USAF medals and insignia grouping....authentic?

[Greenhorn]

Fellow members

This USAF grouping presented itself and I would like to purchase it. However, I do not know if this grouping makes sense, or if the pieces are authentic WW2. Please be kind and give a look and review. This group is in excellent condition and I would hate to miss-out on it. The patch is perfect and looks modern? The silver and gold wing/prop insignia looks too good to be true also. The wings are marked on the left center but you will have to zoom to see the marks.

The order of the pictures always goes haywire when I post, sorry 'bout that.

Thank you for your guidance
Greenhorn

[Walkwolf]

This is a mixed up grouping. The Sr. Aircrew wings are U.S. Army - helicopters, etc.
- not U.S. Air Force. The medals look to be modern types with crimp brooches
and 'G 27' makers codes. The Air Medal is likely Vietnam era or possibly
earlier, and the wings ( marked 'LG I' ) 1970's/80's.........

The US Airforce lapel insignia ( marked '22M' ) is by 'N.S. Meyer'
and look brand new.

[Greenhorn]

Hi Steve

Thank you so much for your help! It would have taken me a month to figure this out. I will return the whole lot to the seller, it just looked so nice together. I obviously need some reference material for U.S. militaria.

Again, thank you Steve

Green

[Walkwolf]

It's possible the seller thought everything including the wings
were from WWII. I've seen it happen before.........

There are a lot of good books available on US insignia etc,
from all eras and all branches. Though it might be hard
to focus on one just area alone !

[Greenhorn]

Steve

You are correct in saying that the seller though everything was from WW2. He trusted me to take the set and learn about it before deciding to make a purchase, nice of him. I like reference material as much as the next guy, but books are selling for so much regarding this hobby. I have the EK book in my crosshairs.

Green

[Javelin4life]

100% not WW2. The hallmark way you can tell is that the medals themselves are "shaded" in with black to enhance the details on the face of the medal. While the medals may actually be WW2 authentic, they were cleaned up and remounted on new issue ribbons, deeming them to be contemporary. Save your money on this offer

[Javelin4life]

Walkwolf, while the WW2 Victory Medal, American Campaign medal and the EAME medal did use crimp brooches during their original distribution (although some used slot brooches in rare cases), the fact that they are stamped G-27, like you said, is a clear indicator that the ribbon and devices are contemporary.

[Walkwolf]

Indeed, any U.S. insignia with an alpha-numeric code is post WWII.

'M-22', 'C-12', 'S-21', 'V-1', 'G-I', 'LG I', etc, are all modern codes
for current manufacurers such as: 'N.S. Meyer', 'Vanguard',
'H. Sugarman', 'Lordship Industries', etc.

A couple of years ago, I bought a WWII 'L.G. Balfour' pilot wing
for a great price because it had been misidentified. The seller
thought the tiny incised letters were 'LG8' instead 'LGB' !
- No one else bid on them because they likely thought
they were from the 1950's or 1960's.........!

[GIZMO8Z]

A good way to tell if the medals are 100% WWII vintage is whether or not they're held onto the ribbon pin with two stitches.

For example, check out the back of my purple heart:

[SteveR]

It is not unusual to have father and son items mixed together.
I have found these type of mixtures at estate auctions many times before.