THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Share #1 Posted August 18, 2017 First off, I hope the title does not mislead anyone who reads it. This is indeed a grouping of uniforms, photographs, and ephemera of my Great Grandfather but not all are necessarily his or even my families. Some items belonged to him, the photographs are all my families (save for one), and other items are artifacts I have purchased to represent his service. The purpose of this thread is to show the progress I have made over the last year researching my Great Grandfather's military service that spanned over 25 years from 1917-1941. Before this all I had were a few unclear photos, registers from Ancestry, and 2 items that belonged to him. Now, I have more photos, more unit info, and several new items to represent him. Many members here have helped. I do not know their usernames as I talk to them via FB but they know who they are. This thread will be added on to periodically, or whenever I make new discoveries, find leads, or one of you great forum members has an item they wish to part with that directly corresponds with my Great Grandfather's service. You can find my 'wishlist' in my signature. I hope you all enjoy, this is something that makes my collecting experience fun. Wilbur Fisk Browder III was born 19 Feb 1895 in Kentucky. He enlisted in the Army sometime mid 1917 and was listed as a Pvt in the Hq. Co. of the 18th Infantry Regiment but is not listed in the rosters. Service (known as of 8/17/17) is as follows: Pvt. And Corporal, HQ Co. 18th Infantry, 1 June 1917- 8 July 1918 2nd Lt, Infantry, Co. D 145th Infantry Regiment, 37th Inf. Div, 9 July 1918 1st Lt, Infantry, Co. D 145th Infantry Regiment, 37th Inf. Div, 10 Oct 1918- Jan 1919 1st Lt. Infantry, Co. L 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Inf. Div, 25 Jan 1919- June? 1919 1st Lt. Infantry, Co. G 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Inf. Div, June? 1919- 1927? 1st Lt, Infantry, Aide-de-Camp to Brigadier General James H. Reeves, Vancouver Barracks, 1 Nov 1928 1st Lt, Infantry, Aide-de-Camp to Brigadier General James H. Reeves, Schofield Barracks, T.H., 1 May 1930 1st Lt, Infantry, Aide-de-Camp to Brigadier General James H. Reeves, Fort Sam Houston, 1 July 1930 1st Lt, Infantry, HQ and MP Co, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Sam Houston, July 1931 Captain, Infantry, 1 Dec 1933 Captain, Infantry, Q.M.C., Randolph Field, TX, April 1936 Captain, Q.M.C., Randolph Field, TX, April 1939 Captain, Q.M.C., Ft. William D. Davis, C.Z., April 1940 Major, Q.M.C., Ft. William D. Davis, C.Z., 1 July, 1940 Died, Walter Reed Hospital, 12 March, 1941 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted August 18, 2017 The picture in the first post and the next 3 photos were the only photos I had seen, or recall seeing and that were in my possession. They and the artifacts I did have spurred on my search to know more. Here is my then earliest known photo at Camp Pike, Arkansas, 1921 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted August 18, 2017 Not sure which Officer is my Great Grandfather but apparently he is in there from the writing on the rear. Vancouver Barracks, Washington, 7th Inf. Regt. Early 1920's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted August 18, 2017 Unsure of date but here he is with 3rd Infantry Division SSI clearly visible on his helmet. I touched these up to focus in on the details of what he was wearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #5 Posted August 18, 2017 Next up are the items that my mother and cousin gave to me a few years ago. They are my Great Grandfather's dress belt with Quartermaster piping, 7th Infantry miniature pins, and 2 swords. One is his personal M1902 saber and the other a German Officer bringback. Before I knew anything about regiments I thought the 7's were 1's so I never looked any further thinking I was at a dead end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted August 18, 2017 Both swords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #7 Posted August 18, 2017 Detailing. His M1902 saber is from the Henderson-Ames Co which I believe only produced into the 1920's and then became apart of another company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #8 Posted August 18, 2017 Fast forward to Dec 2016. I began looking at my Aunt's collection of photos and found several of my Great Grandfather (which I will post later). In the group was this letter that my Great Grandmother wrote concerning his service. It confirmed his service with the 7th Infantry and showed the campaigns he was a part of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #9 Posted August 18, 2017 After the discovery of the letter, I talked to a good friend, Matt LeMasters, who started to do research and the St. Louis archives. I asked if he could plug my Great-Grandfathers name in and after a few weeks he came back with this pay record. I did not think it was going to yield any new information until I saw it mentioned a brand new unit I had never heard of, the 145th Infantry Regiment. (By chance this is the regiment Matt also has a large interest in, but for WW2 due to his relative). On top of this I found a second unit, the 358th Infantry Regiment that he was assigned with later during Occupation along with the company. This was a very large step forward and none of my family knew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted August 18, 2017 A little while later I happened to run across a 358th WW1 history and roster on ebay. The seller told me that my Great Grandfather was not in there but when I got it in the mail he showed up in the January 1919 transfer roster just like Matt's discovery had said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #11 Posted August 18, 2017 Contents of the