Honorable Service lapel pin

The Honorable Service Lapel Pin was an award given to United States military service members who were discharged under honorable conditions during World War II. The award was sometimes slangily called the Ruptured duck. [ Talento, Catherine. [http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123050401 "WWII veteran's artwork lives on at museum."] Air Force News Agency, 25 April 2007. Retrieved: 10 February 2008.]

The pin was awarded between September 1939 and December 1946 and was made of gilt brass, except during metal shortages during which it was made of gilt plastic. Service members who received the plastic version were later allowed to trade it in for the brass version.

The pin, which depicted an eagle inside a wreath, served as proof to military police that its wearer was not absent without leave. During the World War II emergency, members of the armed forces (unless under orders) were forbidden to possess civilian clothing, in order to make desertion more difficult. The discharge insignia, embroidered onto a cloth lozenge and sewn on the right breast of the tunic, allowed its wearer to wear his or her uniform for up to thirty days subsequent to discharge. Some veterans wore the pin on their civilian lapels for many years after the war's end. It also appeared on a postage stamp honoring veterans.

The usage of the term later expanded to also refer to the individuals wearing it, as in "that ruptured duck is flying space-available." Presumably because these individuals were usually in a great hurry to return to their homes in the United States, the term later came into use when describing somebody or something which was moving quickly.

References

ee also

* The Ruptured Duck (B-25)