Welcome to ww1collector.com

The site honors the millions who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. More than 400,000 died in WWII alone, and millions supported the war effort from home. The spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world continue to this day.Hopefully, this will inspire future generations of Americans, deepening their appreciation of what the prior generations accomplished in securing freedom and democracy.

Only a few are memorialized here, but each tells a story of individual sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice was just enduring the separation from loved ones. Others made the supreme sacrifice for you and me. Let’s not forget them!

The Purpose of this Site

This is a collection of US wartime medals and uniforms beginning with World War I up through Vietnam that I have been gathering for 30 years.

My father was the Signal Officer as a Captain in the Regimental HQ for the 320th Field Artillery, 82nd Division in World War I. When I was a little kid in the 1940’s, he used to tell me about his experiences during the war. He recorded these stories and they have since been transcribed. I will make them available on this site as time permits. My father saved everything from the war including his trunk, pictures, letters, documents, uniform and his Purple Heart that he received in 1932. He was wounded on November 4, 1918 when the Germans placed some well aimed artillery near the staff car he was riding in.

This collection has evolved in the last years. Adding to the collection at first, the concentration was on World War I. As time went on, World War II began to intrigue me, so that collection began to grow. At this point, the focus is on not just the “stuff” but the history behind everything. To that end, everything that I now collect is identified to an individual. Medals and uniforms are the primary focus. This site will highlight identified US medal and uniform groups. I have done research on the internet as it becomes more and more available every passing day. The information about each of the groups on this site has been gleaned from those sites if sufficient information was not initially available when acquired. Individual collectors and historians have been extremely helpful in volunteering their time and energy to research and provide me with information on some of the people that are represented here.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 January 2009 )