Article about: Hello everyone, Recently I was fortunate enough to receive some very special items for my collection. My uncle, who was in the Marines and the Army, gave me some (not all!) of his uniforms.
Recently I was fortunate enough to receive some very special items for my collection. My uncle, who was in the Marines and the Army, gave me some (not all!) of his uniforms. My uncle had an incredibly interesting military career and I am absolutely honored that he gave me some of his uniforms.
He lied about his age and enlisted in the Army at 16 but got caught and was honorably discharged so that he could re-enlist when he became of age. Then at 18, as he was going to enlist in the Army again, he ran into a Marine recruiter who "convinced" him to join the Marines instead. After reaching the rank of Sergeant, he went to college and commissioned as a Lieutenant. While he had many different jobs in the military, he spent the large majority of his time as an engineer. He served 13 months in Vietnam as a Major in the Marines. My uncle shared only a few stories with me about his time in Vietnam, but the stories that he told me were unbelievable. He saw some pretty heavy combat while in country. He spent the last 13 years of his 35 year career in the Army, where he retired as a Colonel.
I think his uniforms are a great testament to his very interesting career, as you will see with his very unique ribbon rack. I have never seen another one quite like it. All the ribbons and insignia were added by me as he didn't have enough copies to give me. I added them exactly as he has them on his other uniforms.
The dress green uniform is really special because not only does he have a 1st Marine div patch on the right shoulder, but he also has special engineer buttons on the uniform in lieu of the typical buttons. The Marine dress white uniform did not actually belong to him, but I added the insignia to that uniform because he told me how much he loved that uniform and I just happened to have an extra one laying around! He also gave me two field jackets, and not pictured is a dress green Marine uniform that he also gave me.
I hope you guys enjoy!
Cheers,
Bodey
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I am so sorry that every time I post the pictures end up sideways! I have no idea why that always happens!
Those uniforms are a great gift from your uncle, a nice part of your family history that I'm sure you will treasure for ever. With regards to your pictures, crop them so that they are wider than they are tall before you post them on the forum, and they should stay the right way up.
..what's that marksmanship badge at the top- as you look at the sideways pic? I was in the Corps for 8 years......you do not see too many Scuba pins on Marines .....we have one Marine that wears one at our Marine Corps League
..what's that marksmanship badge at the top- as you look at the sideways pic? I was in the Corps for 8 years......you do not see too many Scuba pins on Marines .....we have one Marine that wears one at our Marine Corps League
The badge on the far left is a marksmanship badge Marines in the WWII era wore. It was for qualification on weapons other than rifle and pistol. It was along the lines as the army badge where hangers for weapon systems were added for what you qual’d with
The badge on the far left is a marksmanship badge Marines in the WWII era wore. It was for qualification on weapons other than rifle and pistol. It was along the lines as the army badge where hangers for weapon systems were added for what you qual’d with
My relative told me that he had qualifications for the BAR and .30 cal. When I was putting this uniform together I was unable to find those devices to add, so for the time being they are not on the uniform..
Incredible Marine/Army uniforms
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by bronk
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