MEXICAN SERVICE MEDAL: Green and yellow are associated with the ancient Aztecs of . Blue is the US national color and alludes to the US Army, and to the Rio Grande River separating part of Mexico from the United States.

MEXICAN BORDER SERVICE MEDAL: Green and yellow are associated with the ancient Aztecs of Mexico. Yellow center may also be considered as the "border" between Mexico and the United States.

WORLD WAR I VICTORY MEDAL: Double rainbow symbolizing the dawn of a new era and calm following a storm.

ARMY OF OCCUPATION OF GERMANY MEDAL (WW I): Black and white refer to Germany and the blue-red edges in combination with the white allude to the United States. The first rib- bon for this medal had a wavy line separating the blue and red stripes but this was eliminated as unnecessary to further indicate service overseas.

AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL: Golden yellow is symbolic of golden opportunity of United States youth to serve the national colors, represented by the blue, white and red pin stripes.

WOMEN’S ARMY CORPS MEDAL: Moss green and old gold are the branch colors of the Women’s Army Corps. Green is indicative of merit and gold refers to achievement.

AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL: Blue represents the Americas, the central blue, white and red pin stripes (from the American Defense Service Medal) refer to the continuance of Ameri- can Defense after Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941). The White and black stripes refer to the German part of the conflict on the Atlantic coast, and the red and white are the Japanese colors and refer to that part of the conflict on the Pacific coast.

ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAION MEDAL: Orange represents Asia, central blue, white and red pin stripes (from the American Defense Service Medal) refer to the continuance of American Defense after Pearl Harbor. Red and white stripes are the Japanese colors.

EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EAST CAMPAIGN MEDAL: Brown for the sands of Africa and green for the fields of central Europe. Central blue, white and red pin stripes (from the American Defense Service Medal) refer to the continuance of American Defense after Pearl Harbor. Green, white and red are the Italian colors, and white and black refer to Germany,

WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL: Red here is the symbolic color of Mars, god of War and for fortitude and courage. The 2 rainbow stripes refer to WW II, and were suggested by the WW I Victory Medal (the "rainbow" of the Allies’ flags). The rainbow appears after a storm and alludes to peace.

ARMY OF OCC~JPATION MEDAL (WW II): White and red stripes refer to Japan and the black and white stripes to Germany.

MEDAL FOR Ht.JMANE ACTION: Black and white colors of Prussia refer to Berlin, capital of Prussia and of Germany. Blue alludes to the sky, and red is for the fortitude and zeal of the personnel who participated in the airlift.

NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL: Red is symbolic of Mars, god of War, and of forti- tude and courage. The central yellow stripe edged with white, blue, red and white pin stdpes was suggested by the American Defense Service Medal ribbon.

KOREAN SERVICE MEDAL: Medium blue and white are the oolors of the United Nations.

ANTARCTICA SERVICE MEDAL: Outer black and dark blue bands make up 5/12ths of the ribbon and represent the 5 months of total darkness, while the graded center is 7/12ths and is for the seven light months and for the Aurora Australis. ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL: Red, white and blue are the national colors and the light blue suggests water and overseas service. The stripes of brown, black, green and yellow indicate various areas of the world where US armed forces might be called to serve.

VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL: Yellow with red stripes is for the flag of the Republic of Viet- nam. Green alludes to the jungle.

HUMANITARIAN SERVICE MEDAL: Purple stands for self-sacrifice, white for regeneration and blue for benevolence and universal friendship. All are attirbutes of humanitarian service.

ARMED FORCES RESERVE MEDAL: Blue and buff are associated with the Continental Army.

ARMY RESERVE OOMPONENT$ ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL: Red, white and blue refer to the United States and patriotism. Gold is symbolic of merit.

BOOK REVIEW

The Lawless Caymanas; The Story of Slavery, Freedom and The West India Regiment, by Brian L. Kieran. Published by The West India Regiment Connection, 1992. Available from London Stamp Exchange (5 Buckingham Street, Strand, London WC2N 6BS, England) for £24.95 plus shipping.

The history of slavery in the Americas is a long and intricate one. Most of us learned about slavery in the United States in elementary school. Rarely did we learn much about it beyond out borders, except perhaps that a triangular trade of slaves, rum and raw materials connected West Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. When you dig further into the history of slavery, you will find large gaps and this book fills one of those gaps.

