Sorry for two duplicate posts.  I am new to this great forum, and trying to learn how to correct my mistakes.   Brig - please let me add that you are 100% correct - unless a 'Let George Do It' medal  has provenance - preferably from a prominent family - these are VERY hard to authenticate.   If I am ever lucky enough to get one, it will be, not from eBay, but I hope from some prominent family whose ancestor was in the USMC and has had it since WWII. That is - if I can afford it!  

Hello all,   I recently acquired this group from a seller in Australia. I've owned several Navy & Marine Corps Medals over the years, but never an attributed one. This example was awarded un-engraved as most were, engraved examples are very few and far between.   "Navy & Marine Corps Medal to Byron Barnes who served aboard the USS Princeton during WW2. He served on the ship as an anti-aircraft gunner from August 1943 until it was sunk/scuttled during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944. He took part supporting the invasion of Tarawa, strikes on Buka Bonis, Rabaul, Nauru, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, Kwajalein and Eniwetok, Truk, the Marianas Island, Battle of the Philippine Sea, Guam, Peleliu, and finally supported the invasion of Luzon and ultimately survived the sinking of Princeton in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.   He earned his Navy and Marine Corps Medal for aiding a fellow sailor who had no life jacket and prevented him from drowning until being rescued several hours later. The is about 50 pages of research, so I'm only posting a few select."   An honored Naval Veteran who served during some of the fiercest battles at sea.   Thank you for stopping in!   Best wishes,   Joe    

It's interesting, I can only find Howard C. Baldwin dob 10 Mar 1891 in one Navy Register, 1919 as a LTJG, CC, Class 4 USNRF, date of entry 13 Feb 1918.  Class 4 was shore duty only and I think there was a pretty small number of reserve naval constructors. He must have had an applicable engineering background in civilian life. Unfortunately with such a short period of service there's not a lot to go on.

Will Aguilar wrote to me saying that this one was made at Sangley Point, PI

Every ship had at least one Russell. I wonder if a shipmate had this made for him?

I have always felt that the majority of counterfeiters of elite unit insignia reside in the UK.  They are very crafty and many collectors to include myself have wasted their hard earned money on what they thought was genuine only to find out years later that they had purchased a counterfeit.  This is just my opinion but I feel that your OSS SF wing is not genuine based on my comparisons with a known copy below.  When this copy first came out it fooled a number of collectors as it was very close to the original except the back gave it away.  So the counterfeiters realized this and began covering the back with paper or cloth and sewing it upon something to give it stitching holes.  The stitching holes gives the piece an air of authenticity as if the piece was removed from a uniform.  Another counterfeiter technique to fool collectors was to excessively trim off the black outer material after covering the back, sewing it to something for the stitching holes and aged the material which gave it a whole different appearance.    For comparison purposes I have attached a picture of this known copy (Photo 1) followed by a picture (Photo 2) of your wing.  They looked identical except for the double circular border around the SF disc.  My guess is that in addition to the added rear covering of gray paper or cloth with stitching holes the counterfeiter has also added the embroidered double rings which I have not encountered before.  My guess is that if you were to carefully remove the gray backing material it would reveal the backing of the copy which is in Photo 3.    

Even on the Navy silver Type I PH's a chemical was used to darken the engraving. I have seen 1 or 2 where the engraver " forgot " to darken it.  The engraving was very bright and shiny.    KUrt

@hink441 - That was me, as I bought that buckle yesterday on Ebay.  Even though I have a similar one I thought this one was too cool to pass up.  When I get it I'll post pics alongside my other rescue boat buckle for comparison.

@Celia - That's a great buckle, especially with that bronze patina on the front.  I've personally never seen a PI buckle get that that color so if it were me I'd leave it as is.  Thanks for sharing!