I’m turning to the amazing minds of Straight Dope to help track down some WW2 items. My grandfather was a decorated WW2 vet and we are preparing for his funeral, of which he is accorded a military burial. Several of his medals were given by the French government. I’m attempting to locate ribbon bars for his awards so we can include them on his uniform. Does anyone know a good source for these?
The vast majority of sites only carry US medals or if they carry the French ones, only have the actual medals themselves, not the ribbon bars. They only one I’ve been able to track down so far is the Croix du Guerre.
I’m also looking for:
Medaille des Evades
Decoration por des Blessures
Medaille commemorative de la Guerre
Croix du Combattant
Any help is appreciated. The service is this Friday, so expediency is needed.
Only the Croix du Guerre (from that list) is authorized for wear on the uniform - the other medals might have been awarded but could never have been worn.
This is a common thing for veterans dealing with decorations from other countries, and still happens today to a degree. When I was given a NATO medal for Yugoslavia service I was told I couldn’t wear the clasp that came with it.
For the burial, be prepared to create the most respectful versions possible.
Thanks for the feedback. In the interest of time we’ve had to abandon getting medal bars for the French medals. It’s simply too difficult to track them down and get items shipped in the amount of time we have.
The good news is that we already have all the bars for the US medals. His uniform is being prepared by a family member who also served in the Armed Forces and is familiar with proper protocol.