WWII USMC Modified Forest Green Coat.

Here is a unique modified USMC WWII Service Coat. It appears one pocket has been removed, and another is missing its flap. Interesting enough they never took off the Marine buttons. Most likely a modified coat for civilian wear.

WWII USMC Marine Themed Voice O Gram Record

Voice O Gram records were recordable records that soldiers can record a personal message and sent back home to played on a record player. These were usually provided by the Red Cross or other service organizations. This is a unique example of a Marine themed record that are currently selling on eBay at the moment. I love the great humorous Marine themed artwork used throughout.

WWII US Army First Aid Pouches with Marine Name Identification Stamps.

Here is an interesting study. If I happen across a barrel full of Army First Aid pouches I usually take the time to sit and sort through all the FAP to see if I can find any Marine identification stamped items. Here is a good example of two I have in my collection. Although when WWII started the Marines had their own first aid pouches, as the war progressed the Marines started to procure Army FAPs to fill up orders. Accordingly when the Marines received them they would mark them with their name stamps as they would with all their gear. The bottom FAP is a Boyt manufacture, a common maker for Marine items in WWII. The top two FAP are Army pouches with Marine name marking, unfortunately all three names are common and I was unable to identify the Marines who wore them. The middle pouch is unusual as it never appears it had a "US" stamped on the front, or if it did it was rubbed or worn out completely. Since Marine items were never marked "US" there is a possibility it was made without the "US" making it a very unusual Army FAP specifically made for the Marines. This is pure conjecture as I've never seen any paperwork or orders that states as such. Regardless all three FAP are interesting example of FAPs with a Marine association.

WWII USMC Corporal 5th Engineers Cutdown Vandegrift Coat 5th Marine Division

Here is a recent addition to my 5th Marine Division collection. This is a Vandegrift style cutdown service coat IDed to a Marine who was in the 5th Engineers. These are always uniques coats as they were done by tailors and each one has minor details that make them different from each other. This coat was stripped and looks like with was modified after the war with the Marine buttons removed and replaced with grey civilian buttons, most likely to be worn as daily clothing. This is the first one I've managed to find for my collection.

WWII US Navy Corpsman Stretcher

WWII Navy Stretcher dated 1943. This style was produced so it could fold in the middle.

WWII USMC Raider Corpsman PhM2c 4th Raider Battalion

The second Corpsman coat I managed to locate last month was this incredible 4th Raider Battalion Corpsman coat I found at a local antiques fair. This is one of those dream finds that comes around once in a lifetime. The coat was stripped but the PhM rate and IMAC outline were clearly on the coat and the name in the coat only matched one Corpsman who was in the Raiders. This Sailor left the service in 1944 for reasons unknown at the moment as I haven't received his records. Like the 1st MarDiv corpsman coat it's difficult to locate a Forest Green Corpsman rate and loose Raider patches can be pricey but I had a friend pull through for me for the rates and found a great deal online for the SSI. I will be taking it to the seamstress shortly and hopefully have it by the end of the weekend.

WWII Navy Corpsman Forest Green Coat 1st MarDiv Update

Last year I picked up this Forest Green Marine Coat IDed to a Corpsman in the 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. I was finally able to locate a proper left facing crow Forest Green Corpsman Rate to start the restoration. Very happy to finally see this one come together after a year of looking. I'm still having difficulty locating his records but I plan to start working on it again. Still a long way to go!