27th Division Association collection

[gsmilligan]

After deploying twice wearing the Orion patch, I developed an interest in 27th Division Association items and welcome home items. The 27th Division Association is still active, mostly run now by Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, but with WWII members as well. I recently purchased a grouping attributed to BG Edward "Ned" Olmsted, the G1/Assistant Chief of staff for the division during WWI. This grouping really made the collection, so I thought I'd post pics and invite anyone to share any other items you might have in your collections relating to 27th veterans.

 

Thanks for giving me a place to post these!

[gsmilligan]

First up, I just recieved this yesterday. Vintage cap, size 7. (My size, how nice!) Nice felt patch.

 

[gsmilligan]

Next is a fairly comprehensive group of reunion pinbacks and medals.

 

First reunion, 1920:

 

 

I don't have a second reunion. The reunions were biennial, so it would have been in 1922.

 

Third reunion, 1924, from the Olmsted grouping:

 

 

Fourth reunion, 1926, again from the Olmsted grouping:

 

 

Fifth reunion, 1929, (the biennial deal must not have worked out in 1928) another Olmsted piece:

 

 

Sixth reunion, 1930, again from BG Olmsted:

 

 

And the nicest piece, also ID'd to BG Olmsted, the Twentieth Reunion, 1938:

 

 

Amazingly, I found the 20th medal at a gun show here in Rochester, NY (where it was made), and all the other Olmsted pieces from a great dealer in GA. When I saw them, I had to have them! I couldn't afford them, but the dealer helped me out and I was able to regroup the pieces. Doesn't happen often. I note the 20th medal has Olmsted spelled incorrectly, but I can't find anyone else it might be. (I have spelled it wrong past myself.) LTC was his rank at the end of the war, but not in 1938.

[gsmilligan]

Next up are some nice veteran's patches.

 

Nice large patch from the Olmsted grouping:

 

 

A beautiful extra-large felt SSI:

 

[gsmilligan]

These welcome home items fit nicely with the Division Association items, so I'll include them here.

 

Pennant:

 

 

Fairly common ribbon, but from the Olmsted grouping and in great shape:

 

 

A welcome home medallion:

 

 

And a pinback:

 

[gsmilligan]

I think that's enough black and red for now! (BTW, black represents Iron and red represents Blood.)

 

I'll post pics here as I add to the collection, feel free to share yours!

[Belleauwood]

I think that's enough black and red for now! (BTW, black represents Iron and red represents Blood.)

 

I'll post pics here as I add to the collection, feel free to share yours!

 

Visit the website "O'ryan's Roughnecks" for more on the 27th. Maj. Gen. O'Ryans helmet (one of two) is pictured there

[SCF-Collector]

Outstanding grouping - simply outstanding! Thanks for posting all the pics and sharing it with the group. I really like the Welcome Home items - those are always cool.

 

Don't worry about the mis-spelled name on the badge. That's no at all uncommon. The same thing happens today. I can't tell you how many times I've attended an event or conference and my name has been mis-spelled by whoever prepared the badges! They were typing these, or writing them by hand - errors were bound to happen. I have similar groupings where the name has 2-3 spellings (one right, and 1-2 variations of basically typos).

[gsmilligan]

Outstanding grouping - simply outstanding! Thanks for posting all the pics and sharing it with the group. I really like the Welcome Home items - those are always cool.

 

Don't worry about the mis-spelled name on the badge. That's no at all uncommon. The same thing happens today. I can't tell you how many times I've attended an event or conference and my name has been mis-spelled by whoever prepared the badges! They were typing these, or writing them by hand - errors were bound to happen. I have similar groupings where the name has 2-3 spellings (one right, and 1-2 variations of basically typos).

 

Thanks! I've enjoyed finding them!

 

I agree with the misspellings and am 95% sure it's for the same fellow. He must have been very used to that "A" popping up, just as I am used to a "U" showing up in my name. I don't even bother to correct it anymore.

 

"gsmulligan"

[ItemCo16527]

That is a really great collection. I have a very special place in my heart for the New York Division, since my great uncle served with them in WWII. I look forward to seeing more of your 27th items

[gsmilligan]

That is a really great collection. I have a very special place in my heart for the New York Division, since my great uncle served with them in WWII. I look forward to seeing more of your 27th items

 

He looks like a hell of a guy. Love the sig block. He was with the "Fighting 69th", huh? I've got some nice pics of the 69th's encampment in FT McClellan I'll have to dig out for you.

 

I'll put him in my "names to look out for" file, too.

