Original Items: Only One Lot of 18 Available. Now this is a fantastic medal grouping attributed to Thomas W. Nicholson who served from the WWII occupation, The Korean War into the Vietnam War, retiring in 1968, totaling 22 years of service!

The Items In This Lot (All Have Matching Ribbons):
- Name Engraved Purple Heart from wounds received in Korea (Replacement, Unnumbered): The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York.

The Purple Heart award is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border, 1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide, containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves. THOMAS W. NICHOLSON is engraved on the reverse.

The ribbon is 1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white 67101; 1+1⁄8 inches (29 mm) purple 67115; and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white 67101.

- Name Engraved Army Commendation Medal: The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth version existing for acts of joint military service performed under the Department of Defense.

The medallion of the Army Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagon, 13⁄8 inches wide. On the medallion is an American bald eagle with wings spread horizontally, grasping in its talons three crossed arrows. On its breast is a shield paly of thirteen pieces and a chief. The reverse bears a panel for naming (THOMAS W. NICHOLSON) between the words FOR MILITARY above and MERIT below, all placed above a laurel sprig. The ribbon is 13⁄8 inches wide primarily of myrtle green. It is edged in white and in the center are five thin white stripes spaced equally apart.

- U.S. World War II Victory Medal: The World War II Victory Medal was awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive, with no minimum time in service requirement. The National Personnel Records Center has reported some cases of service members receiving the award for only a few days of service. As hostilities during the Second World War ended on 2 September 1945, there may be cases of service members who had enlisted, entered officer candidate school, or had been a cadet or midshipman at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy or the U.S. Coast Guard Academy between 3 September 1945 and any date in 1946, receiving the medal without having been a veteran of the period of active hostilities during the war; the reason for this late date is that President Harry S. Truman did not declare an official end to hostilities until the last day of 1946.

As every member of the United States Armed Forces who served from 7 December 1941 to 31 December 1946 was eligible for the medal, there were over twelve million eligible recipients, making the World War II Victory Medal the second most widely awarded military award of the United States, after the National Defense Service Medal.

The bronze medal is 1 1⁄2 inches in width. The obverse is a figure of Liberation standing full length with head turned to dexter looking to the dawn of a new day, right foot resting on a war god's helmet with the hilt of a broken sword in the right hand and the broken blade in the left hand, the inscription WORLD WAR II placed immediately below the center. On the reverse are inscriptions for the Four Freedoms: FREEDOM FROM FEAR AND WANT and FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGION separated by a palm branch, all within a circle composed of the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1941 1945.

The suspension and service ribbon of the medal is 1 3⁄8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 3⁄8 inch double rainbow in juxtaposition (blues, greens, yellows, reds (center), yellows greens and blues); 1⁄32 inch White 67101; center 9⁄16 inch Old Glory Red 67156; 1⁄32 inch White; and 3⁄8 inch double rainbow in juxtaposition. The rainbow on each side of the ribbon is a miniature of the pattern used in the World War I Victory Medal.

- Korean Service Medal With 2 Stars: The Korean Service Medal (KSM) is a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was established November 8, 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary US military award for service or participation in operations in the Korean area between June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.

The KSM was designed by the Army Heraldic Section. The color scheme of the ribbon is derived from the Flag of the United Nations, as it was under the auspices of the United Nations (United Nations Security Council Resolution 82) that the war was conducted. The medal itself features a "Korean gateway," most likely an iljumun, on the front, and a taegeuk on the reverse.

- United Nations Korea Medal: The United Nations Service Medal for Korea (UNKM) is an international military decoration established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950 as the United Nations Service Medal. The decoration was the first international award ever created by the United Nations and recognized the multi-national defense forces which participated in the Korean War.

The UN Korea Medal is a 36mm wide circular medal of bronze alloy. The obverse depicts the ‘World-in-a Wreath' emblem of the United Nations. The reverse has the inscription: FOR SERVICE IN DEFENCE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Each participating country has the text in the most appropriate language, and the inscription may be in any one of the following languages: Amharic (Ethiopian Empire), Dutch, English, French, Greek, Italian, Korean, Spanish (Colombia), Tagalog (Philippines), Thai or Turkish. The medal hangs from a claw attachment on a straight bar suspension. Each medal is worn with a medal bar bearing the inscription KOREA in the same language as the reverse inscription. The medal's ribbon made up of 17 equal stripes of United Nations Blue (Bluebird 67117) and white, 9 blue and 8 white, each 5⁄64 inch (2.0 mm) wide.

