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| | From: Lettie011 (Original Message) | Sent: 4/26/2005 11:31 AM |
The US Forces included Navy, Army, Army Air Force and Marine Corps | This Captain US Army Infantry is wearing ,on his left arm, the "A" patch of General George S. "Blood & Guts" Patton's famous 3rd Army. He is wearing the crossed muskets to show he is an infantry officer and he wears the ribbons of a Silver Star Medal, a Soldier's Medal, and a Purple Heart Medal, the latter for being wounded under enemy fire in combat. He also wears above his service medal ribbons a CIB (Combat Infantry Badge). His Unit has been awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (later redesignated as the Presidential Unit Citation). He wears around his lower cuff a mohair ½ inch braid to denote he is an officer. The normal Sam Browne leather belt has been replaced here by a matching cloth belt with an open brass buckle. He wears an overseas cap (sidecap) that had gold and black piping to denote his status as either a company or field grade officer. As a Captain he is wearing sterling silver rank insignia. | Captain, US Army Infantry (3rd Army) |
| - A WW2-era US Marine Captain in "winter green" uniform. This officer is serving as Aide de Camp to a Major General.
- He is a career officer, as shown by the "American Defense" ribbon, which dates his active duty to before Pearl Harbor. Also on that particular ribbon is the silver "W" device that denotes participation in the defense of Wake Island.
- He is a Silver Star recipient, with the "V" for Valor device, and has served in China as well.
| Captain, USMC Winter Green uniform | . | This USMC Captain is holding a Mameluke sword. The right to use this type of sword was given to Marine Corps officers after they conquered the Barbary Pirates at Tripoli. He wears the high collar dress blue uniform with a cap frame with special gold and scarlet-red chinstrap. It is summer, so he wears a white cover, probably on diplomatic duty. His eagle, anchor and globe (EGA, the USMC badge) are real silver and gold overlay. He wears smaller size collar brass facing inward. The 5th and 6th Marines in World War One were awarded three French Croix de Guerre Medals, two with a gold palm and one with a gold star. To represent those medals, he wears a French fourragere of green and red, the same colours as the service ribbon of the C de G. | Captain in the United States Marine Corps | He is a Marine Aviator and wears his pilots wings over a Navy Cross, a (Navy) Distinguished Service Medal with two gold stars (2nd & 3rd award), a Silver Star Medal. The second row is Flying Cross Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and a Purple Heart Medal. Third row is a Navy Expeditionary Medal, a Marine Corps Good Conduct medal to show he started an as enlisted man and was a "Mustang" (took a combat commission), and the last service ribbon is the American Defense Service Medal with "W" appurtenance to show he defended Wake Island against assault by the Imperial Japanese Naval and Marine Forces. He wears a Rifle Expert and Pistol Marksman badges. He has white gloves as he has just come off duty on the Staff of the Aviation Commander of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. He declined to wear the authorized Sam Browne belt while on sea duty to reduce the amount of luggage in the small cramped officers quarters. | | Captain in the US Army Air Force The Air Corps was restless as an Army stepchild from the start. Its members were consigned to wear Army uniforms, but asserted themselves to the full limit of the regulations to look different from their land-bound brothers. One popular motif was to wear a chocolate brown shirt with their khaki neckties. Some have speculated that the practice emulated Hollywood's stereotypical gangster attire, which often featured a dark shirt with light-colored tie. If true, it would be a fitting and typically American response to German propaganda broadcasts of the day, in which Air Corps bomber crews were often referred to as "American Luftgangsters." | Captain USAAF, A2 dress (8th Army Air Force) American military pilots took nose art and unit insignia to levels and applications not seen before. They proudly emblazoned both their planes and their leather flying jackets with Squadron and Group emblems, sometimes in the form of cloth patches, sometimes by applying silk-screened decals, or sometimes even having the designs hand-painted directly on the leather. for nose art The unit insignia on this U.S. Army Air Corps pilot's horsehide model A-2 flight jacket identify him as a member of the 67th Bomber Squadron of the 44th Bomber Group, serving with the 8th Air Force from one of its many bases in England. He holds in his hand a pair of early gold wire-rimmed Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, a perennial favorite with flyers since the 1930's. | | Lieutenant in the United States Navy | This US Navy Lieutenant wears a summer service "suntan" uniform with black wool rank marks with two gold-lace stripes to denote his rank with an embroidered gold bullion star to show he is a Line Officer. His collars also display metal rank insignia so when he takes off his jacket, you can still see his rank. He wears a service ribbon for the Navy Cross, which ranks just after the Medal of Honor. Next to his NC is a (Navy) Distinguished Service Medal, followed by a Navy and Marine Corps Medal. Above his service ribbons is a gold pair of wings for a Navy Pilot to show he is a qualified Naval Aviator, probably assigned to an Aircraft Carrier like the USS Lexington which fought at the Battle of Midway in the South Pacific. | He wears a matching suntan cover on his visored hat frame. His cap badge shows the eagle facing the wearer's right, from 1869 to 1941 eagles faced the wearer's left. Suntan is the US naval term for what the U.S. Army called khaki, which is different from the British version of same word. | |
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The US Army & USMC served in many theatres so many uniforms were needed | | - Captain US 101st Airborne, wearing M42 Jump Jacket