rosters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted August 18, 2017 After this exciting find, Matt pulled some more documents from the Archive. They revealed the September 1918 roster for 'D' Company 145th Infantry Regiment to which my Great Grandfather was a part of. At this point I narrowed down his 2 WW1 unit, only 2 more to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted August 18, 2017 Shows my Great Grandfather as a 2nd Lt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #14 Posted August 18, 2017 Sometime in late 2016, before I did any heavy research, I did a trade with another friend of mine with similar interest in the 3rd Division. He had a company F, 7th Infantry, 3rd ID 1920's 2nd Lt, coat that I had wanted for a while. Here it is now with my best effort to copy the photo of him standing in full kit earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #15 Posted August 18, 2017 Close up of the insignia, SSI, and rank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #16 Posted August 18, 2017 Little did I know, that Officer's coat that I did a trade for was only 1 company off from the actual company my Great Grandfather came back from Europe with. My friend plugged his name into Ancestry and pulled up a brand new section from the Army's Transportation Service. In it, it listed the unit he came back from Europe with, G company, 7th Infantry Regiment. This friend reenacts G Company, 7th Infantry so yet another coincidence with the guys helping me out along the way. The coat's former owner could have very well have known and associated with my Great Grandfather which I find to be very cool. Shown below is the Transport list that my Great Grandfather and his unit are shown on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted August 18, 2017 Since those discoveries I have been slowly building up a small display case of representative insignia. The two miniatures belonged to him and the others are ebay purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #18 Posted August 18, 2017 Of special note, the postcard shown in the last post came from the estate of Raymond Leslie, also out of the 145th Infantry Regiment. I lucked into it on ebay with the hope that my Great Grandfather would also be present. In the postcard only Officers are present along with the Regimental commander in the center. Also interesting is the hand written '145th Infantry' along with the location in Beligum. I will post updates on my findings with this postcard within a week or so. Stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted August 18, 2017 Share #19 Posted August 18, 2017 That's great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
268th C.A. Posted August 18, 2017 Share #20 Posted August 18, 2017 Great post! Excellent research! Congratulations on your project. Well done for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted August 18, 2017 Share #21 Posted August 18, 2017 The infantry collar insignia on the coat are the pattern 1905 to around 1910 (when collar disks were adopted) enlisted man's service uniform collar badges. Officers did not have company designations under the rifles, only the regiment number above. The two 7/G insignia with screw backs in post #17 are enlisted men's service cap badges as worn from 1905 to 1918. Again, officers did not show the company letter and officers wore the national eagle cap device on the service cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAT GUY Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share #22 Posted August 18, 2017 The infantry collar insignia on the coat are the pattern 1905 to around 1910 (when collar disks were adopted) enlisted man's service uniform collar badges. Officers did not have company designations under the rifles, only the regiment number above. The two 7/G insignia with screw backs in post #17 are enlisted men's service cap badges as worn from 1905 to 1918. Again, officers did not show the company letter and officers wore the national eagle cap device on the service cap. The 7/G Insignias are the same size and shape as the 7/F insignias so they are either both hat badges or both the enlisted collar insignias. Even if the G company insignia are 'wrong' I still like them for representative purposes. I reveived the coat like that and ao did the guy I traded it for. Even if regulations state that they could not put them on, is out of the question to assume some Officers did it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted August 18, 2017 Share #23 Posted August 18, 2017 The 7/G Insignias are the same size and shape as the 7/F insignias so they are either both hat badges or both the enlisted collar insignias. Even if the G company insignia are 'wrong' I still like them for representative purposes. I reveived the coat like that and ao did the guy I traded it for. Even if regulations state that they could not put them on, is out of the question to assume some Officers did it anyway. I think it's pretty safe to say that a Regular Army officer in the 1920's would wear what he was supposed to be wearing. Obsolete enlisted men's insignia would probably not be a good idea for him to be putting on his uniform. Proper officer's 7th Infantry collar insignia should not be too hard to find. On those pattern 1905 enlisted insignia, pin backs were for the collar and screw backs were for the service cap. The size was the same. It is a nice uniform and equipment display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fstop61 Posted August 18, 2017 Share #24 Posted August 18, 2017 Great tribute. Impressive display Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbinephalen Posted August 20, 2017 Share #25 Posted August 20, 2017 Fascinating display! This was the same way I started my collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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