Some more vintage hattery.....

[pmclaine]

I hero worship these guys....

As such I wanted a cool ass vintage US Navy style ball cap.

Eastman Leather makes this one...

I added the P37 USMC left collar device as a buy from EBay.

Good replica to include the horsehide sweatband, green cotton under visor, and a WWII looking nomenclature tag.

Sadly likely to be made by our WWII enemies or our current ones.

Found this bad boy from Ebbets Field Flannels....

Wool is more substantial. They are made by Communist antifa thugs in Seattle right next door to Filson. I'm guessing the wool is sourced from the same place.

The brim lining is green satin, no horsehide, but it has a big old Made in USA flag inside.

Got another P37 insignia coming to dress the new cap up. New one is probably not as authentic in details, lacking metal grommets, but the wool is far superior.

@308pirate these are the progenitor of the standard navy blue ships ball cap you might appreciate some good headgear.

 

[308pirate]

I hero worship these guys....

View attachment 7268271

As such I wanted a cool ass vintage US Navy style ball cap.

Eastman Leather makes this one...
View attachment 7268231

I added the P37 USMC left collar device as a buy from EBay.

Good replica to include the horsehide sweatband, green cotton under visor, and a WWII looking nomenclature tag.

View attachment 7268233

View attachment 7268234

Sadly likely to be made by our WWII enemies or our current ones.

Found this bad boy from Ebbets Field Flannels....

Wool is more substantial. They are made by Communist antifa thugs in Seattle right next door to Filson. I'm guessing the wool is sourced from the same place.

View attachment 7268242

The brim lining is green satin, no horsehide, but it has a big old Made to n USA flag inside.

View attachment 7268243

Got another P37 insignia coming to dress the new cap up. New one is probably not as authentic in details, lacking metal grommets, but the wool is far superior.

@308pirate these are the progenitor of the standard navy blue ships ball cap you might appreciate some good headgear.

I do believe I will try to see if I can buy one with the USN officer cover device embroidered in bullion.

I had one made for my combination cover when I was an Ensign, and while it is regulation it pissed off most who saw it. I still wore it anyway, it looked like this:

I only wish I had found a gold bullion embroidered SWO badge for my service dress blue blouse

 

[pmclaine]

The Ebbets field wool being more substantial will probably support the embroidery better.

The Eastman cover has the more "beanie" style top typical of a 1940s cover so it might be tight real estate for a big bullion patch.

Those are cool embroideries.

What would the tight asses have done when the world was a lot bigger and shit like insignia had to be sourced from the local indigenous economy?

Some of those old China insignia are cool as hell.

 

[Charlie112]

I hero worship these guys....

View attachment 7268271

As such I wanted a cool ass vintage US Navy style ball cap.

Eastman Leather makes this one...
View attachment 7268231

I added the P37 USMC left collar device as a buy from EBay.

Good replica to include the horsehide sweatband, green cotton under visor, and a WWII looking nomenclature tag.

View attachment 7268233

View attachment 7268234

Sadly likely to be made by our WWII enemies or our current ones.

Found this bad boy from Ebbets Field Flannels....

Wool is more substantial. They are made by Communist antifa thugs in Seattle right next door to Filson. I'm guessing the wool is sourced from the same place.

View attachment 7268242

The brim lining is green satin, no horsehide, but it has a big old Made to n USA flag inside.

View attachment 7268243

Got another P37 insignia coming to dress the new cap up. New one is probably not as authentic in details, lacking metal grommets, but the wool is far superior.

@308pirate these are the progenitor of the standard navy blue ships ball cap you might appreciate some good headgear.

I take it those 3 men are wearing the VICTORIAN CROSS?? If so, any names so I can read a little history... Thanks

 

[pmclaine]

I take it those 3 men are wearing the VICTORIAN CROSS?? If so, any names so I can read a little history... Thanks

Those are Navy Crosses.

Those are Cactus Air Force Marines on Guadalcanal.....Smith, Galer, and Carl.

Thank you for researching them.

Come back with what you learned please.

 

[308pirate]

I take it those 3 men are wearing the VICTORIAN CROSS??

It's Victoria Cross, not Victorian Cross. Just like the Medal of Honor is just that, not the "Congressional" Medal of Honor. Minor quibbles but us who have served would prefer these things be addressed properly.

Anyway that's not what they're wearing.

 

[Charlie112]

Those are Navy Crosses.

Those are Cactus Air Force Marines on Guadalcanal.....Smith, Galer, and Carl.

