Donald Giles was born in Tacoma, Washington on January 23, 1920 and enlisted in the Army December 26, 1939. He served in WW2 as an ambulance driver/ medical aidman. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge. He was then discharged October 10, 1945 as a Tec 4 and re-enlisted April 17, 1946. His 1945 separation papers show that he was awarded the Bronze Star by GO #40 HQ 383 Infantry on October 28, 1944, and cluster by GO #463 HQ 383 Infantry on July 6, 1945. No further information on this man's service record has been found. It is believed he served in Korea and possibly Vietnam where he was awarded silver star and purple heart. Research for Korea, however, does not show that Giles was awarded the Silver Star during that period. This group remains a mystery. However, it was found and purchased in Washington state that lends some credance to its authenticity.
The group includes his fully embroidered ribbon bar plus a complete duplicate in single bars. Also included are his slot brooch Victory medal, Good Conduct medal, American Defense medal with Foreign Service bar, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star; as well as his crimp brooch American Campaign medal and Occupation medal. Most of the medals have their original boxes, and the presentation cases accompany the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. His WW2 dogtag, door nameplate, medical armband, collar disks, 96th Division patch and wallet size 1946 discharge are also present. The embroidered ribbon rack includes: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct, American Defense, Asiatic/Pacific Campaign, American Campaign, WW2 Victory, Occupation, Philippine Liberation, Philippine Independence, and Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. His ribbon bar devices include V and two Palms on the Bronze Star, three knots on his Good Conduct, one star on his American Defense, invasion arrowhead and two stars on the Asiatic/Pacific and two stars on the Philippine Liberation bar.
