A First War American Purple Heart Pair to the 115th Infantry AEF

A First War American Purple Heart Pair to the 115th Infantry AEF - Victory Medal, 2 Clasps - DEFENSIVE SECTOR, MEUSE-ARGONNE (bronze, 36 mm, two bronze stars on the ribbon); and Purple Heart (two-piece construction, bronze gilt and enamels, engraved "Charles S. Ammel" in capitals on the reverse, 34.5 mm x 43.3 mm). Mounted to a suspension with swing bar pinback, original ribbons, surface wear and contact marks on the PH, ribbon on the VM as separated from the suspension, glue residue evident on the pinback from previous board mounting, very fine. Accompanied by his Award Document for the Verdun Medal (inscribed in black ink handwritten script: "Charles S. Ammel, 1283463, 115th Infantry, 29th Division, American Expeditionary Forces" and "Genicourt, Meuse Argonne 1918", 137 mm x 215 mm, lightly soiled).   Footnote: The 29th Division departed for France in June 1918, to join the American Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The division's infantry units were the 57th Infantry Brigade, made up of the 113th Infantry Regiment and the 114th Infantry Regiment from New Jersey, and the 58th Infantry Brigade, made up of the 115th Infantry Regiment from Maryland and the 116th Infantry Regiment from Virginia. Its artillery units were Maryland's 110th Artillery Regiment, Virginia's 111th Artillery Regiment and New Jersey's 112th Artillery Regiment. The division's advance detachment reached Brest, France on June 8th. In late September, the 29th received orders to join the First United States Army's Meuse-Argonne offensive, as part of the French XVII Corps. During its twenty-one days in combat, the 29th Division advanced seven kilometers, capturing 2,148 prisoners, along with knocking out over 250 machine guns or artillery pieces. Thirty percent of the division became casualties: 170 officers and 5,691 enlisted men were killed or wounded.