1938, ARMY LEVEL PRIZE, BRONZE, RIFLE COMPETITION, INFANTRY, NAMED, withRESEARCH
1938, ARMY LEVEL PRIZE, BRONZE, RIFLE COMPETITION, INFANTRY, NAMED, w/RESEARCH. This 1938 Infantry Army Level Prize for Rifle Competition was awarded to SGT John B. Morrissey, Company I, 107. SGT Morrissey was born on 30 January, 1908, Pocatello, Idaho. SGT Morrissey enlisted on 21 January 1936. When John Bacon Morrissey was born on January 30, 1908, in Pocatello, Idaho, his father, Harry, was 30 and his mother, Florence, was 23. He had two sons and two daughters with Anna R Morrissey. He died on February 3, 1982, in Aberdeen, Maryland, at the age of 74. These interwar Army marksmanship badges are highly sought after among collectors. We will include printed copies of the research artifacts. This Army level prize consists of three parts. Top bar that indicated either Army level or Corps / department level competition and served as a brooch to affix the assembled device to the uniform. The top bar is squared ended and ornamented with oak leaves, and was always worn with this bronze clasp and an enameled planchet prior to WWII. The top bar or brooch is a pin back with a functional rotating clasp closure. The second portion consists of an intermediate clasp of crossed arms to indicate the type of weapon that was used to earn the award rifle, pistol, or, soon thereafter, automatic weapons. In this case it has crossed rifles. The third, lower piece is a planchet, that when enameled, told the arm or the type of service, in this case, blue for Infantry. The central design is a bow and a pair of arrows. The planchet consists of three concentric designs. 0625 in diameter, displays a compound bow and two crossed arrows, a symbol of marksmanship. Outside of that is a center ring, 015 in width, which displays 13 stars. An oak-leaf wreath executed in bronze surrounds the entire design, making the planchet 1-1/2 in width. The combatant arms had bronze stars with the ring enameled in blue for Infantry.