'50's Army pilot's coat

[GIl Sanow]

I buzzed on up to the GLMCA show in Toledo last nite -- saw 37thguy, 148thsoldier, Nack and Fritz, did a little wheeling and dealing and came home with a project.

 

I guess I am still a fan of the late radio commentator Paul Harvey and his penchant for telling "the rest of the story." There has to be a story on this one, if I could only figure out exactly what it is.

 

Certainly from the photos, one can see why I made the deal.

 

G

[GIl Sanow]

What we have here is a 1944 contract QM-tagged Army officer's chocolate coat, with some really interesting features. First of all is the direct embriodered bullion CPT bars, U.S.'s and Transportation CoOrps insignia. And the earliest bullion Army pilot's wings I have ever seen. Unfortunately the gold insignia is tarnished, but is is directly applied and not sewn on.

 

Then there is the ribbon set! Asian-made, for sure, and what a combo! American Defense, Navy Good Conduct, American Campaign, WW2 Victory and WW2 Occupation. These are custom-made on chocolate material, and sewn to the coat. Yes, the Navy GC is out of order, but that's apparently the way he ordered it and wore it. Note that there are no campaign stars since it appears he never went overseas. He seems to have missed the conflict in Korea too.

 

It looks like he had prior Navy service before getting an Army commission. Was this before WW2 or during?

 

When was this coat worn in this configuration? The Army wings of this pattern were authorized in 1950. Pilots were first assigned to Transportation Corps in 1951. I guess he could have worn the wings and branch insignia in Japan before the 1st Cav went to Korea, but that looks like a pretty narrow window. I suspect he wore it in Korea after the Korean conflict was over. I notice there is no KW or UN ribbon, and no Nat'l Defense either, but I have encountered ribbon sets without the NDef before. Perhaps he chose not to get a new set made when the new ribbon was authorized in '53.

 

I would love to come up with a name I could research. I have looked everywhere in the coat for any sign of a name or ASN to no avail. The only thing I can find is some oriental embroidery in the shoulder area. I have seen these before, but do not know if they are simply some sort of code or if the man's name is rendered in Japanese or Korean. Can anyone tell me? Can anyone read it and translate it?

 

G

[FW12]

I can't answer any of your questions, Gil, but I just have to comment on this uniform: Wow!

 

Beau

[CNY Militaria]

That is some fantastic insignia! I too have several uniforms with such lettering sewn inside...I wish I could figure it out as well.

[Teamski]

Incredible uniform! Wow!

 

-Ski

[Captainofthe7th]

Gil,

 

Nice one! Wishful thinking would lead me to believe that your man here wore this uniform before he went to Korea. But, as you said, that is a narrow window of opportunity. I wonder if this is one of the early Korean War uniforms where campaign ribbons were not yet developed? 1951 is late for that, though. You've got me thinking on this one.

 

Rob

[gwb123]

What we have here is a 1944 contract QM-tagged Army officer's chocolate coat, with some really interesting features. First of all is the direct embriodered bullion CPT bars, U.S.'s and Transportation CoOrps insignia. And the earliest bullion Army pilot's wings I have ever seen. Unfortunately the gold insignia is tarnished, but is is directly applied and not sewn on.

 

Then there is the ribbon set! Asian-made, for sure, and what a combo! American Defense, Navy Good Conduct, American Campaign, WW2 Victory and WW2 Occupation. These are custom-made on chocolate material, and sewn to the coat. Yes, the Navy GC is out of order, but that's apparently the way he ordered it and wore it. Note that there are no campaign stars since it appears he never went overseas. He seems to have missed the conflict in Korea too.

 

It looks like he had prior Navy service before getting an Army commission. Was this before WW2 or during?

 

When was this coat worn in this configuration? The Army wings of this pattern were authorized in 1950. Pilots were first assigned to Transportation Corps in 1951. I guess he could have worn the wings and branch insignia in Japan before the 1st Cav went to Korea, but that looks like a pretty narrow window. I suspect he wore it in Korea after the Korean conflict was over. I notice there is no KW or UN ribbon, and no Nat'l Defense either, but I have encountered ribbon sets without the NDef before. Perhaps he chose not to get a new set made when the new ribbon was authorized in '53.

 

I would love to come up with a name I could research. I have looked everywhere in the coat for any sign of a name or ASN to no avail. The only thing I can find is some oriental embroidery in the shoulder area. I have seen these before, but do not know if they are simply some sort of code or if the man's name is rendered in Japanese or Korean. Can anyone tell me? Can anyone read it and translate it?

 

G

 

That single thread embroidery is a laundry mark in Japanese. It could be the man's name, or it could be a numeric code.

[BEAST]

Gil,

That's a great looking coat! I have a pair of field pants with asian characters stitched in. We had a thread on it at: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=19503&hl=

 

The threads on the field pants were udentified as numbers. Hopefully someone here will be able to help you identify the characters.

[GIl Sanow]

Well, the link you suggested indicates a number on yours. I wonder if mine is the same. Anyone?

 

G

[GIl Sanow]

Well, I Googled "1st Cav Div" and Wikipedia says they went to Korea during summer of '50 to reinforce the Pusan Perimeter, then stayed until relieved in '52. Stayed in Japan til return to Korea in '57. Given the dates of wing authorization ('50) and affiliation with Transportation Corp ('51), I am leaning toward this coat having been worn in Japan in '52 or later. Apparently he never served in Korea, so there are no KW ribbons and no overseas bars. I am now looking at the '52-'55+/- period when this uniform was replaced by Army Green.

 

G