Thank you for researching them.

Come back with what you learned please.

The picture of the men, all three pilots, was taken after receiving the Navy Cross from Adm. Nimitz on Sept. 30th, 1942 for shooting down Jap planes at Guadalcanal, Henderson field area of operation. Carl was the first MARINE AIR ACE OF THE WAR. Galer was a Pearl Harbor Survivor, Smith was the second Marine Wildcat Pilot to rate the Medal of Honor. Very Brave Men!!!

 

[Charlie112]

It's Victoria Cross, not Victorian Cross. Just like the Medal of Honor is just that, not the "Congressional" Medal of Honor. Minor quibbles but us who have served would prefer these things be addressed properly.

Anyway that's not what they're wearing.

copy

 

[pmclaine]

The picture of the men, all three pilots, was taken after receiving the Navy Cross from Adm. Nimitz on Sept. 30th, 1942 for shooting down Jap planes at Guadalcanal, Henderson field area of operation. Carl was the first MARINE AIR ACE OF THE WAR. Galer was a Pearl Harbor Survivor, Smith was the second Marine Wildcat Pilot to rate the Medal of Honor. Very Brave Men!!!

Sept 30, 1942 was early into the Guadalcanal campaign.

If Nimitz was there it indicates that the Navy had not had to high tail it from the island in order to avoid being decimated.

The worst was yet to come.

 

[Forgetful Coyote]

MAN! The Pacific Theater was something else! Those Imperial Japanese troops... goddamn.. talk about a worthy opponent. I still remember reading about a small 3-5 man Japanese unit that got cut off in the Phillipines, and hit the jungle to go on carrying out guerrilla operations for like 25 years, not realizing WW2 was over!

What would yall say had more anger/hatred/brutality between the opposing forces: Eastern Front vs Pacific Theater?

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Read Richard Franks Guadalcanal. One of the best researched books about WW2. Its detail and timeline on the battle is the best written by a long shot.

It was a hard-fought victory, but stripped the mantle off the Japanese as invincible jungle fighters.

Merritt “Red Mike” Edson was from near here and after the war founded the VT State Police.

Cool covers!

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Rather than write things down, here is an excellent Guadalcanal and Pacific reading list from my library.

 

[Pvt. Joker]

I'm a bit of a USMC WWII Pacific Theater battle amature historian. Although I am interested in most all of the battles, the 3 day slaughter on Betio at Tarawa still intrigues me above the rest. Whats your favorite or most informative book that you have read so far about this battle ?
Mine is Utmost Savagery by Col. Joseph H. Alexander U.S.M.C. (Ret). It was one of those you can't put down until you're done reading it and even then I found myself re-reading chapters of it. It had a profound effect on my already high respect and awe of those Marines who went thru that battle. I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with a Marine, Bob Purinton of the Second Marine Division. This guy lived about 6 miles from me on a nice farm. His military service included some of the most hard fought battles in the Pacific including Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. He also served in the occupation of Japan and was honorably discharged in 1946. Anyways he was part of a pack howitzer crew at Tarawa. He told me he believed that his transfer to a pack howitzer crew just before the invasion of Tarawa saved his life. He was pulled from the machine gunners position on an amphibious tractor landing craft due to his physical build. He was a 6' very fit and a strong man at that time and for that reason he was needed on the howitzer crew as all of the crew had to move the small but heavy field piece by hand and on that atoll it was mostly sand and some coral. From what he told me the percentage of KIA in the MG position was almost 99% due to the exposure to gunfire. He also added many never made it to the beach, both gunner and everyone they had carried. They had welded additional plating infront of the MG on the troop carrier ship prior to the invasion as the plating it came with was deemed too weak and not thick enough. That made little difference according to what Bob had seen later. The fire was so intense the lifespan of a MG operator was very short even with the additional armor plating.
Bob was a great man to talk to and just hang around with. I'm proud to have had the opportunity to have known him and been his friend for a short time. We lost him in 2016, he was 91.

Sorry for going off track, I have a bad habit of doing that.

 

[Jscb1b]

Damn, I was expecting ass hattery.

 

[pmclaine]

Damn, I was expecting ass hattery.

Any thread started by Centuriator........you will get all you seek.

 

[epoletna]

Sirhrmechanic:

Great collection! One I don't see there, if you're interested in sea battles, is Shattered Sword. About the battle of Midway, and one of the most well-researched WWII books I have seen. I highly recommend it.