MSCC Purple Heart pair (John T. Winterich, editor of The Stars and Stripes)

MSCC Purple Heart pair to John T. Winterich, editor of The Stars and Stripes: Purple Heart, numbered “70261″, hand-engraved “John T./Winterich”; World War I Victory Medal, clasp “France”. With copied award card showing that Winterich served as a private in the 1st Censor and Press Company as editor of The Stars and Stripes newspaper. The Purple Heart was awarded in lieu of a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate in October 1940.

John T. Winterich was born in 1891 in Middletown, Connecticut. He graduated from Brown University in 1912 and became a reporter. In World War I, he became one of the first members of the editorial staff of The Stars and Stripes. After the war, he joined The American Legion Monthly, editing that publication from 1924 through 1938. During World War II, he served as a colonel in the War Department, dealing with censorship and public relations. After the war, Winterich was the managing editor of The Saturday Review and was on the staff of The New Yorker magazine. He was an authority on book collecting and a prolific author in that field. Winterich died in August 1970.