[ItemCo16527]

Thank you. I found militarysignatures.com thanks to someone on another forum, and had to make a tribute sig.

 

I'd love to see the photos you have. I actually pinched this pic of him from the 1941 yearbook, and is one of only two known photos of him that survive. If you're able to find more photos or information about him, my family will be thrilled.

[FightenIrish35]

Great items....just a neat FYI I ofund out recently.....if you look closely at the middle design it is a N Y D all rolled into one standing for NEW YORK DIVISION....VERY COOL

[gsmilligan]

New piece for the Welcome Home group. Considering how common these are, I was amazed how long it took me to actually get one.

 

[gsmilligan]

And since so many of the Division Association items here were BG Olmsted's, I thought I'd post a sketch of the man himself- from the "Home Again" edition of the "Gas Attack", the 27th's WWI publication.

 

[gsmilligan]

I've been able to add only a few small items to this collection recently. I'm gearing up for the September reunion of the 27th Division Association in Syracuse, NY. I put a lot of my budget into display materials.

 

But I did find one nice item. It was marketed as "27th Division Association Newsletters, Troop Revue, 1948-1992" at an online antique bookseller. I wondered about this, since the 27th's newsletter was and still is titled The Orion Gallivanter (sometimes The Orion Gallavanter), but there were referenced 27th Division Association reunion ribbons and pamphlets in the description, so I bought it sight unseen.

 

Turns out it was the newsletter for the 27th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, which was formed when the division was mobilized prior to WWII. The 27th was a "square" division, and was reformed to the new "triangle" division structure. They took the Headquarters companies for the 53rd and 54th brigades and made them into a Cav Recon Troop. The bound newsletters, while missing a few, is most of the set and is billed as having belonged to Arnold Gates, a historian and 27th veteran who was the editor of the newsletter. Most of the newsletters themselves read like Aunt Millie's Christmas Letter; marriages, births, jobs, etc of the Soldiers. As you get further along in time, deaths. Arnold Gates himself died in 1993. But there are also histories of the Troop, Soldier's memories, and so on in there.

 

I feel really honored to have these, and feel further justified in my decision that all of my 27th documents will go to the New York State Military Museum when I'm "done with them".

 

 

[Teamski]

A very distinctive collection. I love it!

 

-Ski

[KevinBeyer]

As a collector of reunion material myself, I love those 27th Division reunion badges. All your items are great and thank you for sharing them!

 

Kevin

[ASMIC2971]

These are some cool items you have there. I have passed on some unit welcome home items in the past and I am still kicking myself for not getting them!

 

Very cool collection, especially the pennant!

 

Respectfully,

PFC Kitt

[gsmilligan]

I had the honor of attending the 27th Division Association reunion this past weekend.

 

I met a number of WWII veterans and had some great talks with them! I set up a large 27th display from WWI to Afghanistan. The WWII guys and wives that attended enjoyed looking through the stuff and I got a bunch of signatures for my 1941 Division "yearbook". Fantastic!

 

Better yet, they were looking for some assistance and I volunteered to take over as National Historian. I was sworn in Saturday night. (The displays might have had some impact on the decision.) What a privilege to be part of such a historic association!

 

As part of the job I will take possession (but not ownership, of course) of the 27th DA artifacts and records. A few of the documents I already have looked through are general orders for Bronze Stars, KIA listings, etc. I haven't dug into the big stuff yet. There are file cabinets full. This will keep me busy this winter cataloging and archiving all this stuff! (And next winter, and the next, and the next...) Digitizing and making available on the web is a priority for me, after I get a handle on what can be posted and what can't.

 

So you young guys- new GWOT vets- get involved, join up, go to meetings, talk and LISTEN to those that have gone before. You'll be glad you did!

[101CH47]

Nice stuff. My uncle was in the 27th in WWII, was on Saipan and Okinawa. Never have been able to find out which regiment he was in only that he was in an I&R platoon. He passed away in 2005.

[gsmilligan]

PM me his name if you'd like. I haven't started to dig through the records yet, but I have a list of names I watch out for.

[infinitig35]

Next is a fairly comprehensive group of reunion pinbacks and medals.

 

First reunion, 1920:

 

 

I don't have a second reunion. The reunions were biennial, so it would have been in 1922.

