Group of 7 to CWT John Skrtich, USN, USS Quincy survivor

Group of seven to Chief Watertender John Skrtich, USS Quincy:  Purple Heart, split brooch, unnamed; Navy Good Conduct Medal, wrap brooch, hand-engraved “John/Skrtich/USS/Salt Lake/City/18 Nov, 1930”; World War I Victory Medal, no clasp; Yangtze Service Medal, Navy, numbered “M.No.7664”; American Defense Service Medal, clasp “Fleet”; Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. With a set of matching ribbon bars; two chief petty officer cap badges (one marked “Sterling”. With photocopied service record data, including a photocopied photo of Skrtich wearing a USS Quincy cap tally.

John Skrtich was born in Austria in 1894 and enlisted in the 136th Field Artillery, 37th Division in 1917, serving in France from June 1918 through March 1919. He enlisted in the Navy in November 1922. His Good Conduct Medal is verified in his records, as is the Yangtze Service Medal (#7664), which was for service aboard USS Rochester (CA-2) in 1932-1933. After surviving the sinking od USS Quincy off Savo Island, Skrtich was retired in 1944, but retained on active duty at the Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland (Provost Marshall’s Division). In January 1945, Skrtich requested a Purple Heart based on “sclerosis of both ears” (hardening/scarring of the ear drums) caused by “excessive noise of gun and torpedo explosions” during the sinking of USS Quincy on 9 August 1942. The Navy approved his request and forwarded the unnamed medal to him.  Chief Skrtich died in 1975 in San Diego, California.

USS Quincy (CA-39) was serving in the Atlantic at the beginning of World War II and transferred to the Pacific Fleet in July 1942. She provided naval gunfire support for operations on Guadalcanal before being sunk in Ironbottom Sound on 9 August, with the loss of 370 dead.

The medals show age and wear.