USMC LTC with Banana Wars and China Service

[316th FS 324th FG]

I thought I'd posted this before, but I guess only on the FB page.

 

Albert Paul joined the USMC in 1910 at age 17 attending Marine Corps boot camp at the Naval shipyards in Norfolk, VA.  In 1914, was promoted to Sgt. He received his commission as a 2nd Lt in late 1917 or early 1918.  He spent the remainder of the war as a military courier, taking diplomatic messages from Europe to the US. He also served in the US Virgin Islands in 1918.

He served in the "Banana Wars" during the 1920's in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. He has the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit on his rack too.  He was assigned as the Communications Officer for the 4th Marines in Shanghai, China during the mid-1930’s.

 

During WWII, although most Marines were sent to the Pacific, he was asked to work with the OSS in England, helping to again read decoded German messages.  Albert W. Paul was retired in 1946 with the rank of Lt. Col.

 

The European service in WWI and the OSS service in WWII are both unconfirmed. I can find nothing on his enlisted service but he is wearing a GC medal on his ribbon rack in the 40's.

 

Welcome any help filling the gaps on his history

 

Also wondering what I would need to restore the uniform. EGAs and Major insignia for the shoulders. What shirt would have been worn? Cummerbund?

[warguy]

Nice uniform. It will be difficult to find the correct Major embroidered bullion red wool backing for the epaulettes, and I think this will be your biggest challenge. The ega’s should prove a little easier, you need a set of P1912 pin back Officers dress. They will cost you, especially for a matching pair but they can be found. The shirt was typically a tuxedo style, but a white vest was worn over that. The vests I have seen are finely made in a waffle pattern. A crimson silk cummerbund matching the liner would finish off the display. Good luck, these are beautiful uniforms and I especially like the pre-WWII design. 

[manayunkman]

Beautiful 

[Brig]

Ewww....Facebook.

 

Nice uniform...the photos are the icing on the cake.

 

You actually don't need P1912 emblems. This uniform was worn up until WWII. As it has the proper Major trimmings, there's a good chance that he either A) didn't buy it until later in his career or B) updated the emblems over time. Any pair of 20s-30s pinback dress officer EGAs will work, to include P1937. If you want the most accurate guess, look at his muster rolls and determine when he would have been most likely to need it. Judging off the entries you've posted, I don't think he would have acquired it until the late 20s at Quantico, if not later. If you want to go with earlier emblems with the boards and cover, $600 would be a good deal on the low end if you got lucky. At least you have the epaulettes, even stripped those are tough to find and cost $500+

 

These did not have a cummerbund, but a white vest. The vest and shirt are by far the hardest pieces to find. Particularly the shirts, as they were often heavily starched and became solid flat sheets over time...thus they often found their way to the trash.

 

You will also need to find period mini medals...which can be quite a challenge. I am currently restoring two of these early dress messes and keeping an eye out to assist someone with a third...I have been searching for one mini to finish off one uniform for well over 5 years

[warguy]

1 hour ago, Brig said:

Ewww....Facebook.

 

Nice uniform...the photos are the icing on the cake.

 

You actually don't need P1912 emblems. This uniform was worn up until WWII. As it has the proper Major trimmings, there's a good chance that he either A) didn't buy it until later in his career or B) updated the emblems over time. Any pair of 20s-30s pinback dress officer EGAs will work, to include P1937. If you want the most accurate guess, look at his muster rolls and determine when he would have been most likely to need it. Judging off the entries you've posted, I don't think he would have acquired it until the late 20s at Quantico, if not later. If you want to go with earlier emblems with the boards and cover, $600 would be a good deal on the low end if you got lucky. At least you have the epaulettes, even stripped those are tough to find and cost $500+

 

These did not have a cummerbund, but a white vest. The vest and shirt are by far the hardest pieces to find. Particularly the shirts, as they were often heavily starched and became solid flat sheets over time...thus they often found their way to the trash.

 

You will also need to find period mini medals...which can be quite a challenge. I am currently restoring two of these early dress messes and keeping an eye out to assist someone with a third...I have been searching for one mini to finish off one uniform for well over 5 years

Brig you make a good point on the style of Ega’s if you want to spend less, but I would personally still pop for the 1926 style. According to the 1918 Marine Corps uniform regulations., there was a class A and a class B evening dress and scarlet vest (General officers) and a scarlet cummerbund (other officers) were prescribed for certsin functions that called for class B evening dress. Check it out. 

[warguy]

Welp, I think I am wrong, sorry. Putting in 1918 regs on my phone and I was looking at 2018 regs. I will look closer when I get on a real screen, but the 1926 regs make no mention of cummerbund. 

[Brig]

It was a white vest, as well. Not scarlet. One of mine came with its vest

[warguy]

Yeah a white pique style which translates to waffle pattern. I saw a pre WWII set with pants and white vest once, one of the few complete sets I have ever seen, and it had a crimson cummerbund as well. Now I am thinking the cummerbund was added by a collector, or perhaps the Officer was in post 1948 and the cummerbund was obtained for the new uniform and just ended up with the old if that makes sense. The scarlet vest for General Officers is current regs, as is the cummerbund itself and they fall under the class B mess dress in the regs. The Corps currently differentiates between a class A and Class B mess dress, which I am guessing came along with the changes to the uniform made in 1948. Sorry for the confusion.