World War I Victory Medal (United States)

The Victory Medal was awarded to military personnel for service between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, or with either of the following expeditions:

• American Expeditionary Forces in European Russia between November 12, 1918, and August 5, 1919.
• American Expeditionary Forces Siberia between November 23, 1918, and April 1, 1920.[4]

The front of the bronze medal features a winged Victory holding a shield and sword on the front. The back of the bronze medal features "The Great War For Civilization" in all capital letters curved along the top of the medal. Curved along the bottom of the back of the medal are six stars, three on either side of the center column of seven staffs wrapped in a cord. The top of the staff has a round ball on top and is winged on the side. The staff is on top of a shield that says "U" on the left side of the staff and "S" on the right side of the staff. On left side of the staff it lists one World War I Allied country per line: France, Italy, Serbia, Japan, Montenegro, Russia, and Greece. On the right side of the staff the Allied country names read: Great Britain, Belgium, Brazil, Portugal, Rumania (spelled with a U instead of an O as it is spelled now), and China.

Back of the medal

To denote battle participation and campaign credit, the World War I Victory Medal was authorized with a large variety of devices to denote specific accomplishments. In order of seniority, the devices authorized to the World War I Victory Medal were as follows:

Army Battle Clasps

The following battle clasps, inscribed with a battle's name, were worn on the medal to denote participation in major ground conflicts.[1]

Army Battle Clasps
Major Ground Conflict	Start Date	End Date
Aisne	May 27, 1918	June 5, 1918
Aisne-Marne	July 18, 1918	August 6, 1918
Cambrai	May 12, 1917	December 4, 1917
Champagne-Marne	July 15, 1918	July 18, 1918
Lys	April 9, 1918	April 27, 1918
Meuse-Argonne	September 26, 1918	November 11, 1918
Montdidier-Noyon	June 9, 1918	June 13, 1918
Oise-Aisne	August 18, 1918	November 11, 1918
St. Mihiel	September 12, 1918	September 16, 1918
Somme-Defensive	March 21, 1918	April 6, 1918
Somme-Offensive	August 8, 1918	November 11, 1918
Vittorio-Veneto	October 24, 1918	November 4, 1918
Ypres-Lys	August 19, 1918	November 11, 1918

Four of the thirteen major ground conflicts

For general defense service, not involving a specific battle, the "Defensive Sector" Battle Clasp was authorized. The clasp was also awarded for any battle which was not already recognized by its own battle clasp.

The World War I Victory Medal bears the clasps of the battles the U.S. Army participated in across the ribbon. Not all battles are shown on the bar clasps. Only the battles designated as battles that would have bars issued were shown on the medal. The famous Battle of Chateau Thierry to hold the Chateau and the bridge as a joint effort between the US Army and the US Marines against the German machine gunners did not get awarded clasps.

As commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, General John J. Pershing received all 14 clasps. His medal is in the National Museum of American History.[6]

Navy Battle Clasps

Navy battle clasps were issued for naval service in support of Army operations and had identical names to the Army battle clasps. There was a slight variation of the criteria dates for the Navy battle clasps, as listed below.[1]

Navy Battle Clasps
Major Ground Conflict	Start Date	End Date
Aisne	June 1, 1918	June 5, 1918
Aisne-Marne	July 18, 1918	July 20, 1918
Meuse-Argonne	September 29, 1918	October 10, 1918
Meuse-Argonne	October 25, 1918	November 11, 1918
St. Mihiel	September 12, 1918	September 16, 1918
Ypres-Lys (Service in support of the Northern Bombing Group)

The Defensive Sector Clasp was also authorized for Navy personnel who had participated in naval combat but were not authorized a particular battle clasp.

Defensive Sector Clasp on Ribbon

Campaign Stars

Maltese Cross device

Since battle and service clasps could only be worn on the full-sized World War I Victory Medal, 3/16 inch bronze service stars were authorized for wear on the award ribbon. This was the common method of campaign and battle display when wearing the World War I Victory Medal as a ribbon on a military uniform.

The World War I Victory Button (known prior to establishment of the World War II Victory Medal simply as the Victory Button) was a lapel button designed for wear on civilian clothes and consisted of a five-pointed star 5/8-inch in diameter on a wreath with the letters “U.S.” in the center. For persons wounded in action, the lapel button was silver; for all others, the lapel button was bronze.[7] The Victory Button was designed by the sculptor, Adolph Alexander Weinman of New York City under the supervision of the Commission of Fine Arts.[1]

The World War I Victory Button on a narrow circular band of blue enamel, containing the words “American Legion” in gold letters, forms the central element of the American Legion emblem.[8] It was adopted by the National Executive Committee of the American Legion on July 9, 1919, as the official insignia of the national organization of American veterans.[9]

The World War I Victory Medals were awarded after the end of World War I, so they were mailed to the servicemen instead of awarded in person. For example, the boxes containing the Victory Medals for United States Army World War I veterans were mailed out by the depot officer at the General Supply Depot, U.S. Army, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April 1921. An outer light brown box with an address label glued to it and its postage area marked "OFFICIAL BUSINESS, Penalty for private use $300" contained an inner white box stamped with the bars the serviceman was supposed to receive on his medal. The inner white box contained the medal, which was wrapped in tissue paper.

Only after filling out the application form A.G.O. No. 740 with the help of an authorized officer could it be officially forwarded to the Philadelphia Quartermaster Intermediate Depot for the veteran then to receive his medal by mail. The Army started issuing Victory Medals on June 21, 1920, not April 1921 as listed above. The Navy had a late start due to production issues and started in August 1920.[10]

Not only did the United States establish a World War I Victory Medal, but so did a significant number of allied and associated nations involved in the conflict against the Dual Alliance between Austria and Germany. The proposition of such a common award was first made by French Maréchal Ferdinand Foch who was supreme commander of the Allied Forces during the First World War. Each bronze Victory Medal has the same diameter (36 mm) and ribbon (double rainbow), but with a national design representing a winged victory.[lower-alpha 1]

Main source:[11]

• Awards and decorations of the United States military
• Silver Citation Star
• World War II Victory Medal (United States)

• Media related to World War I Victory Medal at Wikimedia Commons