 

Third reunion, 1924, from the Olmsted grouping:

 

 

Fourth reunion, 1926, again from the Olmsted grouping:

 

 

Fifth reunion, 1929, (the biennial deal must not have worked out in 1928) another Olmsted piece:

 

 

Sixth reunion, 1930, again from BG Olmsted:

 

 

And the nicest piece, also ID'd to BG Olmsted, the Twentieth Reunion, 1938:

 

 

Amazingly, I found the 20th medal at a gun show here in Rochester, NY (where it was made), and all the other Olmsted pieces from a great dealer in GA. When I saw them, I had to have them! I couldn't afford them, but the dealer helped me out and I was able to regroup the pieces. Doesn't happen often. I note the 20th medal has Olmsted spelled incorrectly, but I can't find anyone else it might be. (I have spelled it wrong past myself.) LTC was his rank at the end of the war, but not in 1938.

 

Playing a little "catch up" this evening. I was a member of the New York National Guard from August 1966 until being honorably discharged in August 1972, so the 27th Division of World War I fame and later the 27th Armored Division "Empire" and now 27th Infantry Brigade take a special interest in my collecting. I was fortunate to bid on and win a 27th Division newspaper published in New York after the unit returned in about 1919 which shows the photograph of the original 27th shoulder patch design with the offset to the left of the "Y" of the lowest star in the Constellation Orion. This I believe is the correct design, the newer 27th patches from World War II and today have this star centered under the letter "Y". Some interesting patch examples from that unit, a tunic with a fully embroidered O'Ryan patch was in my collection. I also have a wound certificate from a private in the 108th (or 107th) Infantry, framed and in great condition with the original glass and black wood frame, very old. The Purple Heart decoration didn't come about until I think 1932, and this was given to all those who received the certificate so in essence this was their first recognition for wounds. Bailey, Banks and Biddle of Philadelphia struck the first medals made, rare and a nice collectible in their own rite.

 

The 27th Division association also interests me and those past medals and ribbons. You show one made by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, New York a well known maker of these items up until I think the 1960s, like Metal Arts also of Rochester that made some fine metal die struck items. I try to acquire Bastian Brothers and Metal Arts items even if not military because my aunt worked for Metal Arts. They both made novelty items like letter openers.

 

I hail from Rochester so this has my interest Both companies had authority to manufacture "crests" (DIs or now DUIs) for the military before World War II, during and after and they had fine workmanship. I try to acquire examples when I can. My aunt gave me a box of "overruns" of various items made at her factory and as I recall (this now being nearly 60 years ago) were very well made and finished and it impressed me evan as a child. Clear die strikes or stampings, nicely plated and lacquered with fine enameling. I wish I had the today. They weren't military in nature, some were watch fobs popular in the 1930s-1950s, longevity and work recognition awards, scout pins even police badges, one I recall from the Forest Service ("Smokey the Bear").

 

If you check the Department of Military and Naval Affairs website in New York you can see some of the units from New York listed, their "crests" and a brief lineage. The paths of many 27th Division and non-divisional units cross paths. Like the 108th Infantry, their DUI design is seen in the 270th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, which had some roots in my unit the 209th. I just won at auction on eBay the 121st Cavalry which was mobilized in about 1940 from Buffalo (and Rochester) to form the 209th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft). The 209th became a "group", essentially a headquarters for separate AAA battalions in Italy, later in Souther France. The 102nd AA Battalion (the standing Griffin over AA shell) adopted this DUI during the war, previously it was approved for the 209th Coast Artillery. As a member of the 1st Battalion, 209th Field Artillery I was issued this DUI to wear on my Class As and baseball cap. The 209th Field Artillery SSI, the head of the Griffin didn't get approved until much later, after I left. We were as a unit "Corps Artillery", 8-inch SP Howitzers M110A1 with sister battalion, the 187th FA out of Brooklyn, NY.

 

Well that's enough for tonight, got to hit the old bunk for tomorrow another bright day in my life. I've got some great reference books for the 209th from World War II and other materials if anyone needs to do some research. I'm collecting Coast Artillery insignia as of this time and slowing once again building a small collection. Hope to keep, not sell this one. Best to all at the forum.

[27thdivcollector]

Great 27th div. items. Some of the welcome home items are designs I have never seen before, so thanks for sharing them. I live in England and for some reason have a passion (my wife says obsession) for collecting 27th items from WW1, I have a number of uniforms and helmets as well as gas masks and other equipment. I am also trying to find every published book concerning the 27th in WW1, and there are quite a few out there. I think I'm pretty well on the way to having most of them but just when I think I am nearly there something else appears and the search is back on.

[gsmilligan]

Been a while since I added to this thread, so...

 

Here are all the 27th DA reunion ribbons I've compiled so far: