Sunday, September 23, 2018
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Melville Batt's Reconstructed Ike Jacket from 1945
This is an Eisenhower jacket I put together as a reconstruction of Mel's uniform as it looked upon his discharge from the Army in 1945. The "Ike" jacket is an original, the pins and decorations are reproductions. (I do not believe in buying medals I did not earn) Mel threw away his uniform shortly after he came home, and the only reference I had was this photograph, which is luckily in color.
This was taken in May or June 1945 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. It's a 35mm Kodachrome slide and it looks as if it was taken yesterday.
And this is the Ike jacket I reassembled from his picture.
The downward slash or "hashmark" on his left sleeve is a service stripe. This indicates he was in the Army service for three years. The three yellow bars above that show he was overseas for 18 months, each bar represents 6 months. The three chevrons with the rocker bar on his upper arm shows his rank at discharge, a Staff Sergeant. The green braid or shoulder cord, sometimes called a lanyard, is actually a French award called a fourraguerre which represents the Croix de Guerre, its colors are red and green. It was a distinguished unit award he didn't earn himself, but his regiment earned it for their actions in Cantigny in 1918. He was required to wear this during his service as a symbol of pride in his unit's heritage, but as you can see he's not wearing it in the photograph. I think he simply threw it away because he thought it was dumb; he didn't earn it. The blue musket pin with the oak leaf wreath is a Combat Infantry Badge. He earned this in late July 1944 after his actions in Normandy. Beneath that is a ribbon with blue and red stripes. That is his Bronze Star medal, which he earned in April 1945 for his actions as an Operations NCO between July 1944 and April of '45. Below that is a yellow ribbon with thin bands of red, white and blue. That is his American Defense ribbon, which he earned from the tactical maneuvers in Carolina, Louisiana, Tennesee and Arizona from 1942-1943. To the right of it is his ETO ribbon, officially the European African Middle Eastern service medal. I could not obtain these, but on his original ribbon he would have had 4 battle stars: for the battles of Brest, Crozon, Hurtgen Forest and i'm not sure what the fourth is, possibly Bergstein or Ruhr Pocket.
On his left breast he had a golden eagle inside a circle, on a diamond shaped patch. This is his honorable discharge from the US Army. This patch indicated he came home in good standing in the eyes of his superiors, and served admirably. It was also an authorization to wear his dress uniform in public in lieu of civilian clothes, until such clothes could be obtained. The regimental crest on his overseas cap and on his collar lapels is that of the 28th Regiment, the "Black Lions of Cantigny"
The collar discs for Infantry on either side are his own originals. I added them because I felt it added some authenticity to the uniform. Also notice his hat is a different color from the jacket, just like in the photo. He likely bought this hat through private purchase separately from his uniform, as many WWII veterans did.
This was taken in May or June 1945 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. It's a 35mm Kodachrome slide and it looks as if it was taken yesterday.
And this is the Ike jacket I reassembled from his picture.
The downward slash or "hashmark" on his left sleeve is a service stripe. This indicates he was in the Army service for three years. The three yellow bars above that show he was overseas for 18 months, each bar represents 6 months. The three chevrons with the rocker bar on his upper arm shows his rank at discharge, a Staff Sergeant. The green braid or shoulder cord, sometimes called a lanyard, is actually a French award called a fourraguerre which represents the Croix de Guerre, its colors are red and green. It was a distinguished unit award he didn't earn himself, but his regiment earned it for their actions in Cantigny in 1918. He was required to wear this during his service as a symbol of pride in his unit's heritage, but as you can see he's not wearing it in the photograph. I think he simply threw it away because he thought it was dumb; he didn't earn it. The blue musket pin with the oak leaf wreath is a Combat Infantry Badge. He earned this in late July 1944 after his actions in Normandy. Beneath that is a ribbon with blue and red stripes. That is his Bronze Star medal, which he earned in April 1945 for his actions as an Operations NCO between July 1944 and April of '45. Below that is a yellow ribbon with thin bands of red, white and blue. That is his American Defense ribbon, which he earned from the tactical maneuvers in Carolina, Louisiana, Tennesee and Arizona from 1942-1943. To the right of it is his ETO ribbon, officially the European African Middle Eastern service medal. I could not obtain these, but on his original ribbon he would have had 4 battle stars: for the battles of Brest, Crozon, Hurtgen Forest and i'm not sure what the fourth is, possibly Bergstein or Ruhr Pocket.
On his left breast he had a golden eagle inside a circle, on a diamond shaped patch. This is his honorable discharge from the US Army. This patch indicated he came home in good standing in the eyes of his superiors, and served admirably. It was also an authorization to wear his dress uniform in public in lieu of civilian clothes, until such clothes could be obtained. The regimental crest on his overseas cap and on his collar lapels is that of the 28th Regiment, the "Black Lions of Cantigny"
The collar discs for Infantry on either side are his own originals. I added them because I felt it added some authenticity to the uniform. Also notice his hat is a different color from the jacket, just like in the photo. He likely bought this hat through private purchase separately from his uniform, as many WWII veterans did.
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