Includes:
1. Group of Nineteen: Legion of Merit: Legionnaire Grade; Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Purple Heart (engraved "L. M. Edwards" in running script on the reverse); Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters (engraved "L. M. Edwards" in capitals on the reverse); Air Medal; Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Air Force Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Good Conduct Medal with Stylized Rope with Two Knots Bar; Air Force Good Conduct Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Armed Forces Reserve Medal; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal; National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star; Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star and two Bronze Stars; Republic of Vietnam: Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm; Republic of Vietnam: Campaign Medal with 1960- Clasp; all with their original ribbon, eighteen with a brooch pinback, the Air Force Commendation Medal is slotted.
2. Army Meritorious Unit Commendation.
3. Republic of Vietnam: Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm Unit Citation.
4. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" Device and Oak Leaf Cluster.
5. Air Force Longevity Service Award with two Oak Leaf Clusters.
6. Air Force NCO PME Graduate Ribbon.
7. two Enameled Ribbon Bars: Purple Heart, Air Medal.
8. U.S. Army Collar Badge.
9. U.S. Army Warrant Officer Collar Badge (marked "KREW" on the reverse).
10. Army Chief Warrant Officer (CW4) Rank Shoulder Badge (marked "G23" on the reverse).
11. Air Force Technical Sergeant Rank Insignia Patch.
12. 7th Air Force Patch.
13. Vietnam U.S. 1st Signal Brigade Patch. Accompanied by copies of his Service Records and copies of his Award Documents. Near extremely fine.
Footnote: Laurence Merton Edwards was born on April 26, 1921 in Maine, Social Security Number 006-03-5319. He enlisted with the United States Army (2 217 555) at Augusta, Maine for service during the Second World War. He would serve as a Staff Sergeant with the Army Air Corps, 32nd Fighter Squadron in the Panama Canal Zone (September 1940 - April 1944), later achieving the rank of First Lieutenant with the Army Air Corps and the Army (April 1944 - September 1953). Upon the ceasing of hostilities and the subsequent occupation period, First Lieutenant Edwards transferred from the Army, joining the United States Air Force Reserve (September 1953 - December 1954).
Edwards would subsequently become a Technical Sergeant with the United States Air Force (11 016 545) and it was in the Air Force that he would assume the role of Intelligence Officer by June 1953. He would serve in the Air Force in the United States and in Vietnam during the Vietnam War (June 1958 - December 1966), before transferring back for a second stint with the United States Army on December 31, 1966. In the rank of Warrant Officer (W01) or Chief Warrant Officer (CW4) in the Army, he performed two tours of duty in Vietnam and one in Germany (January 1, 1967 - August 31, 1980).
During his career, he would see postings and/or action in Turkey, Vietnam, Germany and Korea, to mention a few of the overseas locations. His Army education included one week of Supervisors Development Training in 1972, five weeks as a Military Personnel Officer in 1973 and two weeks for a Military Management Course in 1975. Edwards received numerous awards during his career, the major ones including the Legion of Merit (Legionnaire Grade), along with nine awards while serving with the United States Army [three Bronze Stars (for the Vietnam War), three Meritorious Service Medals (the first of which was for service in Germany), an Air Medal and two Army Commendation Medals] and two while serving with the United States Air Force [two Air Force Commendation Medals]. (a) Chief Warrant Officer Edwards was a recipient of the Legion of Merit (Legionnaire Grade, although the award date is unacknowledged in his paperwork), the award itself established on July 20, 1942 and awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States, without degree, for exceptionally outstanding conduct in the performance of meritorious service to the United States, in four grades: Chief Commander, Commander, Officer and Legionnaire. The paperwork accompanying this group contains eleven citations for the following awards, with detailed descriptions for each: (b) Chief Warrant Officer Edwards, United States Army received three Bronze Stars for participation in the Vietnam War:
(i) the first Bronze Star for "outstanding meritorious service in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam" (September 1967 - September 1968);
(ii) the second Bronze Star with First Oak Leaf Cluster for having "distinguished himself by outstandingly meritorious service in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam" (February 1, 1971 - June 1, 1971);
(iii) the third Bronze Star with Second Oak Leaf Cluster for having "distinguished himself by outstandingly meritorious service in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam" (October 10, 1970 - September 24, 1971). (c) Chief Warrant Officer Edwards, United States Army received three Meritorious Service Medals:
(i) the first MSM "for outstanding meritorious service in Europe.....(having)....distinguished himself in successive assignments as Chief of the Personnel Records Division and as Chief of the Personnel Actions Division of the 574th Personnel Service Company" (November 1968 - September 1970);
(ii) the second MSM with First Oak Leaf Cluster while serving in the Adjutant General's Corps for having "distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious service as Chief, Administrative Office, Office of the Chief, Army Reserve" (November 15, 1971 - August 31, 1973);
(iii) the third MSM with Second Oak Leaf Cluster "for exceptionally meritorious service while assigned to USARR VIII (U.S. Army Readiness Region 8), Denver, Colorado, with duty station Salina, Kansas" (October 20, 1973 - April 8, 1977). (d) Chief Warrant Officer Edwards, United States Army received the Air Medal for "distinguishing himself by meritorious achievement while participating in sustained aerial flight in support of combat ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam. During this time he actively participated in more than twenty-five aerial missions over hostile territory in support of counterinsurgency operations" (October 1967 - April 1968). (e) Chief Warrant Officer Edwards, United States Army received two Army Commendation Medals:
(i) the first ACM "for meritorious service while serving as Unit Personnel Technician, Center Consolidated Unit Personnel Section, Military Personnel Division, Adjutant General Section, U.S. Army School/Training Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia" (January 9, 1967 - September 18, 1967);
(ii) the second ACM with First Oak Leaf Cluster "for meritorious service in the performance of his duties as Personnel Management Officer, U.S. Army Military Personnel Center - Korea" (April 1977 - March 1978). (f) Edwards received two Air Force Commendation Medals:
(i) the first AFCM in the rank of Staff Sergeant, United States Air Force for having "distinguished himself by meritorious service as a Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of the Military and Civilian Military Branch, and later Sergeant Major of TUSLOG (United States Logistics Group, Turkey) Detachment 61" (August 4, 1960 - April 30, 1962);
(ii) the second AFCM with First Oak Leaf Cluster in the rank of Technical Sergeant, United States Air Force for having "distinguished himself by meritorious service while assigned to the Officer Manning Branch, Directorate of Personnel, Headquarters Seventh Air Force, Tan Son Nhut Airfield, Republic of Vietnam" (June 5, 1965 - May 14, 1966). Edwards received a Purple Heart, although it is unclear as to when it was issued, or the extent of the injury sustained.
He was also a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Army Good Conduct Medal with Stylized Rope with Two Knots Bar, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. For his Second World War service, he was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal. For his Vietnam War service, he was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star and two Bronze Stars, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960- Clasp.
In addition, he received the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm Unit Citation, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Force Longevity Service Award with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Air Force NCO PME Graduate Ribbon. Edwards was discharged from active service at Fort Riley, Kansas, upon his retirement from the United States Army in the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CW4), credited with forty years' military service, split between the Army and the Air Force, from 1940 to 1980. He was married to Eloise M. Schulte Edwards (born May 8, 1924 in Ellinwood, Barton County, Kansas; died April 27, 1996, age 71 in Salina, Saline County, Kansas). Laurence Merton Edwards died on October 9, 1995, at the age of 74. Both he and his wife are buried in Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina, Saline County, Kansas, Plot: Blk 31, Lot 19, Spaces 08 and 07, respectively.