Stalag 13 Today

Hopefully this info helps you! But I must say without some background on this person it is very difficult. The Middle initial is going to be your biggest help looking this up. I ran Korean war records also because the same medals were reissued in Korea and sometimes people think they are WWII. there was one Robert E Simmons killed in Korea he was from Iowa RA16278277 he was a private 1st class Died May 27, 1951 and his unit is listed as 0021

**soalebm** · 03-09-2009, 07:07 PM

Thanks for the kind words Im actually at the library working on my book as we speak so I couldn't help but research the name. When I saw the O in the number meaning he was an officer I was hoping he would be an airmen because he would have been in Stalag Luft III. I have the records for most of the barracks and I possibly could have found what room he was in. That would have been great.

**NickD** · 03-12-2009, 06:48 PM

thanks Ade & soalebm i knew it wasn't going to be easy but i also dident know there were so many Robert e Simmons about

but ya right to find out exactly who this was awarded to you would need to know more about the person oh well guess he'll have to remain a mystery for now

**mr.dirt** · 03-15-2009, 12:27 AM

Simmons ia quite a common name in USA. There is a Robert Simmons in my wife's family who would have been correct age to have served in WWII but was 4-F (lost an eye at age 16 in a farm accident).
Good luck on US Army records, I tried to get my Dad's and Father in Law's service records but they were lost in the fire that destroyed the St Louis Military Records depository back in the 1960's.
I was able to track down a shorter version from his call up for Korea that was in 8th Air Force Museum records but it was very brief version of original file - 1 to 2 pages of training, schools, deployment to England and post D Day to France and later to Germany for Occupation Duty demobbing Luftwaffe Aerial Intel facilities.

**Walkwolf** · 11-18-2009, 08:19 PM

There are ways to tell which era it's from by the style of the engraving.

These "WWII" types were also issued in the Vietnam war - the reason being that just before dropping the atomic bombs, there was the expectation of invading the Island of Japan with huge casualty estimates. The invasion never occurred, and there were huge stocks of medals made to cover the expected losses, so there were plenty left over medals in cases to hand out in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

A way to tell if a US medal is an earlier one is by it's brooch. The ribbon is usually inserted through a slot and sewn to it at either edge. Late or modern medal ribbons are simply folded around, with no stitches at all.

You should be able to search the net for more info.
I've done it before, I recall, just by searching individual medals.........

Hope this helps a bit, NickD !

Regards,

Steve

**Steven M** · 11-19-2009, 02:05 AM

by NickD

got this today WW2 era bronze star with the soldiers name on it this one cost me £42 can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to trace the name

Hi Nick,

The BS is a fine original WWII example as is the case...is it aluminum or leatherette covered wood? The aluminum examples came into use in late 1944.

As far as the engraving, it may be Korean War era or later private engraved (actually impressed). I am not too familiar with engraving on BS medals as I am with other awards as there are many variations based on the time period. My thinking is that it may be privately impressed as the name order is nit the usual. Of interest is the fact that in the 1950's, many Infantryman who were awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge in WWII, were presented the BS medal (usually engraved) as an upgrade. This may be one of those examples.

You might try writing the archives at College Park Maryland, they may be of assistance.