Military uniforms from the past

I got looking at some of the uniforms as worn by my uncles, father, grandfather, etc. Might be of intestest to some, considering what today is.

My great-uncle Albert lived on a farm in southern France. Was forced into the Army at age 16 and killed two months later while fighting in the French Alpine Mountain unit. That was 1916.
His brother- my grandfather Alexandre survived and later came to the USA via Ellis Island. The village where his parents farm was - got completely destroyed by the Nazis and no longer exists. Note the cigarette in his hand in his full-uniform photo. He told me that having a factory-made cigarette was a big deal and status symbol and it was used as a camera prop.

Also pictures of my Uncle Leroy a Canadian citizen that enlisted 1918 to fight in WW I.
He too moved to the USA afterwards.

The rest are of my father and his brother - WW II. My dad was in the signal corps and my uncle on a PT boat.

I got drafted in 69. Had two friends who quit school at age 16, enlisted seeking adventure in Nam, and were both killed. Somethings never change, I guess.

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&current=WWIFranceUncleAlbert.jpg" target="_blank"> </a>

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great pics. you can be proud of your family history. thanks for shareing them with us. wally

STILL HAVE ONE OF ALL I HAVE WORN JAN 73- SEPT 93

Thanks for the post. History, especially military, has a lot of lessons to teach us.

What a historic treasure you have!

Thanks for sharing your photos and stories with us.

Be sure to pass this on to your children.

Thank you for your service.

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

My Mother passed away on Armed Forces Day this past May 16. She was a WWII veteran, having served as a nurse in MacAuthur's Army in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippenes. She first met my Father in Leyte Gulf, January 1945.

I have her complete WWII Army dress uniform with every button, patch, insignia, etc., as well as her complete WWII collection of mementos, letters, orders, hundreds of photos, diary, etc.

As she was very proud of her service she took very good care of her uniform and other mementos and all are in excellent condition. My brothers and I plan soon to search for an appropriate forum for display of her collection.

Dean

That's really neat. My mom tried to join - but her own mother caught her at the recruiting station, walloped her, and dragged her home. She's still alive (barely) at age 95. She has always regretted not being able to join.

J, It's apparent that your dad stayed in for the long haul.

Neat pics. My Dad was in infantry training when Pearl Harbor happened, got himself sent to OCS, flunked out of OCS but stayed on there as firearms instructor until he wranged a spot in Air Corp pilot training. Didn't get shipped overseas until after D-Day. Towed gliders and dropped troops during the war, afterwards flew PWs out of prison camps and slave labor back to their home countries, and flew dignitaries in and out of Berlin. My uncle, Dad's best friend, was a civilian welder on Guam, captured on or about 10 Dec 1941 and held by the Japanese until after the war ended. I still have Dad's uniforms in his footlocker.

At least one of them had some brains and joined the Navy. GIGGLE
Walt
MR2 USN 530 46 43 (1958 to 162) then (1968 to 1972) USN reserve

Neat.

In the six years I spent in the Navy I never remember hearing a reason for the term 'Petty Office' and to be honest never thought about it much. Now in thinking about it, and based on my experience, I'll at least venture a guess. I'd say that by the time you hit E3 you had a little experience and were at least "rated" and had a definite job. With the rating and resultant knowledge came responsibility over the nonrated guys. Now the term Petty officer goes from E3 or Third Class Petty Officer to E9 or Master Chief Petty Officer. As a Petty Officer you were an enlisted man but still had just enough authority to be considered "in charge" of those with a lower rank but not as much as a true commisioned officer. So, in comparison to a true Officer you had a petty amount of authority in comparison to those really "in charge".

Having lived it and made it to the rank of Machinist Mate First Class/First Class Petty Officer/E6 I can say that's a fairely accurate reason even if it's not the right one.

Just did a search, looks like I was right. Here's the explination I found and a link to it.
Enlisted Ranks:

Petty Officer

The Petty Officer can trace his title back to the old French word petit meaning something small. Over the years the word also came to mean minor, secondary and subordinate. In medieval and later England just about every village had several "petite", "pety" or "petty" officials/officers who were subordinate to such major officials as the steward of sheriff. The petty officers were the assistants to the senior officials.

The senior officers of the early British warships, such as the Boatswain, Gunner and Carpenter, also had assistants or "mates." Since the early seamen knew petty officers in their home villages they used the term to describe the minor officials aboard their ships. A ship's Captain or Master chose his own Petty Officers who served at his pleasure. At the end of a voyage or whenever the ship's crew was paid off and released the Petty Officers lost their positions and titles. There were Petty Officers in the British navy in the Seventeenth Century and perhaps earlier but the rank did not become official until 1808.

Petty Officers were important members of our Navy right from its beginnings and were also appointed by their ship's Captain. They did not have uniforms or rank insignia, and they usually held their appointments only while serving on the ship whose Captain had selected them.

Petty Officers in our Navy got their first rank insignia in 1841 when they began wearing a sleeve device showing an eagle perched on an anchor. Some Petty Officers wore the device on their left arms while others wore it on their right. All wore the same device. Specialty or rating marks did not appear officially until 1866 but they seem to have been in use for several years previously. Regulations sometimes serve to give formal status to practices already well established.

In 1885 the Navy recognized it three classes of Petty Officers--first, second and third--and in the next year let them wear rank insignia of chevrons with the points down under a spread eagle and rating mark. The eagle faced left instead of right as it does today.

The present Petty Officer insignia came about in 1894 when the Navy established the Chief Petty Officer rank and gave him the three chevrons with arc and eagle. The first, second and third class Petty Officers also began wearing the insignia they do today.

Information borrowed Naval Historical Center
NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD -- 901 M STREET SE
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060




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Explination

My branch was Army, but I always thought PO third class was an E-4; shows how much I know about the Navy.

PO E-4 are the same E-3 is a fireman, Seaman, Airman
Walt

Thanks for catching my screwup, and thanks to Walt for the correction. Walt's is exactly right, a PO3 is an E-4, I hit the wrong number when I wrote it and didn't catch it. Thanks to both of you, that was one thing I enjoyed about the Navy and the military in general, we all covered each others a$$es. Wayne