Army v. Marine WWII Jump Wings

[Brig]

According the the reference 'Paramarine!' and collectors I've talked with, USMC wings tended to be a darker metal than the Army ones. Can someone post some side-by-sides so I can actually see the difference? All of the jump wings I stumble upon seem dark to me....thanks

[jeremiahcable]

Interesting question, Brig. I've never known there to be a difference at all. I'm looking forward to what others have to share on this.

[Patriot]

I've a pair that are 82nd Airborne attributed, and they are a dark lead gray. Since they are made of silver, I would assume that the amount of age toning would be related to the environment and conditions that the wings are subject to. Though I cannot be 100% sure, I suspect that this might be a lot of collector hype - "experts" looking into things a little too much... in other words, seeing stuff that isn't really there.

[Tonomachi]

I have never heard of this. I always figured Paramarines got their Army style paratrooper wings from the same sources as Army Paratroopers. It is my understanding that some Paramarines started wearing non-regulation gold wings at the end of the war that I believe Naval Riggers were wearing. Most however were wearing the Army style silver paratrooper wings which were no more darker than the ones being worn by Army Paratroopers.

[mes]

Hi I have seen the darker wings in a kia paramarine group in a museum so I know they were orignal to the group. The wings almost look as though they coated. Come to think of the dog tags were darken as well. Mark

[siling]

According the the reference 'Paramarine!' and collectors I've talked with, USMC wings tended to be a darker metal than the Army ones. Can someone post some side-by-sides so I can actually see the difference? All of the jump wings I stumble upon seem dark to me....thanks

Maybe photo? :think:

[none]

All paratroopers of all services go to the US Army for training and after the successful completion of five jumps out of a high performance aircraft, soldiers are awarded basic parachutist wings. The exact same badge for all.

 

In the case of US Marines after 5 more jumps, one at night you earn the Gold Marine Jump Wings.

[Patriot]

All paratroopers of all services go to the US Army for training and after the successful completion of five jumps out of a high performance aircraft, soldiers are awarded basic parachutist wings. The exact same badge for all.

 

In the case of US Marines after 5 more jumps, one at night you earn the Gold Marine Jump Wings.

 

Were the gold wings a post-war designation?

[pfrost]

According the the reference 'Paramarine!' and collectors I've talked with, USMC wings tended to be a darker metal than the Army ones. Can someone post some side-by-sides so I can actually see the difference? All of the jump wings I stumble upon seem dark to me....thanks

 

Hi Brig,

 

When you say "darker metal" I wonder exactly what you mean. If we assume that the originals were all made of sterling silver as initially approved (http://www.qmfound.com/parachute_badge.htm), or at the very least were made of silver plated material, then ALL the jump wings should have been silver or silver colored. I don't think the USMC manual would say something like "USMC jump wings will be darker than Army ones".

 

On the other hand, it is also more than likely that the process of finishing the wings with different lacquers or coatings may have altered the general "tone" of the silver color--perhaps some wings were darker silver due to different types of lacquer or variations in the solutions used to oxidize the metal during the manufacturing process. Also, as for individual depending on the amount of polishing, the natural patina of the wings would vary depending on how much or frequently the wings were polished (and the amount of time between polishing).

 

Patrick

[hawk3370]

All paratroopers of all services go to the US Army for training and after the successful completion of five jumps out of a high performance aircraft, soldiers are awarded basic parachutist wings. The exact same badge for all.

 

In the case of US Marines after 5 more jumps, one at night you earn the Gold Marine Jump Wings.

 

I have never noticed any difference between Jump Wings of various services. As stated earlier all branches go to Ft. Benning for Jump School and all receive the same wing at graduation. There may have been jump schools for the various services during the war but I am sure they all got their wings form the same source. Attached are pic of the Gold Marine/Navy wings that have been mentioned.

[none]

During the war and even before the war the Marines had their own jump schools, but these were before any badge was authorized. But after 1943 the Corps did not have a jump school. I believe this to be true that during WWII no Marine Combat jumps occurred.

 

If some of the badges have a different color it could be some were just nickel plated while others were sterling or silver plated and today even some are chrome plated.

 

BTW- I spent 10 years in the Air Cargo and Airdrop Branch at Wright Patterson AFB. Research and Development of equipment for use by the services and worked very closely with the 82nd as well as many others. We even had a Major from the 82nd assigned to our branch.

[camopara]

Most here are correct in that there is no real difference between Army and USMC jump wings. Variations are just due to manufacturing techniques.

 

The 4 battalions that made the regiment were trained at 3 different jump schools. On the east coast NAS Lakehurst and New River were used. On the west coast it was Camp Elliott. There was a school overseas on New Caledonia that qualified about 100 Marines to wear their wings. The last school to close was Camp Elliott on 1 Jan 44 as the 1st Parachute Regiment folded it colors on 29 Feb 44.

[Brig]

I'll take a pic of the page this weekend