This is a great pair of medals to James P. McDermott–a slot brooch officially engraved Purple Heart and a slot brooch officially engraved Bronze Star. It appears these are not posthumous awards. No records have been found to date of a McDermott with these awards. NARA data is sketchy as well as Ancestry data. The James P. McDermott that has been found was in the Regular Army with serial numbers O1055383 and 6874675. He has service dates of February 16, 1940 in the Coast Artillery Corps, National Guard, then April 29, 1943 to February 19, 1946, then February 21, 1946 to December 20, 1948 as a Master Sergeant in the CAC in Hawaii, then January 24, 1949 to September 11, 1950. The 25th Division from Hawaii was committed to the Korean War in July, 1950. It is possible that McDermott was part of that outfit and that these awards are for action in Korea. If he was severely wounded in Korea, that would explain why his last service dates were short-from January, 1949 to September, 1950. Any help or additional information on this would be appreciated.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
