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Odd WWII overcoat


Gavin D.
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Here is a really interesting overcoat. The overcoat itself is normal, but the tag makes it interesting. It is marked Segregation Camp on the tag. Could this be a uniform possibly worn in a Japanese internment Camp or by an African American service member in WWII? I have never seen a tag with that marked on it before. I appreciate all input.

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post-158043-0-49257900-1572044128.jpg

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Very interesting, you usually see those tags stamped to a specific camp or instillation. Here's an older thread with some more info about the tags:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13928-combat-serviceable-tag/

 

It could certainly be possible that the coat was reissued to a segregated African-American, Hispanic, or Japanese unit, or even as you mentioned sent to an internment or POW camp.

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Interesting. Was U.S. Army uniforms given to Japanese in interment camps? That's the question, like would they? I always was under the impression clothing if needed was gotten from local sources near the camps like churches etc.. And I don't believe there were Army Posts that were strictly Segregated, there was always units of both White and Black, IE Camp Hood Fort Huachuca, Ft Benning

etc etc etc.

 

I might be inclined to think that there may, that's a big MAY, been in the war, areas of a post that were "Segregated" from the rest of a post, to be called a specifically a Segregated Camp, but that needs to be seen. the Black personnel, yes we know did not mix to any great extent stateside, but was their unit areas segregated, to the point of being totally off limits to anyone White as to give these that title. Plus like this tag, if this was true then the tag to my mind would read Segregation Camp, Camp Claiborne, Segregation Camp, Ft Knox, Segregation Camp Ft Devens, Segregation Camp, Camp Gruber, Segregation Camp, Ft Dix etc etc.

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Maybe thinking to big.....

 

Maybe just used by colored soldiers it would be labeled "segregated" as not to be used by whites?

 

Just a theory.

 

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

 

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The photos online that I've seen of Japanese in the Internment Camps never have military issued clothing on, that is why I was thinking it could have possibly been worn by one of the guards at one of the camps if it would have been issued to them and not an African American unit.

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I knew I had seen "segregation camp" somewhere, and a little Googling turns up that it was a term used in the WW1 AEF for camps where soldiers with signs of venereal disease were sent for observation and treatment if needed. It sounds like they were a lot like prisoner camps. It doesn't look like this system was used in WW2, though.

 

I have seen a lot of information about Japanese internment camps, and my grandfather taught school at one before he was drafted. I've never seen photos of interees in anything but civilian clothes.

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No idea about the label, but I don't think it would be a good idea to have internees or prisoners wearing clothes that could get them confused with the camp garrison.

 

Mikie

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No idea about the label, but I don't think it would be a good idea to have internees or prisoners wearing clothes that could get them confused with the camp garrison.

 

Mikie

Excellent point, puts in mind for some reason of Charles Bronson and James Coburn in the Great Escape :lol:

 

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We know for a fact that some US uniform items were given to PWs, I owned at one time an M-41 field jacket with PW stenciled on the back, and I've seen other similar items offered for sale or discussion here on this forum, including a dress Army blouse. It, too, had PW stenciled on the back. What it did not have were the original buttons with the US Army eagle on it. My thought is that when such uniform items were issued to PWs, that any insignia, such as buttons, were removed/replaced. Thus, where ever the OP's overcoat went, it wasn't to POWs.

 

Steve

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Oh wow after closer look the name of the camp is there. Ashame it was stapled over it. The first letter is either a C or a G and it is 4 to 5 letters long. I know that isn't much to go off of.

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Oh wow after closer look the name of the camp is there. a shame it was stapled over it. The first letter is either a C or a G and it is 4 to 5 letters long. I know that isn't much to go off.

Not many. But here's Camps with the Cs and G's that might work.

 

Cooke

 

Croft

 

Grant

 

And just in case, Camps with C's and G's with six letters.

 

Carson

 

Callan

 

Gordon

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Very interesting, you usually see those tags stamped to a specific camp or instillation. Here's an older thread with some more info about the tags:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13928-combat-serviceable-tag/

 

It could certainly be possible that the coat was reissued to a segregated African-American, Hispanic, or Japanese unit, or even as you mentioned sent to an internment or POW camp.

Just for clarification's sake, at no time in the 20th century have Hispanics ben segregated in US military service. In fact, Military census figures don't differentiate between white and Hispanic.

 

As for the Combat Serviceable label, I believe that in this case, the segregation is referring to segregating uniforms and running them through renovation activities. You can clearly see that the coat has shrunk and had to be resized due to the shrinkage. This was the result of the wool uniforms being washed in boiling water, which was done to kill lice and other larvae and to thoroughly clean the garments.

 

My two cents,

 

Allan

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Just for clarification's sake, at no time in the 20th century have Hispanics ben segregated in US military service. In fact, Military census figures don't differentiate between white and Hispanic.

 

As for the Combat Serviceable label, I believe that in this case, the segregation is referring to segregating uniforms and running them through renovation activities. You can clearly see that the coat has shrunk and had to be resized due to the shrinkage. This was the result of the wool uniforms being washed in boiling water, which was done to kill lice and other larvae and to thoroughly clean the garments.

 

My two cents,

 

Allan

That,s a good point Allan, note the stamps, we can gather it Used To Be a 36 R, and now is a 34 S with a bump up to 34 R.post-158043-0-89020800-1572203758.jpg

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Just for clarification's sake, at no time in the 20th century have Hispanics ben segregated in US military service. In fact, Military census figures don't differentiate between white and Hispanic.

 

As for the Combat Serviceable label, I believe that in this case, the segregation is referring to segregating uniforms and running them through renovation activities. You can clearly see that the coat has shrunk and had to be resized due to the shrinkage. This was the result of the wool uniforms being washed in boiling water, which was done to kill lice and other larvae and to thoroughly clean the garments.

 

My two cents,

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

Good point on the coat, especially the size being relabeled. There happens to be a rusting staple right where another word is, and segregation referring to the equipment makes sense given the other markings on the coat.

 

In regards to Hispanics in the military service, I neglected to be more specific. I was referring to Hispanics from Puerto Rico who enlisted. My grandfather was a native, enlisted before the U.S. entered, and served in a segregated Puerto Rican non-combatant unit during the war.

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Not many. But here's Camps with the Cs and G's that might work.

 

Cooke

 

Croft

 

Grant

 

And just in case, Camps with C's and G's with six letters.

 

Carson

 

Callan

 

Gordon

Thank you for the names of the camps. And that definitely makes more sense with the uniform being resized and altered that they segragated the uniform.

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Thank you for the names of the camps. And that definitely makes more sense with the uniform being resized and altered that they segragated the uniform.

Kinda an Odd choice of a word if you asked me :lol: I think better choices would of been RESIZE, TO BE RESIZED, WAS RESIZED or just RESIZED.

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