WWII USMC Correct Ribbon Placement 1946 Marine Corps Gazette

Problems with how your Marine Corps ribbons and devices should be attached to a WWII USMC uniform? This is a great article from a 1946 Marine Corps Gazette article. What is great about it is the plain talk from the writer of the article of how ribbon and shooting badges should be attached. There is always something to learn and this article even made me reevaluate how I attached these items to my uniform restorations.

WWII USMC PFC 28th Marines 5th Marine Division Uniform Jacket

It's been while! Here is a USMC Coat IDed to a Marine in the Weapons Company 28th Marines and a vet of Iwo Jima. The Jacket was stripped when purchased but the outline of his rank and 5th MarDiv SSI is still visible. This coat was later recycled out to a Marine who served from 1946-1949. Only the second 28th Marines coat I have managed to locate.

Wileys Uniform Accessory Shop Custom WWII 1/2 Sized Marine/Navy Ribbons

Jason Foust, owner of Wileys Uniform Accessory Shop has recreated and reproduced the correctly sized USMC and Navy 1/2 sized uniform ribbons for uniform restorations. If you're not aware, during WWII the US Navy and Marines ribbons were sized differently than the 3/8 sized army Ribbons. If you restore uniforms like myself you soon realize it is difficult and cost prohibitive at times to recreate ribbons bars, as some 1/2 ribbons are difficult or near impossible to locate. Jason has taken the time to tool up and acquire original NOS WWII ribbon to recreate ribbons for a restored ribbon rack. Its amazing work he's producing. Jason was also one of the main purchasers of the Wosk hoard of WWII uniform items. Overall Jason is a great source to restore your uniform with not only newly reproduced 1/2 ribbons but NOS shoot badges, SSI Patches, Rank, Rates etc. You can visit his Fabcebook page here.

WWII Navy Clothing and Small Stores List 1942

Here is a nice find this weekend, a WWII Navy Clothing and Small Stores List from 1942. This is basically a list of items sailors were issued. A great checklist of items for WWII Navy collectors and Reenactors.

WWII Iwo Jima Joe Rosenthal Zippo Lighter AD

Just an incredible Zippo lighter advertisement of Joe Rosenthal's lighter that he carried at Iwo Jima. Features the classic black crinkle paint style of WWII Zippo lighters, personalized with his initials engraved on the side.

WWII Navy MoMM1c Navy Blue Jumper D-Day Vet LST-380

Although Iwo Jima Navy vet uniforms appear somewhat regularly, it is D-Day Navy vet uniforms that are near impossible to locate. When I see them I usually purchase them but those opportunities rarely appear. Owning only three in my collection, and missing out on a forth, that comes out to happening across a D-Day uniform once a year since I started focusing on named uniforms. I was lucky a few years ago when a local antique store had a D-Day vet grouping from a Sailor who was on LST-380. Having the "MO" on his patch on a couple of his jumpers he was a most likely part of a Higgins boat crew during Overlord. This brave sailor stayed in the service until the 1960s so unfortunately I cannot get his complete records. While even Army D-Day uniforms are difficult to locate, I find locating Navy D-Day uniforms even more difficult. A wonderful jumper from a Navy D-Day hero. EDIT 6/9: I had a misconception of the MoMM rate and wanted to correct any misconceptions of the rate. I bought four jumpers from this sailor, only one white jumper had the MO rate. The purpose of the MO rate is a work on smaller engines on craft, such as Higgins boats and PT boats etc. Since he was on an LST more likely than not he was part of a Higgins boat crew. Most Higgins boats are piloted by Coxswain or Boatswain mates.

WWII USMC Navy Corpsman PhM2c 1st Marine Division/IMAC

About a year ago I picked up this forest green coat belonging to Navy Corpsman who started in the 1st Field Depot Supply Service IMAC 1st Amphibious Corps and later transferred to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines 1st Marine Division in time for the Battle of Okinawa. It is a real interesting coat as the outline of his IMAC and 1st MarDiv patches can still be seen. The outline of his pharmacist rate patch can also be seen. The coat was later cycled out to another 1st MarDiv Marine which is the setup it has in this photo. Unfortunately it has been very difficult to pull his records as he has a very common name and his entries on the USMC rosters doesn't list his service number. Another detail that has been difficult for me to locate his a PhM2c Forest Green patch which I finally located last week. Although it is a Right Sleeve/rear facing crow, I am still going to use it until I can locate a correct facing crow. After many years of looking this is my first Corpsman Forest green coat. Looking forward to finally restore this coat back to its original Corpsman state.