In Their Words

Silver Star

This Silver Star was earned by Colonel Hanson Ely for leading the 28th Infantry, First Division, at the Battle of Cantigny. The Silver Star is the third highest award a soldier can receive for valor. The oak leaf cluster on the ribbon signifies a second award of the medal. The Silver Star medal as you see here was not created until 1932. Soldiers cited for bravery in official dispatches were authorized to wear a small silver star on their Victory Ribbon. In 1932 those soldiers could request this medal to replace the star device.
Ely went on to earn a Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest valor award, for actions during the Soissons campaign as a Brigadier General with the Second Division.

From the Collections of the
First Division Museum at Cantigny.

Images (Click to Enlarge)