kklinejr Posted July 4, 2009 Share #1 Posted July 4, 2009 Some of you may recognize this uniform offered by Chris at Rally Point Militaria. When it came up on Ebay I knew I wanted to take a stab at it and was able to get it for a very good price (I feel a bit guilty about that). The moths and sunshine have had their way with the uniform in general, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Id'd to Ranger qualified Sgt. Woodrow Spence formerly of the HQ Co., 398th Infantry, the uniform dates to his late 1940s days with the Fourth Army. As a question to those of you in the know, can anyone shed some light on the 100th Division's Ranger training and why the tab was worn below their SSI? Thank you, Ken PS- I have used the original auction photo, hopefully Chris doesn't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kklinejr Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted July 4, 2009 100th SSI and Ranger Tab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tredhed2 Posted July 5, 2009 Share #3 Posted July 5, 2009 In the Jan-Mar 2008 The Trading Post, there is an article about a GI who was in Company A, 398th IR. The Army was experimenting w/ the TO and had every company A of each regiment in newly formed divisions designated as "Ranger" companies. Soldiers assigned to these companies were authorized to wear the red and white RANGER tabs below the divisional SSI. The info came from the now-deceased father of the author. There is no information that I can find as to whether the men had to be qualified on a RANGER course prior to company assignment or the divisions ran their own courses for the A companies and the men were qualified thusly. There were a few known div RANGER schools; the 2nd ID, 29th, ID, 93rd ID; there were also divisional and other unit BATTLE PATROL units that worked like RANGER companies. Units like the 3rd ID, 66th ID, 106th Cav Grp had them. There is no info that I can find that these latter div RANGER and BATTLE PATROL units were formed from A companies; from all the info known so far, they were formed in theater as a response to combat ops. I know for certain that the 66th ID BP was not formed from Company A of any of the regiments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custermen Posted July 5, 2009 Share #4 Posted July 5, 2009 The Army was experimenting w/ the TO and had every company A of each regiment in newly formed divisions designated as "Ranger" companies. When? Was this during WW2? Or could this ranger tab be dated to post-WW2? My Uncle was in the 36th Infantry Division in WW2 and he always said he was a "ranger". I never understood what this meant as I didn't know of any ranger tab worn at that time, except the unit identified as Ranger Battalions; ie. 1, 2, etc. He never talked much about his unit. He claimed he forgot what unit he was in but I found him on the roster of the 142nd Infantry Regiment. My Uncle was in Company L during the landing at Salerno ---not in company A. Could he have received some type of ranger training either in the States or at the last minute in N. Africa before hitting the beaches?? This has always puzzled me. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tredhed2 Posted July 5, 2009 Share #5 Posted July 5, 2009 Yes, WW II. Sorry that it wasn't spelled out distinctly. Am certain that there were other units with divisional RANGER companies and possibly BPs. Perhaps our members can fill in some of the blanks. In reply to your uncle and Co L - my dad trained w/ the 69th ID in WW II, and said someone returned to the div after approx 10 days of RANGER training - couldn't handle the training. My dad does not know if it was divisional or one of the two RANGER bns still in training in CONUS. Perhaps your uncle was unable to complete the training, or can't recall every detail of his life so many decades ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBT Posted July 5, 2009 Share #6 Posted July 5, 2009 Some of you may recognize this uniform offered by Chris at Rally Point Militaria. When it came up on Ebay I knew I wanted to take a stab at it and was able to get it for a very good price (I feel a bit guilty about that). The moths and sunshine have had their way with the uniform in general, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Id'd to Ranger qualified Sgt. Woodrow Spence formerly of the HQ Co., 398th Infantry, the uniform dates to his late 1940s days with the Fourth Army. As a question to those of you in the know, can anyone shed some light on the 100th Division's Ranger training and why the tab was worn below their SSI? Thank you, Ken PS- I have used the original auction photo, hopefully Chris doesn't mind. Ken, I have no problem with you using the pic. It's your uniform now! I am glad you researching it because it is an interesting uniform. ---Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted July 7, 2009 Share #7 Posted July 7, 2009 Sadly I was the #2 bidder on Ebay for this beauty ! I LOVE PAPER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted July 7, 2009 Share #8 Posted July 7, 2009 Sadly I was the #2 bidder on Ebay for this beauty ! I LOVE PAPER! Umm....Schweet!! you just don't see that every day. Wow. -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101stfan Posted July 17, 2009 Share #9 Posted July 17, 2009 Umm....Schweet!! you just don't see that every day. Wow. -Ski I am the one that won the 100th div ranger certificate.I am also very interested in any information on the ranger training this guy would have taken.Also if there is anyone out there with a picture of a 100th guy waring a ranger tab.That would be fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgawne Posted July 17, 2009 Share #10 Posted July 17, 2009 Everything I have ever seen indicates that is the tab of the 2nd army (US Training) Ranger school at Camp Foresst. The theory was to take gumg ho type people from units in training and run them through "ranger" training which was just advanced infantry skills really. Then the men would return to their unit and bring their newly learned skills to spread throughout their platoon. This is why you see the tab on a few different divisions- all of which were part of the 2nd Army during this period. I'be been looking for info on them for a while and find bits and pieces here- some photos showing the guys in instruction at Forest. Some potos of the training etc. I have to doubt the 'every unit has a ranger company' as the father of all these divisional rangers - being the 2nd and 29th rangers, were all the same idea, to return better trained people to their units- a train the trainer type of thing I've never seen anything in any of the T/O material. I'm not saying it ain't true, but that I have been activly looking for info and everyting contradicts this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamecharles Posted September 18, 2012 Share #11 Posted September 18, 2012 if anyone is interested: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...howtopic=155068 GS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DALE T ELLIS Posted December 30, 2021 Share #12 Posted December 30, 2021 Fresh out of the barn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkarlen Posted February 9, 2022 Share #13 Posted February 9, 2022 Here is a vintage photo from my collection showing the tab in wear ca 1944. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonT Posted February 12, 2022 Share #14 Posted February 12, 2022 On 12/30/2021 at 1:31 PM, DALE T ELLIS said: Fresh out of the barn. Still a great piece! Were you able to ID it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DALE T ELLIS Posted February 12, 2022 Share #15 Posted February 12, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonT Posted February 13, 2022 Share #16 Posted February 13, 2022 Any idea where he served afterwards? For some reason he isn't listed in the division roster from '45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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