Badge, Membership
Object number2015.42.28
Date1958
MediumMetal/Fabric/Silk/Paper/Ink/Adhesive tape
Credit LineGift of Susan Muir
Description99th Infantry Division Association 9th Annual Reunion badge. Badge consists of three connected sections. Top of badge is a rectangular plastic sleeve with metal pinback on back; white paper card inside sleeve has black printed text identifying wearer. Blue silk ribbon is attached to bottom of plastic sleeve with a strip of tan adhesive tape; ribbon has silver printed text describing reunion event. Round metal and celluloid medallion attached to bottom of ribbon; medallion has white face with blue shield decoration at center; the shield is the 99th Infantry Division's unit insignia.Dimensions6.375 x 3.063 x 0.25 in. (16.2 x 7.8 x 0.6 cm)InscriptionsPaper card at top of badge has black printed text "MARTIN G TORISKY / PITTSBURGH, PA / 99th SIGNAL".
Blue ribbon has silver printed text "9th ANNUAL / REUNION / 99th / INFANTRY / DIVISION / ASSOCIATION / AKRON, OHIO / JULY 1958".
Historical NotesPart of a collection of WWII-related artifacts from the military service of Gabe Torisky of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who served with the 99th “Checkerboard” Infantry Division during the Ardennes campaign in Belgium. Martin Gabriel "Gabe" Torisky was of Slovak ancestry and was born on November 11, 1911, in Uniontown, PA. He moved to Pittsburgh in the 1920s and was drafted and sent to 99th Division during World War II. The 99th Division is especially important in relation to Pittsburgh, as the Division was originally headquartered in the city in 1942, and the unit insignia, a black shield with a checkerboard band of nine alternating white and blue squares (for “99”) was derived from the coat of arms for William Pitt and thus, also the city seal of Pittsburgh, on which the checkerboard also appears. Donor Susan Muir is Gabe Torisky's daughter.
Previous owner
Martin Gabriel Torisky
(born 1911)
Related institution
99th Infantry Division
Related institution
99th Infantry Division Association
On View
Not on view
c. 1965
1939-1945
c. 1945
1939-1945
