The "Ruptured Duck" During WWII

In May 1945, the war in Europe was finally over, followed by VJ Day (Victory in Japan) in August of that same year. The army now had the herculean task, as one source referred to the project, of getting soldiers home. Honorable Service lapel pins and fabric insignias were issued to honorably discharged veterans. The award was designed by Italian American Anthony de Francisci, who won the 1921 competition to design a new US silver dollar with his “peace dollar.”

The service lapel pins were gilt brass and to be worn on the left lapel of civilian clothing. The fabric emblem was to be sewn onto the right breast of the dress uniform as proof of discharge. The items were unofficially used as an identifier for railroad, bus, and other transportation companies to offer free or subsidized travel to servicemen.

Members of the armed forces were restricted from wearing civilian clothing unless otherwise ordered

to do so, as it made desertion more difficult. However, after the war, with clothing and fabric restricted and limited, military members were allowed to wear their uniform for up to ninety days after discharge.

The insignia, which is a diamond-shaped patch with an olive drab background, features an eagle with outstretched wings inside a circle. Unfortunately, the design seems to depict the eagle’s breast as bursting through the button as though it had ruptured. The moniker quickly took hold among the troops. And stuck.

In anticipation of the war’s end, US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall ordered the Special Planning Division (SPD) to create a system to determine which soldiers would occupy Germany (Category I), which soldiers would transfer to the Pacific Theater (Category II), those who would be reorganized and retrained before being reclassified Category I (Category III), and which fortunate soldiers would return home (Category IV).

A total of eighty-five points would warrant them a discharge. Under the system, points were tallied for every US soldier based on a formula that included one point for each month in service in the army, one point for each month in service overseas, five points for each campaign, etc.

In September 1944, the program was rolled out, and as soon as the ink was dry on Germany’s surrender (or perhaps before), soldiers began to calculate their totals. Time of service was computed from September 16, 1940. Despite perceptions by the troops and American public, soldiers were discharged quickly. Between September and December, the army had demobilized an average of 1.2 million soldiers a month, sending more than four million soldiers home by the end of the year. That same month, the number of points required to get home was lowered to fifty.

The point system was abolished in June 1946 in favor of simply discharging any soldier who had completed two years of service. Demobilization officially ended one year later, on June 30, 1947. The army had decreased from eight million soldiers in 1945 to 684,000 on July 1, 1947.

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Spies & Sweethearts (Sisters in Service, Book 1)

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind

enemy lines find capture… or love?

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance.

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest.

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border.

Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves.

Whether you choose her books set in the Old West or across the globe during WWII, you will be immersed in the past through rich detail. Follow the journeys of relatable characters whose faith is sorely tested, yet in the end, emerge triumphant. Be encouraged in your own faith-walk through stories of history and hope. Visit her at www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Photos: Courtesy of the Wright Museum