Vintage WWII Sterling Silver Eagle Honorable Service Lapel Pin With Screw Back

Description

This beautiful piece is perfect for collectors of WWII era or military memorabilia. Gorgeous patina. It is in good vintage condition with minor signs of age and use such as minor scratches and wear. Please see photos for more details.
The Honorable Service Lapel Button sometimes called the Honorable Discharge Lapel Pin or Ruptured Duck was issued to members of the Armed Forces when they were honorably discharged during World War II. The classic Sculptor Anthony de Francisci designed the award in 1939 and consists of an eagle perched within a ring composed of a chief and thirteen vertical stripes. The button was issued between September 1939 and December 1946.
The button has the national eagle inside a wreath reflecting the de Francisci use of Roman legion inspired design elements (it is in fact almost a copy of the eagle standard for a Roman Legion). The “discharge button” was also embroidered as a gold colored cloth lozenge and sewn on the right breast of the uniform allowing veterans to wear their uniform for up to a month after discharge to declare that they were not AWOL. Many veterans wore the pin on their civilian lapels for years after the war’s end as visible proof of their service. The pin is usually signified on the veteran’s discharge paper by the term ‘Lapel button issued’ at the bottom of the paper in the Remarks section.
The award was commonly called the “Ruptured Duck” by veterans because the eagle faced to the right, which was the direction doctors instructed inductees to face when told to coughed during a examination for ruptures. The term was an in-joke among veterans since no civilians went through an induction examination.