- Vietnam Service Medal With 1 Star: The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. Armed Forces provided they meet the award requirements.

The distinctive design has been attributed to both sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry and Mercedes Lee who created the design.

The Vietnam Service Medal is a rounded bronze shaped medal, 1 1⁄4 inches in diameter with a green, yellow, and red suspension ribbon. The obverse side of the medal consists of a figure of an oriental dragon (representing the subversive nature of the conflict) behind a grove of bamboo trees located above the inscription "REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM SERVICE". On the reverse, a crossbow (representing the ancient weapon of Vietnam) facing upwards with a ready to be fired lighted torch of the Statue of Liberty, above an arched inscription "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA".

The service ribbon of the medal is 1 3⁄8 inches wide and consists of the following vertical stripes: three narrow (1⁄16 inch) strips of red with wider (5⁄32 inch) stripes of yellow in the center, flanked by even wider (5⁄16 inch) stripes of yellow on each side and narrow 1⁄8-inch stripes of primitive green on the ends. The yellow (yellow is traditionally the imperial color of Vietnam) with red stripes (the red represents the three ancient Vietnamese empires of Tonkin, Annam, and Cochin China) resembles the former flag of South Vietnam. The green border on each side alludes to the jungle of that country.

- Army of Occupation Medal (Germany & Japan): The Army of Occupation Medal is a military award of the United States military which was established by the United States War Department on 5 April 1946. The medal was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to recognize those who had performed occupation service in either Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan or Korea. The original Army of Occupation Medal was intended only for members of the United States Army, but was expanded in 1948 to encompass the United States Air Force shortly after that service's creation. The Navy and Marine equivalent of the Army of Occupation Medal is the Navy Occupation Service Medal, which features the same ribbon with its own medallion and clasps.

The medal is bronze measuring 1.25 inches across. On the obverse, are the abutments of the Remagen Bridge with the words "ARMY OF OCCUPATION" inscribed above. On the reverse, is Mount Fuji with a low hanging cloud over two Japanese junks above a wave and the inscribed date "1945". A bronze clasp 0.125 inches wide and 1.5 inches in length with the word "GERMANY" or "JAPAN" is worn on the suspension ribbon of the medal to indicate service in Europe or the Far East. The ribbon is 1.375 inches wide with two thin white stripes at the edges and two thicker stripes in the middle, the first being black and the second in scarlet. A myth was that if a soldier served in Germany the ribbon's black band was worn to his right and if in Japan the red was to his right. The only approved display was for the black band to be to the wearer's right.

- Army Good Conduct Medal with 3 Hitches: The Army Good Conduct Medal was established by Executive Order 8809, dated 28 June 1941, and authorized the award for soldiers completing three years active service after that date.

The criteria were amended by Executive Order 9323, dated 31 March 1943, to authorize the award for enlisted soldiers having three years of service after 27 August 1940 or one year of service after 7 December 1941 while the United States is at war.

Executive Order 10444, dated 10 April 1953, revised the criteria to authorize the award for soldiers having three years of service after 27 August 1940; one year of service after 7 December 1941 while the United States is at war; and for soldiers having the first award for service after 27 June 1950 upon termination of service, for periods less than three years, but more than one year. An initial award of the Good Conduct Medal can also be awarded to soldiers with less than one year of service if the soldier was discharged due to an injury sustained in the line of duty or if died in service.

The "loops" indicating subsequent awards were called "hitches", a "hitch" being three years of service. During the Vietnam War it was known as the "Dentyne wrapper" (chewing gum brand) owing to it being red and white like the medal's suspension ribbon.

- National Defense Service Medal: The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from 1950 to the present. Combat or "in theater" service is not a requirement for the award.

The Heraldic Division, Quartermaster General’s Office, of the U.S. Army was requested to provide designs for the NDSM. A design developed by T. H. Jones was submitted to the U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G1) on 26 May 1953. A committee appointed by the Department of Defense, which included representatives of all services, met on 27 May 1953 and 3 June 1953 and selected Jones' design for final approval. An eagle holding a sword and an olive branch (on the obverse), together with the shield of the Coat of Arms of the United States (on the reverse), was used to symbolize the defense of the United States. The combination of oak and palm leaves around the shield signify strength and preparedness.

All items come more than ready for further research and display.