GIKyle Posted September 15, 2018 Share #1 Posted September 15, 2018 Putting the war room together and getting some things put in place. Good time to show this interesting uniform. Great named 16th Infantry jacket to Donald Dries, an old Army guy who served for some time with the division. A couple interesting points on this jacket: First, the remnants of a small 1st Division patch on the overseas cap - how I wish that was still there! Second, the black diamond on the lower right sleeve. I suspect he may have been wounded severely enough to warrant discharge before mass-demobilization and the creation of the ruptured duck patch, as it reminds me of the white discharge diamond on some USMC jackets. Nevertheless, I am a fan of this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted September 15, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted September 15, 2018 A couple more shots - I give up on trying to figure out which may my photos will rotate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper252 Posted September 15, 2018 Share #3 Posted September 15, 2018 Very Interesting, I found his discharge on Ancestry. With that discharge date I would definitely assume the wounding to be the reason. I love to see those early discharge uniforms! -Seth Name: Donald Dries Gender: Male Birth Date: 16 Nov 1919 Death Date: 9 Jun 1993 Branch 1: ARMY Enlistment Date 1: 8 Dec 1939 Release Date 1: 20 Jan 1945 EDIT - I found his find a grave as well, it mentions Marine Corps service. I put his name in the muster rolls and it shows a Donald Dries enlisting in the USMC on Aug 24th, 1937 and being part of Company B, First Battation, Fmcr, Armory Foot of 52nd Street, Brooklyn, New York and Company ''C'', First Battalion, Usmcr State Armory Rochester, New York until September 1939. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted September 16, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted September 16, 2018 Interesting - thanks for that! I had his Army enlistment time but not the USMC stuff nor the discharge date - excellent. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper252 Posted September 16, 2018 Share #5 Posted September 16, 2018 Maybe he was trying to represent his past USMC service by the diamond, here is the link to the find a grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114341441/donald-dries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinjmpr Posted September 17, 2018 Share #6 Posted September 17, 2018 So was the black diamond to show he had been legitimately discharged and was not an AWOL soldier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted September 17, 2018 Share #7 Posted September 17, 2018 A couple more shots - I give up on trying to figure out which may my photos will rotate. IMG_1527.JPGIMG_1526.JPG Nice combat vet uniform, the 16th Infantry Regiment was always leading the way. If you click on the photos, they will rotate for viewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted September 18, 2018 So was the black diamond to show he had been legitimately discharged and was not an AWOL soldier? That's my initial thought, but have not found anything in black and white as of yet. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share #9 Posted November 17, 2018 Matt (2ndInfDiv)'s NPRC research yielded this morning report - Dries was actually WIA in Sicily and returned to duty. He was pulled from the line on 1 August for exhaustion and ZI'd, then evidently discharged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper252 Posted November 17, 2018 Share #10 Posted November 17, 2018 Sweet to have the original docs, that's interesting that he was pulled off for exhaustion. -Seth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted November 18, 2018 Share #11 Posted November 18, 2018 Really nice uniform! I love these uniforms belonging to service members with early service pre-ww2! Good job on the research so far! Thanks for sharing!Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share #12 Posted June 23, 2020 Kicking this up in case someone has uncovered evidence or another example of the odd black diamond patch. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2guymandude Posted June 23, 2020 Share #13 Posted June 23, 2020 Never seen that black diamond before, awesome uniform though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted June 23, 2020 Share #14 Posted June 23, 2020 If I had to guess, it was most likely a discharge patch opposed to a patch showing prior USMC Service. Similar to the white diamond discharge patch on USMC uniforms.Still an awesome uniform though. And I’ll keep my eye out for anymore like it. Might have been reserved for a specific discharge point? Hunt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Government Issue Posted July 1, 2020 Share #15 Posted July 1, 2020 Wonder if by exhaustion they meant combat fatigue in the sense that he started exhibiting aspects of PTSD? I know they didn't use that term back then, but I have seen where it was referred to as such. I like the hand made mini patch on the cap. Reminds me of a hand made full size one that I picked up within the last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIKyle Posted July 16, 2023 Author Share #16 Posted July 16, 2023 Small update courtesy of Ancestry. A WD press release concentrates on his battalion XO who led the repulse of 35-40 Mark IV and VI tanks in Sicily. Very good read that details my guy's wounding. Not hard to believe this action likely contributed to his combat exhaustion in 1944. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2guymandude Posted July 19, 2023 Share #17 Posted July 19, 2023 Great research, glad to see this one on my feed again! Truly a top shelf example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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