Dress Blues & Large Medal/Ribbon placement for Memorial

Hello all,

My father-in-law passed away on Thursday from terminal brain cancer. He put up a valiant fight for over three years. He was a proud veteran and his wife and daughter would like to display his medal and ribbons on his dress blues during the memorial service.

Currently the service medal and ribbons are in a display case. My wife is going to place them on the dress blues and has asked that I determine the proper order of placement and any other particulars to give the uniform it's rightful last viewing.

I have researched the matter and believe I understand the majority of his medals, ribbons, and insignia placements, as well as precedence display. I have come up with several diagrams to assist us in the matter. I would greatly appreciate if someone could acknowledge the correctness of the diagrams and my conclusions.

The two uncertain items currently are:

Metal grade insignia (staff sergeant). I believe this is to be worn on other non-dress occasions and is displayed by patches on the dress blues.

Gold/Brass enlisted insignia. I'm not certain if this a collar or cap or other insignia piece.

My assumptions from research are:

Large medals will be worn above the left breast pocket.

The two ribbon bars will be worn centered over the right breast pocket.

The Marksmanship badge should not be displayed on the dress blues?

Below are pictures of the diagrams and notes I have gathered. Also, he will buried at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA on the 26th. If anyone is aware of any active community burial details for this community, please contact me.

Regards,
KH

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/keinea/G0.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/keinea/G2.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/keinea/G3.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kah

The two uncertain items currently are:

Metal grade insignia (staff sergeant). I believe this is to be worn on other non-dress occasions and is displayed by patches on the dress blues.

Gold/Brass enlisted insignia. I'm not certain if this a collar or cap or other insignia piece.

My assumptions from research are:

Large medals will be worn above the left breast pocket.

The two ribbon bars will be worn centered over the right breast pocket.

The Marksmanship badge should not be displayed on the dress blues?

Below are pictures of the diagrams and notes I have gathered. Also, he will buried at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA on the 26th. If anyone is aware of any active community burial details for this community, please contact me.

Regards,
KH

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Well to answer your question yes rank is denoted by a scarlet and gold rank patch on the sleave. The Metal one is for use on our utilities.

The insignia i believe is a collar piece.

Yes the medals are to be mounted 1/8 and centered above the left breast pocket and the ribbons are to be worn the same way over the right. The shooting badge is not worn with the dress blue alphas (when medals are worn) It is however worn with dress blue bravos in which the large medals are not worn instead there corrisponding ribbons are worn with his other ribbons over the badge which is over the left brest pocket. The badge is worn 1/8 inch and centered over the pocket and then the ribbons 1/8 of an inch above and centered that.

You will need two mounts one for the ribbon and the other for the medals. Now there are places that will mount them for a fee and they will know the proper order.

He does rate the wearing of the NCO sword so if he still had it i would also suggest he be buried with it.

If you have any other questions just ask.

May he rest in peace. Semper Fi

Kah,

Sorry for your loss. It might be possible to get a rush order for your mounting if you look around and explain your circumstances.

Seems like the shadow box would be a nice piece to keep/display in honor of your father-in-law and will save you the headache of trying to mix and match things.


Rest in peace, Marine.

Thanks for the replies folks. I should have clarified that he will not be buried in the dress blues. However, his wife has requested that they be displayed on a valet with the ribbons and medals for the viewings.

I believe I understand the differences between Alpha and Bravo Blues now. It's my understanding that the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon does not have a corresponding medal. However, I'm not certain if the Combat Action Ribbon does.

Is it appropriate for a ribbon that has a corresponding medal to be displayed with large mounted medals on Alpha?

I believe I have the proper precedence order. I utilized the online ribbon checker at:

http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/ribbons/ribbonorder.htm

And crossed check with MARINE CORPS ORDER P1020.34G

We also secured mounts for ribbons and medals yestreday.

I think I anawered my own questions here. There are ribbons for Combat Action and Presidential Unit Citation without corresponding medals. And ORDER P1020.34G explains the placement of ribbons without corresponding medals on Blues Alpha, which I had already noted.

Thanks for taking the time to review this and allow me to sort it out.

i know you said he is not going to buried in his uniform but i don't know any marine who wouldn't want to be buried with his blues. But i don't know what wishes he spelled out in his will. I hope all goes well.

If you are displaying medals on the Dress Blues, then the only other devices that go on it are the ribbons that do not rate a medal (IE combat action ribbon). Medals are over the left breast pocket as stated above, with the ribbons with no corresponding medal's over the right breast pocket. If you are only rocking ribbons, then they go over the left breast pocket, with the shooting badges underneath those. Hope this helps.

kah
Sorry for your loss. You might also contact the local Recruiter for help. They might also be able to render Military Honors.

I wish I'd been on line in time and had seen this. I would have been happy to help. Some of the info you were given was correct, and some was wrong. I'm hoping you went with what you found in the orders, that was correct. Medals centered over left breast pocket, top edge of medals (Good Conduct, National Defense Service, Vietnam Service and Rep. of Vietnam Campaign - in that order) aligned midway between the top two buttons. Ribbons (Combat Action and Presidential Unit Citation - in that order) centered above right breast pocket, bottom edge of ribbons 1/8 inch from the top seam of the pocket flap (one nickle width).
The rank insignia is for utilities and other non-formal use (like rain gear, etc.). The emblem is a Dress Blue Garrison Cap emblem. The shooting badge is not worn with the large medals.
God bless you for honoring this Marine, and may God be with you and the rest of his family, and watch over you like your Marine did in life.

Not to sound like I'm promoting this company but go to this website and use the their online ribbon builder which will display the awards in proper sequence.

www.medalsofamerica.com

You can also purchase approved medals and ribbons. Better yet, have them mount which I did for the minatures.

S/F