WWI Sleeve Patch

[freesteamin]

My great uncle was a WW I U.S. Army veteran. We did not know much about him until recently when we found out that he had received several decorations during that war. We recently found that he was written up in the local paper in 1919 after receiving the Order of Leopold from the Belgian government. I took some pictures from the microfilm of that newspaper article. The microfilm was of poor quality but some fiddling in Photoshop showed enough of the uniform that I was able to make out some details. In particular there appears to be some kind of patch on the lower right sleeve. I know nothing about WW I uniforms but, in searching the internet, it seems that the lower right sleeve of an enlisted uniform is supposed to have wounded chevrons. Clearly this patch is not a chevron. The only additional information we know about him is that he probably enlisted in Massachusetts, was in the infantry, and was a member of the 53rd regiment.

 

Sorry about the poor quality of the images but can anyone shed any light on what seems to be a uniform patch on the lower right sleeve?

 

[Uniforms of the Day]

Unfortunately, I can't make out anything in the photo. Can you see the patch well enough to describe any details? Size? Shape? etc. Thanks. It appears he was a 1st Sgt. Many NCOs attended leadership schools immediately after the war, and while still overseas. A few school patches were worn on the lower sleeve. That's just one of several possibilities.

[Steverino]

About the only thing that was officially worn on the lower right sleeve was a wound chevron. It would be identical to an overseas service chevron/stripe on the lower left sleeve.

 

Patch Johnson

[Patchcollector]

Here are some tips I found online regarding removing a Moire pattern from an image that may help.I used this same method when I worked in the Desktop publishing biz.

How To Remove Moire Patterns From Scanned Photos in Photoshop and Elements

By Sue Chastain, About.com Guide

Scanning photos from books, magazines and newspapers often results in an unsightly interference pattern called moire. If your scanner doesn't offer descreening, it's not too hard to remove yourself.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:

1. Scan the image at a resolution approximately 150-200% higher than what you need for final output.
   
2. Go to Filter > Noise > Median.
   
3. Use a radius between 1-3. Typically the higher the quality of the source, the lower the radius can be. Use your own judgement, but you will probably find that 3 works well for newspapers, 2 for magazines, and 1 for books.
   
4. Go to Image > Image Size (Image > Resize > Image Size in Elements) and resample to the desired image size and resolution using the bicubic resampling option.
   
5. Make sure you are zoomed to 100% magnification.
   
6. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask.
   
7. Exact settings will depend on the image resolution, but these settings are a good starting point: Amount 50-100%, Radius 1-3 pixels, Threshold 1-5. Use your eye as the final judge.
   

Tips:

1. If you still see a pattern after applying the Median filter, try a slight gaussian blur before resampling. Apply just enough blur to reduce the pattern.
   
2. If you notice halos or glows in the image after using Unsharp Mask, go to Edit > Fade. Use settings: 50% Opacity, Mode Luminosity. (Not available in Elements.)
   

[freesteamin]

Thanks for the hints about improving the picture. I had already used several but I went through your steps and it did improve the large picture slightly. I took the picture with a very high quality digital camera and lens and the microfilm projector was brand new and state of the art but the microfilm copy of the newspaper was pretty poor to start with. Anyway I posted the pix again outlining the area that I am referring to and my best guess of what the insignia looks like. Looks like a scottie dog to me but it could be any number of things. Thanks for the hint that school patches may have been found on the lower right sleeve. You mentioned there were other possibilities?