United States: Yangtze Service Medal. United States Navy reverse

An un-numbered & unattributed issue

The medal planchet with fixed ring and loose ring suspension

The medal fitted with a post-1969 12mm crimp brooch. The reverse of the mounting brooch retaining the original hinged pin and intricate drop lock clasp fittings as issued

Reverse of crimp-brooch with government contractor hallmark for 'LI-GI'

The Yangtze Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created in 1930 for presentation to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (and to a lesser extent, members of the United States Army). The Yangtze Service Medal is awarded for service in the Yangtze River Valley between the dates of September 3, 1926 and December 31, 1932, a period of significant unrest in the region

Basic qualifying criteria for the award of the medal was service on shore at Shanghai or in the valley of the Yangtze River between the dates of 3 September 1926 to 21 October 1927 and 1 March 1930 to 31 December 1932

The decoration may also be awarded for those military service members who served on permanent duty in Shanghai, China, provided such service was in direct support of landing operations in the Yangtze River Valley (e.g. Nanking incident of 1927). The Yangtze Service Medal was declared obsolete in 1940 when it was replaced by the China Service Medal

A highly evocative medal for the inter-wars era of colonial 'River Gunboats' and 'Chinese War Lords', as captured in the novel 'Sand Pebbles' (Richard McKenna, 1963) and depicted in the movie of that name about the services and adventures of the American river gunboat, U.S.S. 'San Pablo'

Condition: About EF

Code: 22069