Brian Kieran has obviously produced a labor of love. He has searched the basic sources for his information and come up with an excellent exposition of the history of slavery in the Caymanas, and the book’s primary focus is on that. Where then does the West India Regiment fit in? While a very small part of the book, Kieran answers that question.

The West India Regiment actually has its roots in the American Revolution, descending from the South Carolina Corps. After American independence, the regiment was spread throughout British territory in the Caribbean, and thus a detachment came to be posted to the Caymanas when the slaves were freed in 1835. A garrison of black soldiers was prepared to maintain civil order if needed.

You won’t find an extensive history of the regiment here, but you will find a very helpful use of source documents. Kieran not only uses his sources, but illustrates them. So, you see a pho- tograph of the muster roll of men the Caymanas at the time. It’s rare that you get the opportu- nity to see the actual documents of history.

If you are looking for a broad history of the regiment, with full details of the first Victoria Cross to go to a black soldier (Samuel Hodge, 4/WlR, in Gambia in 1868), this is not the book for you. There are excellent illustrations of medals related to the regiment, but you won’t find much de- tail about them either. However, if you are interested in the way British regiments were used to enforce the laws in the colonies, this book fills the gap.

Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Floyd.

38 1993 OMSA CONVENTION

ORDERS AND MEDALS SOCIETY OF AMERICA announces its 34th annual convention to take place in San Jose, California, on August 12th through 15th, at the Red Lion Inn, 2050 Gateway Place (off Bayshore Freeway, US 101, at First Street offramp), San Jose, California. This hotel is just outside the entrance to the San Jose International Airport. Hotel provides transportation from the airport, on call.

OMSA annual conventions are always the biggest gatherings of collectors and students, as well as dealers of orders, decorations, medals, ribbons, and other material relating to awards of the world. An average convention draws OMSA members from more than 25 different states, and from more than 11 different countries.

San Jose is a fast-growing city in what is called the Silicon Valley, 40 miles south of San Francisco, 25 miles south of the San Francisco International Airport. The Monterey Pen- insula (Carmel, etc) is only 50 miles to the south.

For information about the convention, contact: Convention Co-Chairmen -- Doug Boyce, 1109 Dwyer Avenue, San Jose, CA 95120, or Dave Foster, 1201 Park Pacifica Avenue, Pacifica, CA 94044. For publicity information, contact S. G. Yasinitsky, P.O. Box 777, Millbrae, CA 94030.

MEDAL LOCATION QUERIES

Queen’s South Africa Medals to the K.R.R.C. to reunite groups: 7157 Pte W. J. Chown; 2260 Pte G. Morfison; 5791 Pte W. N. Jones; 1727 Pte F. Edwards; Capt & Q.M.W. Holmes. Also King’s South Africa Medals to: 8553 J. Bott; 5260 Pte J. Williams; 6111 Pte H. Swift; 7979 Pte. J. Thompson; 7571 Pte. J. Hay. Also seek Ashanti Star with No. 6011 (or 6111?) engraved on reverse. lrv Mortenson (OMSA #4070), HCR 54 - Box 103, Interior, South Dakota 57750

PURPLE HEARTS AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDALS:

WW II Air Corps Purple Hearts to: 1LT Harold D. Moran, SSGT Hector Richard, and SGTThomas Kirby.

WW II Navy Purple Heart to TM3C Thomas J. Maloney.

Navy Good Conduct Medal to Frank Norton (around 1933).

USMC Good Conduct Medal No. 23163; USMC Good Conduct Medal No. 78814.

Skip Pfeiffer (OMSA #3313), 1401 Druid Road, Maitland, FL 32751

THE MEDALS OF CAPTAIN E. H. MONTRESOR, ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT: Com- manded a Mounted Infantry Company in the Transvaal and Orange River area. Medals in- clude: Sudan Expedition, 1882-89 Egypt Medal with bar Nile 1884-85, the Bronze Khedive’s Star, the IGS 1854-1895 with bar Hazara 1888, QSA with 5 bars (Orange Free State, Transvaal, Cape Colony, SA 01, SA 02), and possilby a 1914 trio. He was killed in action in the Aisne on 14 Sep 1914 while leading the 2rid Battalion, Royal Sussex Regt as a Lt. Colonel. Also looking for the DSC won on 4 Oct 1918 by Captain William Darius Thompson, 2rid Ma- chine Gun Battalion, 1st Division, AEF, at Ifnflevitle, France.

Richard Whitaker (OMSA #4802), 20187 Via Santa Teresa, San Jose, CA 95120

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