Cased, Named Posthumous Navy Silver Star and Purple Heart to a Navy Corpsman for Tarawa

Both the Silver Star and the Purple Heart are cased and officially named to U.S. Navy Hospital Apprentice Hayward Homa Skaggs, Jr., for valor on the first day of the Tarawa Invasion. Skaggs was serving with the Second Marine Division and for hours he rendered first aid to Marines in the surf during the invasion of Tarawa on November 21, 1943. He went missing during the operation and he was subsequently declared dead. The Silver Star is contained within its maroon case with large ribbon bar and the enamel lapel badge. The Silver Star has a full wrap brooch suspension and shows wear and patina to the gilt finish. The Purple Heart is within its black titled case with the large ribbon bar. The medal has a full wrap brooch suspension and also exhibits some wear to the gilt finish. The medals are accompanied by photocopies of documents from Skaggs’ National Archives personnel file regarding the award of the medals.