Large group of high school, intercollegiate, NRA, USMC and police shooting medals won by Major James G. Frazer USMC, mostly during the 1930s. Group includes assortment of USMC buttons, EGA devices, and other memorabilia, mostly shown in pictures below.

2ndLt Frazer was the Daniel Boone Trophy winner in 1937. As a Major, Frazer commanded the First Engineer Battalion on Guadalcanal until October 1942.

Major Frazer was among this group of Marine officers taken with General Vandegrift on Guadalcanal in August 1942. (4th row, 3rd from left)

Rearranged & rescanned,
26 January 2003
Pictures of several medals still to be added.

This group requires further research. I am at least the third dealer to handle this group; it did not come directly from the family. There are no documents or photographs accompanying this group. Two of the medals are named to Frazer, and Frazer's name can be found in various match records, but the authenticity of every item in this group cannot be guaranteed.

It should be noted that this group appears to be less than complete. According to an experienced collector of USMC shooting medals, Frazer won the NTI in 1937 which awarded him the Daniel Boone Trophy, which is missing, and what should have been a gold medal, which is also missing.

Also, according to this collecter, two medals appear suspicious. First: Distinguished Marksman medals (even the replacements) were always inscribed to the winner on the reverse side, which this one (photo not yet added) is not. Second: after checking the match records, this collector noted that the "Dogs of War" rifle badge from 1938 should be silver, not gold, as his team was second, not first.

Four of the medals (pictures not yet added), including two Coast Artillery medals, appear to be Army rather than Marine Corps medals. It is unclear how or why these medals are included in the group.

Finally, it should be noted that while it seems very likely that James G. Frazer, the winner of these medals, is the same James G. Frazer who commanded the 1st Engineer Battalion on Guadalcanal, this identification has not yet been definitely established.

An added note: the Honolulu Police Dept medals, dated 1939, and the Pearl Harbor Gun Club medal, dated 1940, raise the possibility that Frazer may have been in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Research on James G. Frazer is ongoing, and I would be grateful for any information on his career both before and after Guadalcanal.

If you have information about this Marine officer, please contact me at skipper@labyrinth.net.

BJ Omanson