I have some WW2 medals, some with serial numbers, some without. I am looking for the owner. How do I find who these medals belong to?

If you share the serial number(s), maybe we can help identify who they were issued to.That would be a start. Unless the medals without serial numbers have names on them, and unless they belong to the same individual(s) with serial numbered medals, it would be nearly impossible (unless the medals were very very sparsely issued/awarded).

Dan

Here is a picture of what I have. Some have numbers on the box. Some medals have an engraving on the back but no numbers or names.  I am trying to research who the owner(s) may be. Any idea how I would go about finding this out?   I am hoping you will be able to zoom in on the image to see the information on the boxes.  If not I can take other pics specific to each box. THank you

Any box with a barcode on it is a current (new) production contract--it's not a fake or copy, because the government is still having those medals made--but they are no longer numbering any of the medals you are showing.

When you say there is "engraving" on the back, what do you mean? Every Bronze Star Medal, for example, says "Heroic or Meritorious Service in a circle around the back. It's not engraving--it's part of the medal itself. Similarly, the Purple Heart has cast into the back "For Military Merit." They all say that.

So I would suspect that all of these medals are "mint in box, never issued."

Any box with a barcode on it is a current (new) production contract--it's not a fake or copy, because the government is still having those medals made--but they are no longer numbering any of the medals you are showing.

When you say there is "engraving" on the back, what do you mean? Every Bronze Star Medal, for example, says "Heroic or Meritorious Service in a circle around the back. It's not engraving--it's part of the medal itself. Similarly, the Purple Heart has cast into the back "For Military Merit." They all say that.

So I would suspect that all of these medals are "mint in box, never issued."

Thank you for this clarification. is there any way I can use the barcode to find out who they belong to?  The back of the Purple Heart says For Military Merit. The Bronze Star has something on the back in a circle but its too small for me to read, I have to get a magnifying glass. Ultimately, how can I get these medals to the rightful family?? Thank you again for your assistance.

I'm saying they were likely never issued. The World War II Victory Medal has a date of 04/89, that is either the manufacture date or the contract award date. When the government issues the Asia-Pacific and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, they always come with campaign stars on them--you can't be awarded them without at least one campaign star. The fact that they are still sealed in the plastic envelopes tells me they weren't issued to anyone, because the government puts the stars on them before they mail them out. A Bronze Star Medal or a Purple Heart would have been presented in case, the fact that they're still in plastic bags, again, tells me that they were never issued--and if they were issued post-war, they are always engraved with the recipient's name, like the one below.

Thank you so much, this is very helpful. However, it raises another question. If they were never issued, how did they come about to all be shipped to someone? To request these medals, does not one have to prove service/merit for the award?  Your answer raises more questions about how they came about.  Any ideas?  Thanks so much.  Joe

 You can buy them in the Post Exchange. And from reputable medal dealers. There are many reasons for selling medals--since the government will only issue one replacement set, if you had a family of several children who were proud of dad's (or, increasingly, mom's) service, and you wanted to make them each a shadowbox, you'd need someplace to buy the medals for it. Or for the grandkids. Or for a display in your office, plus a set to wear on your uniform (I know some people who frame the medal with the award certificate, for example). All legitimate reasons, nothing nefarious about it.

The only medal that is illegal to buy or sell is the Medal of Honor.

I have three sets of my medals: the ones I was issued when they were presented individually--none of which are named or have service stars or oak leaf clusters--a second set I requested from the government when I retired--all of which are engraved (when appropriate) and have the appropriate number of oak leaf clusters or campaign stars, and a third set I bought commercially, which is group mounted for wear on my dress uniform. I also have a set of miniature medals (commercially purchased) which are group mounted for wear on my "mess dress" uniform.

That is one of the issues with "Stolen Valor." Because anybody can buy them, anybody can claim anything. Of course, they can claim anything anyway, but a set of medals helps make their claims stronger. But you can usually spot a faker because their story doesn't add up. They were 12 years old in 1968 but claim they got a Purple Heart in the Tet Offensive. Or received a Medal of Honor in Desert Storm (hint: nobody did). That sort of thing.

Congress tried to make it illegal to make false claims, but the law was thrown out for being too vague. Now, it's only illegal to make a false claim for which you received a monetary benefit--if you got VA benefits you didn't earn, or a service dog, or one of those houses they build for disabled veterans.

And there are whole websites dedicated to "outing" fake veterans. Just Google "Stolen Valor."

Thank you so much for this. Is there any real chance then of me tracking down the rightful owner/family member?  I was hoping those bar code numbers would lead me and my class (this is a high school research project) would help, but now I feel this may be a lost cause. I am a Son of the American Legion, so if there is really no chance of finding the rightful owner, I was going to donate to our Veterans' Club. We have a makeshift local history museum in our building where I think these on display would be cool, if possible and appropriate. Thoughts?  Thank you so much for your information.

Joe

The bar codes, I believe, are linked to the National Stock Number (NSN) or some similar accounting number, for inventory purposes in the warehouse. If you had three of the same medal, you'd see that they all have the same number. I can't read them in the picture, but as an example, the World War II Victory Medal's stock number for the ribbon/medal set is NSN 8455-00-269-5782, the American Defense Service Medal is NSN: 8455-00-269-5780, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is 8455-00-269-5768, and the Asia-Pacific Campaign Medal is NSN 8455-00-269-5764.

Maybe, as a school project, you could use this site to discuss the history of the medals:

Campaign and Service Medals (army.mil)

Or awards for valor and achievement, here:

Personal Decorations (army.mil)

Then do some research on the internet about fake certificates for awards (yeah, they sell them), and why people might legitimately want to have a duplicate or replacement set of awards (Medals of AMerica has some great photos of shadow boxes they make--not a plug for the company, just their pictures, they're a bit pricey). And Google the medals you have, and see how available they are--both on the collectable market (people will pay a lot for a named set of medals with accompanying paperwork, particularly if they belonged to someone noteworthy).

And THEN wrap it up with a discussion of "Stolen Valor." You could probably tie it into sports. Not knowing what grade level you're at but tell a high schooler who lettered in a sport that some Schmoe could just buy a letter sweater or jacket and tell people they were captain (or star player) on your team. How would they like it?

Stolen Valor isn't a victimless crime, because the people that do it tend to make the true heroes--and even the people who just went over to do their job, served honorably, and came back--look bad because their exploits are so over the top.

Or you could do some part, or parts of it.

Thank you so much for the clarification and your suggestions.  I will look into this for my next session and see where it takes us. The students have done some basic historical research on their assigned medals, this will be a nice added component to replace finding out who the medals belonged to. Again thank you so much for your time and responses.

Best,

Joe