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might indicate he was a cavalryman?>>>
Here's today's military millinary maxim:
To soldiers before the Great War,
The rules of hat wearing were sure:
Before '12 a crease,
But then you must cease,
And start wearing a dimple times four.
In 1912 the Army issued a new regulation on wearing campaign hats. Up until that time, they
were worn with a single crease in the crown, like a modern fedora. The new regulation called
for wearing the campaign hats "Montana style," with four dimples and a peak, like many
modern state troopers and drill instructors wear their similar hats.
The only problem is that it's hard for me to tell in John's picture if there's a unanimous
verdict. It looks like the guy sitting front right is wearing his creased, but it's hard to tell. The
soldier standing next to John seems to have his hat Montana style, as is the one in the right
hand of one of the shirtless soldiers in the middle. I don't get the impression that this group
are sticklers for regulations. My guess is that they're cavalry. If you look at the website for
the 1st Cavalry (Airmobile) Division Association, they have a photo there of cavalrymen in a
mess line that has a similar look, including the drinking. Their bow to tradition, as you might
recall from
"Apocalypse Now," is that their divisional patch has the profile of a horse head and the
officers wear a Stetson, pre-1912 style.
It looks like there may be something on John's left breast pocket flap, do you know what that
is? You might take a magnifying glass and look at his collar tabs to see if there's a unit
identification. There also might be a regimental identification on the campaign hats, right
above the headband cord knot. It's too bad the photo isn't color, this would be another clue.
The infantry wore a light blue cord, the cavalry yellow. If that's a bandana around John's
neck, that would be another indication that he's a cavalryman.
Richard Gifford
July 26, 2002
The Deuels