WW1 Army of Occupation uniform

[speeder3]

Good evening all,

 

I spent this past weekend with my wife perusing the big antiques and collectibles show that comes to my area this time of year and found myself bringing home a WW1 uniform. I've been wanting a tunic to display with my small-but-growing collection, so this was a pleasant surprise. The uniform includes tunic, breeches, leggings and overseas cap, all ID'd with just the last name, "Pittenger." In one of the breast pockets I found several pieces of a very old newspaper from Enumclaw, WA. With that clue, I did some digging on the web and came up with several soldiers. The best match is a Sgt. Ray Pittenger from Prairie, WA (very close to Enumclaw) who enlisted on Feb. 4, 1918 at Ft. Lawton, WA. He was promoted to sargeant on Jan. 1, 1919. He served overseas from Sept. 14, 1918 to Sept. 1, 1919 and was honorably discharged on Sept. 22, 1919. All of that information correlates with the sergeant stripes, two 6-mos. overseas stripes, and honorable discharge stripe on the tunic.

 

Also, according to the patches on the tunic, Sgt. Pittenger served in the 3rd Army, 6th division. And, both the tunic and the cap have engineer's discs. The info I found on the web about Sgt. Pittenger also said that he was assigned to QMC until discharged. I read what I can find on the web about the role of the Army of Occupation, but I would like to have a better idea of what Sgt. Pittenger was doing at that time. I would certainly appreciate any leads that you folks can send my way.

 

Thanks!

 

Brian

[ww1buff]

Nice find!

 

The 318th Engineer Regiment was assigned to the 6th Division. It published a unit magazine after the armistice that has a roster in it, and has some other information that would be of interest to you.

 

Best,

 

ww1buff

[Red Devil]

I love the patch on the uniform. Great start to your research.

[katieony]

Very nice find...congratulations!

 

Mike

[stratasfan]

Found a Ray Pittenger from WA listed on two Army transport lists, one outgoing in 1918 and one incoming in 1919.

 

1918 ---

 

1919 --

 

 

Also, here is a listing in WA WWI serviceman records ---

 

[speeder3]

Thanks everyone for your comments and the additional information! I really enjoy finding the back story on the artifacts I have in my collection. I think it's important to keep those memories alive.

 

Best to all,

 

Brian