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Lt. Richard H. Jacob 1906 26th Infantry Full Dress Coat


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This is a recent pick up. It consist of Richard's full 1902 pattern company grade Infantry officers dress coat and I added a 1902 pattern company grade officers belt and cap for the display. The 1902 company grade officers dress coat had two rows of seven rimless eagle buttons until it was changed in 1907 to two rows of nine. Coat is named and dated 1906.

 

Richard H. Jacob 1906
1906 Class Crest
Cullum No. 4519 • Mar 18, 1966 • Died in Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Interred in San Antonio, TX
The passcnc of Richard Jacob leaves only 12 of the 78 who graduated in 1906. He was bom in Port Washington, Wisconsin, was appointed to the Military Academy in June 1901, and won his diploma with us in June 1906. In those days, the attrition in the classes was considerable, for the Army was not in urgent need of second lieutenants, the Academy’s mathematics courses were different from those we had become acquainted with in high school, and the rest of the academic work was not softened for the sake of saving us in our struggles. We just had to be good enough. Richard had to work hard, but he made it.
At the roll calls, he sounded his “Here” to the name of Jacob R.H., so he picked up the name "Jake,” in addition to “Dick.” Other fancy cadet names were tried, based upon his Wisconsin origin, but they didn’t take. He was a superior bridge player and remained a good one all his life. He played tennis well enough to make the semi-finals in the last tournament, but there he came up against Charlie Rockwell, the best athlete in the Class. Dick fought the good fight but the odds were against him and he lost. Along with the rest of us amateurs, he tried to be a
Richard IIwibebt Jacob golfer, bul the grass Plain, that served for a golf course and every other cadet outdoor activity, left little room for golfing practice. In the riding hall, he did not ride Lindsay, but he did go out on the road on some of the better mounts. His accumulated tenths were not enough to graduate him into a Cavalry assignment, so Dick became an Infantry officer, reporting after graduation leave to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.
There could hardly have been a nicer location, but he had just settled in his bachelor quarters when orders came sending him to the Philippines. He landed in Camp Daraga, Luzon, but soon found his way to the big city of Manila. The Cuartel de Es-pana was located in the corner of the walled city next to the Luneta, where most of tho Manila elite gathered as the sun went down, walking around looking for friends and listening to the music from the two bandstands. Dick hired a Victoria, subsidized the driver to attend him only, and paraded around and around greeting his army friends and acting the grand fellow. I rode with him more than once and it was lovely.
At the end of the 1908 Division Meet, my mountain battery platoon was held over for the Manila Carnival which followed. As the Pasay camp was broken up, George Lang-home, aide-de-camp to General Leonard Wood, located my outfit on the glacc of the Manila wall, on the edge of the Luneta, just behind the Legaspi-Urdeneta monument. Dick arranged to open a small gate in the wall to allow me and my soldiers to use the washrooms of the Infantry regiment of the Cuartel. My men never forgot his kindness.
The Army-Navy Club was then in the walled city, a fine old Spanish structure. Dick arranged many of the class parties there from 1907 until we went home in 1909. He found a home at Fort Wayne on the edge of Detroit, Michigan, for a short while, until the Mexican Border became ablaze with excitement. Dick camped at Texas City, but soon was delighted to get another foreign service assignment to Manila. After a short sojourn at Corrcgidor, he made it back to Fort McKinley and the wonderful evenings around and around the musical center of the Luneta. Along with the rest of the Class, he had been promoted to first lieutenant, and in 1916 he took the examination for captain. We were then beginning to get ready for World War I. He was soon wearing the leaves of a temporary major and was sent to train troops at the business of modern warfare. At the end of the war period he lost his war rank, along with the rest of us, but soon the Army reorganization produced enough of an increase to get him back to his majority. Then came the dull post-war years when we were trying to get the Army rebuilt and trying to recapture some of the lost wartime morale.
In 1925 Dick attended the advanced course at the Infantry School at Fort Ben-ning. He was now ready for the more difficult courses at the School of the Line, but it was here that he contracted the severe illness which eventually led to his retirement from active duty in 1928. Still a bachelor, he returned to his Wisconsin home where he became interested in flying. Encouraged in this new enterprise by Colonel "Sep” Humphreys, he became a flyer and moved to San Antonio where the Army was showing increased interest in aviation.
In San Antonio he met and married Martha Christian Finlayson, and together they purchased a home and settled down to get some real fun out of life. TTiey attended the local football and baseball games, and they seldom missed a tennis match. They even traveled to Dallas to see the major football games played there.
Because of his health, Dick had to live carefully and quietly, but with television, radio, and occasional bridge, he and Martha enjoyed a comfortable and happy home among Army friends in an Army city. They kept in touch with the many classmates nearby until Dick’s health failed. He passed away in his chosen city. When they laid him to rest, the list of honorary pallbearers attested to the many friendships that Dick had made in both the army and civilian communities.
It was unfortunate for him and for the country that Dick Jacob had to be retired from active duty so early in his military career. He was fully educated and ready for greater service to his country when his potentialities were so suddenly cancelled out by illness. Still, he stood ready to help his country, his community, and his church; he was a member of the local Methodist church. Although he was runner-up for the handsomest man in the Class by the class vote, he refused to be photographed. Perhaps he desired to keep that cadct reputation, or perhaps he was indifferent to such publicity.
His Class mourns his loss. The Academy has registered one more faithful and devoted servant of the country and the Alma Mater as having passed over the river to join the Long Gray Line. May he rest in peace until we meet again.
-Charles G. Mettler

 

 

 

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Very Nice pick up Mario, looks great with the belt and hat. This example was choice in that the regimental insignia was original and intact.

Its found a worthy caretaker,

 

Terry

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US Victory Museum

Gorgeous!

Impeccable uniform. This is what I admire about your collection, Mario; you have an eye for quality. You patiently seek those

artifacts that best represent the period which are vibrant in color, and in the best physical condition as possible for their age.

 

Whereas hoarders want quantity, you desire quality. This is why I frequently find myself looking at the photographs you

have previously posted under other topic headings. Between your collection and Terry's (Ludwigh1980), I find no shortage

of material upon which to marvel.

 

Msn

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That's great!
cool catch mate, do you have also the trousers?

becouse few weeks ago i saw some dress 1902 trousers for inf. officers, i can check again if you need.

 

Giancarlo

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