Perhaps Loyalty Was His Honor

[Calvin Hall]

Anyone notice anything unique about this photo of an American serviceman?

[TP Alexander]

I do, I do!

Where did this come from?? Korean war era??
Interesting that an officer could get away with wearing an SS belt buckle!
Tim

[C.O.Sargent]

Well you know the saying"Rank has its privilegs".

[bwanek1]

Where did this come from?? Korean war era??
Interesting that an officer could get away with wearing an SS belt buckle!
Tim

Looks like an Air Corpd Signal officer. So, chances are that it was taken in continental Europe near war's end or, more likely, during post-war occupation. I bet the photo was simply posed with a souvenir during a lighter (off-duty) moment, far from somrthing he wore regularly.

[ETN]

I've seen photos of US Soldiers wearing captured German belts and buckles in the field. But the swastika was always ground off as I recall.

[RaymondG]

Hi Calvin

What an excellent photograph and thanks for sharing.

It would make the start of an excellent photo thread featuring unusual uniform combinations

Raymond

[leibermuster]

Are you talking about the mustache? My uncle wore a P-38 pistol on a German belt his entire time in Italy. He had several pictures of him wearing it in the field.(unfortunately stolen when he passed away.)He told me that they would not issue him a 1911 so he carried it "just in case".

[Fred S]

A french vet from the 1st armored div told me that, from Italy to Germany, he worn a heer belt and buckle with P08 and holster.
All around the belt he fixed any different german medals he found(from POW or KIA).
The gendarmerie "liberated" it when he came back to Algeria in 1945, cos of the P08....

[bwanek1]

The use of captured arms and equipment by combat troops was not uncommon. However, this was a REMF Air Corps SIGO. The relaxed uniform standards of the front lines would not have been afforded him.

[phild]

However, this was a REMF Air Corps SIGO. The relaxed uniform standards of the front lines would not have been afforded him.

That may be true, but the standards of the Air Corps probably would have! Sorry, but I had to get that jab in!

[John P. Moore]

There is no such thing as an Air Corps Signal officer. In WW II the US Army had an Air Corps and a Signal Corps along with other branches. The officer in the pic is a US Army Signal Corps officer.

John

[bwanek1]

There is no such thing as an Air Corps Signal officer. In WW II the US Army had an Air Corps and a Signal Corps along with other branches. The officer in the pic is a US Army Signal Corps officer.

John

John,

Of course he could only be in one basic branch, which, based on the branch insignia he wears, is obviously Signal. However, his unit patch is for the Air Corps. So, though he was a Signal (branch) officer, he was assigned to an Air Corps (functional) unit of some sort. Therefore, his duties were likely far from the front lines (unlike if he had been a SIGO attached to a forward-deployed ground unit in a maneuver division). I think most people--including you--knew that is what I meant, but perhaps not. I will choose my words more carefully in the future.

Best,
Brad

[John P. Moore]

Brad - That's okay and I'm sure that it was not your intention to insult US Army signal officers of which I was once one. If anyone thinks signal officers are just a bunch of rear echelon types, they ought to read my book, "Signal Officers of the Waffen-SS". A few of those guys even managed to receive Kinights Crosses and German Crosses in Gold and one of them even gave me a leather belt with a nice original buckle along with some other good things.

http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewto...28002&start=30


John

[bwanek1]

Brad - That's okay and I'm sure that it was not your intention to insult US Army signal officers of which I was once one.

John,

Of course I never meant to insult the Signal Corps. Those of us who were officers in the combat arms branches have the highest respect for all of the branches who supported us.

Thank you for your support,
Brad