I don't collect medals but I have a few. I have this one temporarily: My mother lives in an assisted-living facility nearby. She is in her 90's and was in the US Navy from 1944 to 1946. I went through her Navy papers recently to copy some and found her release from the Navy. It noted that she was awarded two decorations, the World War II Victory Medal and something called the American Campaign Medal. My family had a Victory medal since I was a kid, but whose it was I didn't know, as my father was also in the Navy. We didn't have a Campaign medal, and I found out there was a reason. I became curious about the American Campaign Medal and found that it was issued to service people who were stationed in the United States for a year or more. The medal was officially created in 1942, but the actual medals weren't made until 1948, long after my mom was discharged. They were originally made by the US Mint, but later by private contractors. I found several Campaign medals on Ebay, and bought an original US Mint one for her. The medal had two designers, one for each side. The obverse has a Navy cruiser, a bomber, and a submarine, and was designed by Thomas Hudson Jones who worked for the US Army. The reverse has an eagle and was designed by Adolph Alexander Weinman, who designed the Walking Liberty half dollar and the Mercury dime. American Campaign Medal The eagle looked familiar, and I found this: United States gold $10 1914-D, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens The eagle also somewhat resembles an ancient Greek-Egyptian Ptolemaic eagle. The medal is also known as the American Area Campaign Medal and American Theatre Campaign Medal. My mom gets her medal when I see her later this week.
