Navy Officer Cap badge in place of EGA on WWII Corpsman Uniform

[NGCoastArtillery41]

I was scrolling through some pictures of WWII corpsman and I found an interesting picture attached to an obituary.

 

He is wearing a US Marine forest green uniform as was authorized for corpsman, but what I find interesting is that in place of the EGA on his collar he is wearing Navy Officer cap badges and they do not appear to be subdued. Furthermore its interesting because he's not an officer.

 

 

Has anyone else seen something like this and have pictures of it?

[BROBS]

He had his own sense of style I guess?

 

-Brian

[BagmanL6]

Is he correct in wearing a EGA on his barrack's cover as well?

[Dave]

Uhhh...now THAT is an oddball...

[David Minton]

And what would we all say if this uniform came up for sale on eBay?

[NGCoastArtillery41]

And what would we all say if this uniform came up for sale on eBay?

 

Well after seeing this picture the only thing I could wish to say if this uniform came up on eBay is, "Mine."

 

[doyler]

Very cool picture.

I have a small NAVY doctors group.In the group is an enlisted marine uniform with his officers rank and enlisted Ega's.Was his very first uniform he recieved when assigned to the Marines.

[doyler]

And what would we all say if this uniform came up for sale on eBay?

I would buy it in a heart beat but ....the fake flag would be flying on the forum

[sigsaye]

Is he correct in wearing a EGA on his barrack's cover as well?

. Yes, the Navy had no cap/hat insignia for enlisted below CPO.

[Kurt Barickman]

I would buy it in a heart beat but ....the fake flag would be flying on the forum

I would too. Ron and myself look for those type of things. Have seen it before and not just on pharmacist uniforms either. I have a great photo album to a member of the USN Seabee unit attached to the 18th Marine Regiment on Tarawa; lots of original photos of even odder mixes of USN and USMC insignia to include chief petty officers. Great photo.

 

Kurt

[BagmanL6]

. Yes, the Navy had no cap/hat insignia for enlisted below CPO.

 

Thanks. I wasn't sure. My experience with Docs was 86-06. I remember them wearing USMC Service Alphas with the overseas or Pee Cutter. Couldn't for the life of me remember them wearing barracks covers.

[jweitkamp]

Attached are photos of Cdr Victor Falk who was a flight surgeon to one of the VMSB units (can't remeber the number at the moment) originally stationed on Guadalcanal. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions the first night the Haruna bombed the hell out of the island. In these photos, one early and one later in the war, he is wearing the USMC uniform with darkened medical corps devices in place of EGA's. These insignia are shown in the second photo. They are a matched right and left pair (note the fouling line), pin back and H&H Imperial marked. There is another famous photo of

VMF-214 pilots holding Pappy Boyington on their shoulders on the occasion of his return from the POW camp. All are wearing USMC green uniforms and among them is a flight surgeon who wears EGA's in their customary position with a pair of the medical corps insignias on his lower lapels. Dr. Falk told me in a letter years ago the USMC uniform was his favorite and that regulations on insignia were lax. These insignia are very had to find and I know examples also exist for dentists (two acorns at the base of the oak leaf) and chaplains (Christian Cross on the anchor). I have not seen examles for Rabbi chaplains and would assume that the are ultra rare if they do indeed exist. I am looking to purchase an additional pair of the flight surgeon type and a pair of the both dentist and chaplain types should anyone have them.

 

In WW1, doctors assigned to Marine units wore a very large oakleaf with superimposed acorn, no anchor, on the standing collar to the rear of EGA's. I have a single of this type and would love to find a pair.

[Kurt Barickman]

Great stuff! Yes those are hard to find. I have had two officer USMC tunics to named to USN medical doctors and both uniforms did not have the holes on the collars for USMC officer EGAs but were obviously for the USN/USMC pinback collars that you photographed. Thanks for posting.

 

Kurt