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1st Samoan Marine Battalion USMCR Uniform


jpstout
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I had promised a friend to show this next time I retrieved it from the black hole in my house. A WWII uniform for the 1st Samoan Marine Battalion, Tutuila, American Samoa. Their uniform consisted of a khaki lava-lava, white t-shirt, overseas cap with patch, red sash, cartridge belt, bayonet and initially, M1903 and later, M1 Garand. A patch and any rank chevrons were attached on the right lower front of the lava-lava. Oh yes, bare feet.

 

The M1903 in the photo is also in my collection and is a well documented Springfield actually issued to the Marines in early 1943 and sent to San Diego. It seemed appropriate to include it...

 

regards,

pat

post-3673-0-18149000-1414032673.jpg

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vintageproductions

It's not very often I am speechless, but WOW.......

 

I have owned one of the overseas hats but never the whole lava-lave

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I live in a Marine town with a large Samoan population and I've often wondered how many of these are packed away in local garages. The guys who trim our trees wear lava-lavas as their normal clothing.

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I never knew about the lava-lava being issued gear. The MCRD in San Diego has the cap with the patch, but I have to go back to see if they have the lava-lava. A super rare and awesome piece. Thanks for sharing!

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I've seen drawings of their Navy uniforms, but this is pretty darned cool. I showed the pictures to my class today. We're talking about the Span-AM era, etc., and I included this since Samoa came into American possession in 1899 or so, part of our dabbling in empire.

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Thank you for the kind comments, guys. I get pretty stoked when I pull it out of the black hole and look it over. But I am glad I can share this with people who appreciate its historical significance. I need to find a shirt to put with it and display it at some point.

 

 

regards,

pat

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