Named WWII Merchant Marine Officer Ribbons, Documents and Insignia Group
$175.00
The group relates to the service of William Charles Martin Hertzog of Pennsylvania, who served in the Merchant Marine during the war in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theaters and who then attended the Merchant Marine Officer School in June of 1945, with subsequent service in the Pacific. The group is comprised of the following items:
– A pin back ribbon bar with the Merchant Marine Combat Action ribbon as well as the Atlantic War Zone ribbon and the Mediterranean and Middle East War Zone ribbon; and a single ribbon bar for service in the Pacific War Zone.
– Shoulder boards for an Engineering Ensign of the Merchant Marine and a single collar rank insignia for an Ensign.
– A sterling silver identification bracelet which is engraved with Hertzog’s name and “U.S.M.S.” on the obverse and “Love, Julia” on the reverse (Julia was Hertzog’s wife); two pin back Maritime Service insignia as well as a sterling silver Maritime Service sweetheart pin.
– Hertzog’s Certificate of Graduation from the Merchant Marine Officer Course, approximately 10-3/8 inches by 13-7/8 inches; and Hertzog’s appointment as an Ensign in the Maritime Service, approximately 11-7/8 inches by 15-7/8 inches, both dated June 26, 1945. The group also includes the graduation program for Hertzog’s class, with Hertzog’s name as an engineering officer graduate.
– The group includes several telegrams and postcards that were sent by Hertzog to his wife during the war.
– The group includes two photographs of Hertzog, approximately 2-7/8 inches by 4 inches. A typed caption on the paper to which the photographs were stapled states that Hertzog wears the Combat Bar, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean War Zone Bars, although these cannot be seen in the photographs.
– The group also includes multiple documents relating to Hertzog’s service such as a May, 1943, letter to Hertzog’s wife from a Maritime Service Priest, shortly after Hertzog had shipped out; induction documents; pay records; two booklets on servicing ship engines; two 1945 editions of “Trumbullog”, the magazine of the Maritime Service Officers School; and the sheet music of the official song of the Maritime Service.
All of the items in the group shows expected signs of age, but they are in overall very good condition.
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