Artifact Gallery:
Battleship USS Iowa Museum Los Angeles collects relevant artifacts to help tell the story of the ship and the Surface Navy to a broad audience. Below you will find some of our accessioned artifacts in our collection. Not all items are on display and are monitored according to our collections management policy.
We accept new items in the collection on a case-by-case basis. Click here for more information.
Honorable Service Discharge Lapel Pin
Object/Artifact
An honorable service discharge lapel pin, also known as a "Ruptured Duck". The design on the face of the gold-plated pin depicts an eagle standing in a ring on which the vertical stripes of a shield are shown. Pins such as this were issued to US military service members honorably discharged at the end of World War II, to signify that the person was authorized to continue to wear his military uniform for 30 days. This was helpful, since many servicemen did not have much money saved to make the transition back to civilian life, and some clothing items, especially men's shirts, were in short supply at the time.
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