AEF Troops Heading Home Photos - Multiple SS I

[world war I nerd]

28: This image was presumably taken while the "Iowan" was en-route to the USA depicts a Doughboy wearing an American Embarkation Center shoulder patch.

[world war I nerd]

29: A better view of the American Embarkation Center shoulder patch.

[world war I nerd]

30: American Embarkation Center shoulder patch.

 

Courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

Last photo … thanks for looking.

[CW4AFB]

Brian - I have seen photo examples of non-occupation unit soldiers who were working on prisoner of war repatriation units who added a Third Army patch to their uniforms--so far I've seen 29th and 82nd Division examples and now you have added the 28th Division....

 

05: This appears to be a 28th Division shoulder patch with a miniature 3rd Army insignia superimposed over it.

 

What, if any, was the connection between the 28th Infantry Division and the 3rd Army?

 

[jprostak]

Here are the first two pages of the USS Iowan list of units being transported. This may help narrow down what units were on the ship. Won't help with personnel on the dock though.

[jprostak]

The final two pages.

[everforward]

Great thread guys.

[jprostak]

Here are two more pages from the ships manifest. Some extra units. I quickly went through the 260 pages of personnel and couldn't find any quick answer to who the two Marines were (as none are listed as on board) or who the Captain from the 28th Division might be.

[world war I nerd]

Al thanks for the information linking the 28th Division to the 3rd Army. That one really had me scratching my head. I've also seen 89th Division shoulder patches worn in conjunction with miniature 3rd Army insignia. Any idea what the Middle West Division had to do with the 3rd Army?

 

Jon, the rundown of the units aboard the USS Iowan is great! I wonder how many of those smaller AEF units on the list had their own insignia, if any?

[12A54]

Fascinating thread with great research and clarity. Thanks.

[jprostak]

Brian,

 

The 28th SSI is very interesting. Can you make out the branch insignia on the Captains collar?

 

There were only 12 captains listed as passengers.

1 Engineers

2 Sanitary Corp

1 Signal Corp

3 Medical Corp

1 MTC

2- Dental

2- Ordnance

 

Just trying to work backwards towards the unit.

[world war I nerd]

Jon, when enlarged, it's pretty hard to tell what the 28th Division captain's collar brass is. I'm pretty sure that it's not crossed rifles, cannons or sabers. It's also not an engineer castle. My guess is that it's a caduceus, which would put him in one of the various branches of the Medical Department … medical - dental - or sanitary.

 

Take a look and see if you can make out what the insignia is, maybe your eyes are better than mine.

 

PS, It's also possible that the captain was present at the time the troops were boarding the Iowan, but he may not have been a passenger.

[jprostak]

I believe that the Captain with the Keystone on his shoulder is Captain John William Kistler, Dental Corps, Headquarters, 103rd Ammunition Train. He did not sail home with the rest of his unit in May of 1919.

[world war I nerd]

I think you're right Jon. There's definitely a resemblance between your photo and my photo. Stellar detective work on your part.

 

It's kind of amazing that a random Doughboy picked out of a crowd of returning AEF veterans in a postcard sized photograph taken nearly 100 years ago can be IDed based on the name of the ship he sailed home on, the date it sailed, a division shoulder patch and a blurry smudge of a branch of service collar device! Maybe it's time to buy a lottery ticket.

[world war I nerd]

Somehow I missed this as yet unidentified shoulder patch worn by one of the Doughboys on the left hand side of this image titled, "Nearing New York".

[world war I nerd]

In this closer view the diamond shape of the insignia, its contrasting color border, and a single numeral that could be either a "1", a "2" or a "3", are all visible.

 

Can anybody ID this shoulder patch?