158th RCT Medical Officer uniform

[Ray42]

I wanted to share one of my most recent finds with the forum, a great grouping from Captain Earl Hi*ll who was a medical officer with the 158th RCT. The Captain graduated 2nd in his class from University of Minnesota Medical School in 1943 and joined the Army where he served with the 158th RCT in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan and eventually retired from the reserves as a Major. Unfortunately while there is a lot of information on the 158th, it is actually surprisingly difficult to find information on the other units that composed the RCT so I have not yet discovered if the combat team had a medical regiment or smaller unit attached to it or if the Captain served with the 158th regiment as a medical officer. Mr. Hi*ll then returned to private practice until retiring in 1996. He sadly passed in 2013. 

The uniform is interesting because it is an enlisted man’s Ike jacket that was used by an officer. The shoulder features a very nice silk 158th RCT patch. I am very pleased to add this named piece to my growing 158th RCT collection. It’s an item I thought would take years to acquire and that I would never encounter by chance.

This uniform came off Facebook marketplace, and unfortunately another uniform of his got snagged by a different collector while I was trying to make arrangements for it with the seller. Not only is this unfortunate because it broke up the group but the uniforms also got mixed up with his uniform having extra insignia which went to my uniform and me receiving a pair of officers dress pants while it looks like he recieved the enlisted pants that would have probably been worn with my jacket.  Fortunately I know who the other collector is, but he has not yet responded to any of my messages to try and correct our respective uniforms. 

[rd12]

The 158th was organized as a Regimental Combat Team in WW2, which means that it had all necessary units attached to it to conduct operations.  As opposed to a traditional Battalion or Regiment which relied on support from Division assets. The units assigned to the 158th changed often during the war and the mission. Here’s some info on units assigned during various operations, this comes from a unit history book published after the war. You will see some medical units that your guy could have been assigned to. 

 

 

 

Cool jacket, I hope you get the insignia sorted out.

[Ray42]

23 minutes ago, rd12 said:

Cool jacket, I hope you get the insignia sorted out.

Thanks, that information is a huge help. I knew the RCT was intended to be self operating but I had no idea the extensive list of units attached to it. All I knew were the 158th inf, 147th art, and 1279th eng, and even that info was hard to find. Your list will really help me narrow down possible units. 
 

Also I finally got in touch with the other collector and I think we worked it out!

[postmanusnac]

Man that’s a beauty.

[manayunkman]

Keep us posted, great stuff.

[OD-Blue-Top]

Great to see this 158th uniform,  That patch is a prize!  I had a neighbor and good friend who served with the 158th as a combat medic, and this uniform brings back fond memories of the conversations we had about the 158th.

[Trevor M. Larson]

Great uniform! Honestly I think you scored the better uniform of the two. Would be great to see these guys United again 

[Ray42]

On 9/30/2021 at 5:44 PM, OD-Blue-Top said:

Great to see this 158th uniform,  That patch is a prize!  I had a neighbor and good friend who served with the 158th as a combat medic, and this uniform brings back fond memories of the conversations we had about the 158th.

Thanks everyone, Ill keep it updated when the uniform is eventually restored and reunited with the proper pants. 
And OD feel free to share any stories about your neighbor that you want. That’s amazing that you knew a 158th medic. I feel that it would be sufficiently related to the uniform to be a good addition to the thread. 

[OD-Blue-Top]

His name is Eudoris Garrison.  I have his unit info somewhere, just can't locate it at the present.  He made it through the war without being wounded.  He related to me about his 1SG saying to him, "Garrison, you ain't supposed to be alive, no medic lives as long as you have."  He also told of being caught in an open field lying down in tall grass, and  every time he moved the grass would give his position away, and a Japanese MG would open up on him, and  credited a LT with saving his life in this situation by cursing him, and threatening to fire on him himself if he moved again.  He took great pride in having served with the 158th RCT.

[Ray42]

I thought I would update this thread with the restored uniform. Got the missing rank and collar insignia and was able to find the holes left from when they were last on the uniform. I also got the enlisted pants that Capt. Hill would have worn with the uniform, not as well marked as the other pair but still it is good to have the right pair. 
 

I also thought it would be cool to add a piece of trench art from the vet that the other collector got.

[rd12]

Nice!