Original Items: One-of-a-kind. This is a very rare un-named 1937 Battle of Soochow Creek medal with original ribbon and an engraved U.S. Navy Good Conduct Medal named to a John Plaushak in 1933.

The Soochow Creek Medal actually covers several varieties, but all relate to the US presence in Shanghai when the conflict between China and Japan was brewing. Soochow Creek was a main waterway through Shanghai. The medal was the creation of a member of the 4th Marines in Shanghai in 1932. They were locally-made, bronze or gilt, on yellow ribbons with a brown stripe in the center, and with or without top bars. There is also a 1937 version which is this example.

The pendant depicts a coolie pushing a honey wagon. The reverse is inscribed
Presented to

For Bravery and Valor
Battle of Soochow
Creek
Shanghai 1937

The medals were very unofficial, but came with a certificate. They could be bought for $2.00 through the 4th Marines regimental newspaper offices. Scarce in the market, especially complete. The documents are even rarer. Their popularity springs from the "China Marine" connection. The Soochow Creek medal was a souvenir of China service bought in Shanghai, China by US Navy sailors and Marines.  

The ribbon is in delicate condition and is slightly torn in various locations, but is, for the most part, still attached to the medal. This is a very rare medal and is in a beautiful display condition.

Up next in this lot is a 1933 dated U.S. Navy Good Conduct medal with the sailor’s name and date engraved on the back:

John
Plaushak
1933

U.S. Navy World War II Good Conduct Medal. Awarded to John Plaushak whose name and date 1933 are engraved on the back side encircled by words "Fidelity, Zeal, Obedience". Front side has the USS Constitution inside an anchor and chain with words "United States Navy". Medal is hung on maroon ribbon and offered in overall very good condition.

We believe, from what we could find, John Plaushak enlisted in the U.S. Navy sometime before 1933. He is on the muster rolls for the USS Parrot (DD-218) as being first brought onto the ship in 1936. We have not been able to find much about his career and where he was beforehand. His next ship that he appears on is the USS Vestal (AR-4) in 1939. We believe that he was present for the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, due to the fact that he didn't appear on another ship until after 1941.

USS Vestal (AR-4) was a repair ship in service with the United States Navy from 1913 to 1946. Before her conversion to a repair ship, she had served as a collier since 1909. Vestal served in both World Wars. She was damaged during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and received two battle stars for her World War II service.

Paushak appears to have continued his Naval career much after WWII ended, but details are unclear.

This is an incredible medal lot, one being very rare and the other belonging to a possible Pearl Harbor survivor. Both medals come ready to display!
 
More on the USS Vestal at Pearl Harbor
The Pacific Fleet was shifted to a new base at Pearl Harbor following Fleet Problem XXI in the spring of 1940. Vestal also made the move and served there until the outbreak of war following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

After returning to the west coast for an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, Vestal steamed back to Pearl Harbor, resuming her vital, but unsung, duties. On 6 December 1941, she was moored alongside USS Arizona, at berth F 7, off Ford Island, to provide services to the battleship during her scheduled period of tender upkeep between 6 and 12 December. Unfortunately, one day later, she would go into service yet again.

The next day the ordered routine of a peacetime Sunday in port was shattered shortly before 08:00 as Japanese carrier-based aircraft swept down upon Pearl Harbor. At 07:55, Vestal went to general quarters, manning every gun from the 5-inch (127 mm) broadside battery to the .30 cal. Lewis machine guns on the bridge wings. At about 08:05, her 3-inch (76 mm) gun commenced firing.

At about the same time, two bombs – intended for the more valuable battleship inboard on Battleship Row – hit the repair ship. One struck the port side, penetrated three decks, passed through a crew's space, and exploded in a stores hold, starting fires that necessitated flooding the forward magazines. The second hit the starboard side, passed through the carpenter shop and the shipfitter shop, and left an irregular hole about five feet in diameter in the bottom of the ship.

Maintaining anti-aircraft fire became secondary to the ship's fight for survival. The 3-inch (76 mm) gun jammed after three rounds, and the crew was working to clear the jam when an explosion blew Vestal's gunners overboard.

At about 08:10, a bomb penetrated Arizona's deck near the starboard side of number 2 turret and exploded in the powder magazine below. The resultant explosion touched off adjacent main battery magazines. Almost as if in a volcanic eruption, the forward part of the battleship exploded, and the concussion from the explosion literally cleared Vestal's deck.

Among the men blown off Vestal was her commanding officer, Commander Cassin Young. The captain swam back to the ship, however, and countermanded an abandon ship order that someone had given, coolly saying, "Lads, we're getting this ship underway." Fortunately, the engineer officer had anticipated just such an order and already had the "black gang" hard at work getting up steam.

The explosion touched off oil from the ruptured tanks of the Arizona which in turn caused fires on board Vestal, aft and amidships. At 08:45 men forward cut Vestal's mooring lines with axes, freeing her from Arizona, and she got underway, steering by engines alone. The naval tug Hoga, whose tugmaster had served aboard Vestal just a few months before the attack, pulled Vestal's bow away from the inferno engulfing Arizona and the repair ship, and the latter began to creep out of danger, although she was slowly assuming a list to starboard and settling by the stern. At 09:10, Vestal anchored in 35 feet (11 m) of water off McGrew's Point.

With the draft aft increasing to 27 feet (8 m) and the list to six and one-half degrees, Commander Young decided upon another course of action. "Because of the unstable condition of the ship", Young explained in his after-action report, "(the) ship being on fire in several places and the possibility of further attacks, it was decided to ground the ship." Underway at 09:50, less than an hour after the Japanese attack ended, Vestal grounded on 'Aiea Bay soon thereafter. Commander Young was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

Although damaged herself, Vestal participated in some of the post-attack salvage operations, sending repair parties to the overturned hull of the battleship Oklahoma so that welders could cut into the ship and rescue men trapped there when she capsized. Over the ensuing days, Vestal's men repaired their own ship because yard facilities in the aftermath of the Japanese surprise attack were at a premium. Within a week of the raid, Vestal's crew had pumped out the oil and water that had flooded the compartments below the waterline and cleared out the damaged and gutted holds – all work that had to be completed before the rebuilding process could begin.