USMC P1912 Dress Uniform (1922-1923) Pfc C.J. Rhea

[camelgreen44]

Purchased a set of USMC dress blues yesterday, PFC Charles J. Rhea, Enlisted 6 July 1818. It has a blue square Indian head patch,PFC patches,2 overseas chevrons, and a Gold Service stripe? on each cuff. The date in the sleeve is 1922 1923?.Collar Brass is missing. I can get pictures later today. Can somebody research his name , and possibly get his postings, or information for me.I dont have access to this stuff on my computer. Any help would be really appreciated. And I will take pictures this afternoon.

[mes]

A quick check he enlisted june 7 1918 and was with then 20th company 5th regiment.I'll look for more info on ancestry.

[teufelhunde.ret]

Oct 1918 - Company "K", 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment Us Marine Corps

Feb 1919 - Marine Replacement Company No 2, Marine Replacement Unit USMC

Jul 1919 - 140th , Casual Company, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, Discharged Character excellent

 

Aug 1922 - re-enlisted

Jan 1923 - Marine Barracks, Us Destroyer Base, San Diego, California

Jan 1924 - Fifth Brigade, San Diego, California

Jan 1925 - Mcb Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Mcb, Nob, San Diego, Calif

Aug 1925 - re-enlisted into reserves

Dec 1925 - Company ''I'', 3rd Battalion,8th Regiment,United States Marine Corps Reserve, remains there until 1929 & off the rolls

 

No indication he ever made PFC in rolls - cannot find Aug 1925 roll to see if he was awarded GCM.

[warguy]

Would love to see the tunic when you do get a chance. I have an identified researched dress blue tunic dated 1917 with 5th Marines headquarters patch and upgraded with uniform revisions in the early 1920's (ega's instead of collar discs and smaller Sgt. chevrons). You dont see many of the blues with Indianhead patches. My guy enlisted about the same time and served in Germany after the hostilities then re-upped in the Army Air Corps in WWII serving as a musician in USO shows. He is even mentioned in a bio by Bob Hope.Look forward to seeing your tunic-thanks, Kevin

[camelgreen44]

Thanks a lot for all the information fellas, heres some pics I took this afternoon,I have some more on a different camera,I'll look through those later. The background on the patcg looks to have a purple tinge to it in sunlight, Also the direct sun makes the whole thing look a bit faded,oh well,excepr for a few moth holes its not in bad shape.

[camelgreen44]

some closer

[camelgreen44]

and

[camelgreen44]

Finally ,with the trousers

[camelgreen44]

Oops,and the date in the sleeve, The coat collat seems to have imprints from round discs being applied? I thought they would be the 1920 model EGA ? Also in my intro paragraph I said enlistment date was 1818. Duh I was excited!!! and thanks for the Month correction also.

[hawk3370]

Oops,and the date in the sleeve, The coat collat seems to have imprints from round discs being applied? I thought they would be the 1920 model EGA ? Also in my intro paragraph I said enlistment date was 1818. Duh I was excited!!! and thanks for the Month correction also.

 

Camelgreen44,

I do not collect marine material, however didn't the marines wear the overstripes point up as opposed to these which are point down similar to those worn by army personnel?

Terry

[camelgreen44]

Dont know, maybe thats why he's a PFC,ha.

[camelgreen44]

Actually if you are talking about the two Overseas stripes on the lower L/H sleeve , they are meant to point down. As per some research i just did.

[warguy]

Very nice tunic. Point down on overseas stripes is correct. The HD stripe was point up if present. It is quite possible this Marine wore both the discs originally and then later the ega's on this tunic. I believe if my memory serves, the ega came out in 1922. You have the nice Private first class crossed rifles as well-these were short lived I believe in about the 1920-21 era. Anyone with Tulkoffs wonderful reference Equipping the Corps can find a great 1920's photo of a QM Sergeant wearing his dress blues with Indianhead patch and CDG on page 314. The photo illustrates the 1920's changes with ega and smaller chevrons worn with the WWI patch. Once again congratulations on a nice and rare uniform! Mine also has the o/s chevrons but the Marine selected the green backed bullion ones for the service dress. Yours look a bit more professional with the blue backing. Thanks for sharing! Kevin

[camelgreen44]

Thanks Kevin, a couple of questions for you,Since I really dont know beans about WWI USMC insignia and uniforms. The shape and color of the indianhead patch,means? also, your ref to HD stripe, and would the discs be gold colored? Denny

[devildog34]

Patch is correct. I like it. It's rudimentary and a few years ago there were some who called this style patch into question. Have seen this variation on 2 id'd uniforms with rock solid provinance I'm 100% comfortable. WWI USMC is my area of focus and has been since I began collecting. Great item. I've got a photo of a Marine who was discharged in 1919 in his blues wearing EGAs on his collar and while it could very well be a post service image, it lends question whether these EGAs were available pre1922.

[camelgreen44]

Thanks for the thumbs up Devildog.I dont have any doubts about the uniform also. It came out of His daughters closet,the day I purchased it. There may be more...

[warguy]

Hi Denny, Devilgod is right on and is a respected member of this forum who knows his stuff on early USMC. I concur that the patch is correct based on my own experience and observations. The discs would have been bronze, although I know there is a debate on a gold colored disc. I will let others weigh in on this. Pre-1922 dress uniforms would not typically have any holes at all for collar brass of any kind. Devildog's photo of possible pre-'22 ega's is interesting and something new to me. Can you tell if the holes in your collar are machine sewn or punched through? Again, not inappropriate in my mind for a pair of matched gold colored ega's to be displayed on this uniform. It would just indicate the Marine "upgraded" the tunic to 1922 regs and continued to wear it. The square patch denotes 5th Marines, 4th Brigade (assigned to the 2nd army division) in WWI. It is hard for me to tell online of your patch is faded blue or purple. Blue would be 3rd bat. of 5th Marines, purple denotes a machine gun unit. Hope that helps-Kevin

[warguy]

Sorry, you had also asked about the honorable discharge chevron. Not placed on all uniforms, but some vets placed a simple red single chevron on the lower 1/3 of the sleeve following the war to indicate thay had been hnorably discharged. The "ruptured duck" so to speak of WWI.

[warguy]

One more time-I had forgotten Teufelhunde in an earlier post pointed out your Marine served in 5th Marines 3rd batt so there is your answer on the patch. That is the unit displayed here-the patch is faded blue and not purple to denote that unit. Kevin

[camelgreen44]

Thanks for the Information Kevin. The holes in the collar are machine sewn. Im going back for more information this weekend,will let you know what comes of it. Denny

[Brian Dentino]

Sweet dress blues set.....

[camelgreen44]

Well I went back and talked to this Marines daughter last weekend. The first thing she handed me was a small handfull of his cover and collar emblems. I'll get pics of those probably tomorrow. Included was a 1918 cover EGA, 2 1920 collar EGA's,one dress and one service,and last but not least a USMC collar disc,I was Very happy!!! She also told me previously that she had his Marine Hat? He had worn it for 3 seasons working in the field, but it wasnt in bad shape? The pics here are of his campaign hat that I got.Its a beater,but it has character ! No lining,no cloth band on the outside,no emblem, no folded brim? Dirty and torn. I added a worn EGA, and a worn outside band,for looks. The front of the hat brim is shaped folded up ,which I think looks pretty COOL !!! What do you think ?

[camelgreen44]

Rear View

[USMCR79]

That is one "Salty" Cover

 

Bill

[camelgreen44]

Yea, sure is purdy ! :-)