When the 101st Airborne Division parachuted behind the Normandy beaches in the early morning hours of D-Day, they wore the M42 Jump jacket in brown. This captain's olive drab M1 helmet bears the distinctive insignia of E (Easy) Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He carries the famous M1 Garand .30 caliber (.30-06) rifle, which General George Patton described as "the greatest battle implement ever devised." His leather shoulder holster contains the Model1911 Army Colt .45 automatic, for which he wears a two-magazine ammunition pouch on his webbing belt. | - Captain, U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division -- garrison cap
The elite paratroops of the 101st Airborne dropped into enemy territory to lead the D-Day invasion and then again in September 1944 to play an important role in Operation Market Garden, the Allies' abortive campaign to liberate Holland. The 101st also endured the brunt of Hitler's all-out attack on Bastogne in December-January 1944-5. This Airborne captain wears his paratrooper cap badge on the right side of his service cap -- instead of on the left as done by enlisted men -- so that his silver rank insignia doesn't cover the proud symbol of the Airborne. | | On his left arm are the "Screaming Eagle" shoulder patch of the 101st and, just above the cuff braid, two gold-embroidered "overseas bars," each signifying six months' service. Both are cross-stitched to his four-pocket coat with infantry-blue thread. On his right arm is the First Allied Airborne Army patch, worn by Airborne units who participated in Operation Market Garden. The two bronze stars on his silver "jump wings" symbolize the D-Day and Holland missions. Immediately beneath the jump wings is a Combat Infantry Badge. His ribbon bar includes the Silver Star, Soldier's Medal, and a Purple Heart for being wounded in enemy action. The 101st was awarded the Netherlands Orange Lanyard in appreciation for its contribution to the liberation of Holland. The gold-framed Presidential Unit Citation, pinned above his right breast pocket, was awarded to the 101st twice; the bronze oak leaf cluster on it signifies the second award. | | - Captain US Army M43 Field Jacket
This captain's M43 Field jacket was regulation Olive Drab color when it was issued. But, like almost all of such jackets, it quickly faded to its present light khaki color with exposure to the elements, and for that reason many wrongly assume that it was issued in light tan instead of green. His steel M1 helmet is covered with mesh netting which could be used to hold branches of leaves as camouflage in combat. The patch on his shoulder identifies him as a member of the 3rd Infantry Division. The 3rd Division fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Germany and Austria for 531 consecutive days of combat. At Anzio they fought off 3 German divisions. | Third Division soldiers earned 36 Congressional Medals of Honor during World War II. This Captain's weapon is the .30 caliber M1 carbine. Designed as a substitute for the Model 1911 pistol, it was roughly half the weight of the M1 Garand rifle and fired shorter (and somewhat less powerful) cartridges, usually in 15-round clips, two of which are contained in the ammo pouch on his belt. Two Mark II fragmentation grenades, identified by a band of yellow paint, hang from steel D-rings on his M1936 combat suspenders. | - Captain USMC in Combat Gear with B.A.R
The Marines in the Pacific fought on brown beaches and in green jungles. There was no one color or camouflage scheme that served well in every location. This officer is wearing a popular combination, the olive drab ("OD") Model 1941 HBT (Herring Bone Twill) 3-pocket fatigue jacket, along with an HBT camouflage cover on his M1 helmet. The Type 1 camouflage pattern is reversible to a greener woodland pattern where appropriate. It is emblazoned on the front center seam with a black-stamped "Eagle, Globe & Anchor" Marine Corps emblem. As usual, the seam has prevented an even imprint. | | His khaki-and-OD M1937 cartridge belt holds six 20-round magazines for his .30 caliber (30-06) Model 1918A2 B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle). This was an uncommon weapon for an officer; only one or two were usually assigned to each platoon, and they were normally handled by well-qualified NCO's or enlisted men. Rank insignia were seldom worn on HBT's at the battlefront, for fear of enemy snipers. | | - Captain USMC HBT Fatigues
Here we see the Captain in his everyday utility uniform, also known as fatigues. He wears his cotton khaki HBT utility jacket open at the collar, with sleeves rolled up in the steamy Pacific climate. His matching "cover," as Marines refer to all headwear, is the P-44 utility cap, which was a variation on the Army's P-41 cap. The Marines' version rotated the crown a few degrees to provide a place front and center for the "bird on a ball" Marine Corps insignia to be stenciled in black. This officer's OD webbing belt holds his trusty Ka-Bar 7-inch USMC combat knife, a popular addition to gyrene battle gear from 1942 on. His wristwatch is a military-issue Bulova with tropical webbing strap. | - Captain, 2nd Armored "Hell On Wheels" Division, U.S. II Corps
The cramped quarters inside a Sherman tank allowed for little extraneous gear. This tank company commander carries only his Model 1911 Colt .45 automatic, in a special shoulder holster rig designed to hold it snug to his chest. The jacket he wears was officially designated "Winter Combat Jacket," but was popularly known as the "tanker jacket." Much warmer than the comparatively flimsy M41 & M43 field jackets, tanker jackets were highly prized on all fronts in World war II, not only by tankers but also by infantrymen, Navy & Air Corps pilots, and even Marines in the South Pacific. His leather tank helmet protects his head from injury inside the rough-riding tank. | | The rank insignia dry-transferred on the front of the helmet is barely visible through his tinted goggles. General George S. Patton nicknamed his 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels" in 1941. As a part of the II Corps under Patton the 2nd Armored fought in Algeria, Tunisia and Sicily in 1943; later they distinguished themselves in France, Holland, and in the Battle of the Bulge. | |
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