Medals Earned by Glider Pilots, Distinguished Unit Citation

The pin, a small blue rectangle, for the Distinguished Unit Citation, as it was called in World War II, is not shown in this view of my glider pilot uncle's uniform decorations. It was awarded to units of the United States Army and the allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy in such a way as to set the unit apart from other units.

I believe Sylvan Lucier would have two and perhaps three Distinguished Unit Citations because he saw action in three Troop Carrier Groups at the very time they earned this award; the 313 for Sicily, the 438th for Normandy, and the 316th for Holland. The pin would be about the same size as the bars shown above and somewhat unimpressive in appearance, but hugely important. The degree of heroism required is comparable to the Air Force Cross or the Navy Cross. I have read about this Citation in a number of books about the units Sylvan serve in. He was stationed in Africa with the 313th group preparing for the invasion but his squadron's gliders were taken over by the British glider pilots. Thus Sylvan's 49th squadron (313th) did not fly the Husky (Sicilian) missions but were soon stationed in Sicily to support the invasion continuing in Italy.

The tiny wings with the propeller were earned when my uncle became a power pilot early in his training. The star in a circle are shown on the left label of Sylvan's dress uniform. I'm not sure what it indicates.

The red bordered rectangle with four stars, and the smaller one with one gold star, are something I can only guess. They may have been given by the government to my grandmother who had four sons in the war. Or perhaps Sylvan wore the four star pin on his dress uniform. The four stars remind me of a keepsake I have, called "the Mother's Flag", shown in a family's front window during WWII. My Lucier family flag has four blue stars for the four sons that served at one time, with a gold star pinned off to one side. If a mother lost a son, the gold star was pinned over one blue star. In Eva Lucier's case, she pinned it to one side because her youngest son, still in High School, joined the Army as soon as his brother died.

Sylvan had glider wings of course and I have to scan them and post it later. I will also post the picture of the small (6" by 8") Five Star Mother flag, one of the most poignant items in the collection.