About the only way I was able to personalize my uniforms was the rank insignia on my dungaree shirts. I went to a tailor that would put the Machinists' Mate screw inside the First Class crow ... just like on my dress uniforms. I had a chief chew me out for that before a big inspection, told me the CO was a real stickler for uniform regs and was going to give me hell. The CO took one look and said that he loved it, and wondered if that could be made standard issue.
When we changed command we typically had an admiral's inspection. I stood inspection in my gaberdine tailor made uniform. The admiral called me out and complemented me on my uniform.
Used to be a place called "7 Seas Locker Club" on Broadway in San Diego. Huge place, took up almost an entire city block. Besides offering showers and a place to store civvies, they tailored uniforms, had a wide variety of Liberty cuffs, food, postcards, food and I remember a machine that rolled neckerchiefs to regulation. Long gone with the Post-Vietnam reductions and the fleet no longer anchoring in the bay.
The fleet is still at 32nd Street. What killed the locker clubs was the regulation changes that Zumwalt made. Civvies were allowed on board for everybody, and you no longer were required to be in uniform when arriving or departing the ship.
@@jameshowland7393Yep. I went through the Z-gram era and beyond. I remember the 1st Classes and CPO's were totally pizzed that everybody could now wear and keep civvies. The Locker Clubs were still around because we didn't have much room to store civvies on our Tincans.They didn't disappear until the 90's or so. I still had a locker at the Fleet Locker Club in Yoko until around 1990 or so. The "new" ships, build in the 80's and after had more locker space for that stuff. I remember the beard authorization pizzed off the Joe Navy types, too.
I was navy, OTM3 from 89-93. I also provided the definity phone system replacement for the USS New Jersey a few years ago. Hope it's still cooking along. Just a few fun facts about the dress blue crackerjacks featured. In addition to the embroidery , sailors would have the beel bottoms tailored so they were extra tight at the top, and extra flared out on the bell bottom. The dress blues pants had 13 buttons forr the colonies, and they were a pain. Also if you notice the first exhibit, the chevron was on the right sleeve. When I was in, rank/rating was on the left arm, but in WW2, you had either right arm or left arm ratings, so your rating(job, MOS) defined whee the patch went. Another fun fact is in the days when you had to take liberty in your crackerjacks, the neckerchief was not good if you got in a scuffle. The sailors used to roll them with a roll of pennies or dimes in them for a makeshift blackjack.
Back in the 1960s and '70s we all smoked cigarettes, but there was no place in any enlisted whites or blues uniform to hold a bulging full pack of cig's. So we all used our socks, keeping the cig packs tucked into the top elastic band of one or both socks, along with our cash. The Bic or Zippo lighter might have just fit into a pants pocket or the hidden inside pocket of a jumper. Our socks were actually POCKETS!
I was in during Vietnam. We didn't tend to wear our uniforms in the states. On the other hand, I was proud to wear mine when on liberty overseas. We wore whites, fortunately with a short sleeved shirt, in Hawaii and P.I. Blues in Japan and Hong Kong. We were limited to our ports at the time because of Vietnam and tensions with North Korea. I bought my Gabardines on my 2nd cruise after I made 3rd Class. The jumper had silk lining with a big dragon and the cuffs had the dragons, too. My trousers had silk linings down to about my knees. When Ryan showed the WWII jumper, it was that of a Gunner's Mate 1st Class. Notice that the Crow was on the right sleeve. When the Navy established the enlisted rating system in 1841, there few ratings. Those were all worn on the right sleeve up until 2 Apr 49. The right arm ratings were Boatswains Mate, Turret Captain, Signalman, Gunners Mate, Fire Controlman, Quartermaster, Mineman, and Torpedomans Mate. BTW, Bo's'n's Mate is the only Navy rating that can command a vessel. Usually these are boats like tugs. Oh, the Eagle on a Petty Officer's rating always faces forward.
One more, I modified my uniform when I had SP, 1st class and down. You put a half roll of pennies in the back of your neckerchief. That will take down a scallywag that wants to scrap. Never needed it but i felt warm knowing it was there.
We used full rolls of dimes. Shame the neckerchief wasn't mentioned more. Dress whites and blues were called crackerjacks because of their appearance on the crackerjack candy box. Enlisted folks also had a dress uniform that looked more like a policeman's uniform. White shirt and regular black tie.
In the Army in the eighties we were allowed to change one item on our dress uniform. Being in the Air Cav we had Cavalry Stetsons and a lot of us wore Cav spurs as noone looked down
We had to earn our Spurs and Stetsons and could only wear them when Saber Six authorized it and then only within The Cavalry footprint. Seems Saber Six always found a reason to let us wear our Spurs and Stetsons around post! LOL!
We’re you in 6th Cav, at Hood? I was at Hood after the Navy in late 80’s to early 90’s and there was part of 1st Cav that wore the Cowboy hats and dressed like soldiers of the Indian wars…with Chuck wagon and all the trimmings. They thought their shit didn’t stink! LoL 🤔
I was in a Regiment that gives uniform alterations. 21st Infantry (Gimlets) are allowed to carry a Gimlet stick on their thigh, after being inducted into the Gimlet Clan (smoke fest followed by drinking). We wore them like tankers wear Stetsons. They aren't supposed to be carried over to a new unit, because they're not ordered, but most guys carry them over with the "come take it off me attitude".
@@tankman7711 I was 25th when we first got tankers for the MGS, they brought the Stetsons and Spurs. I was sponsored to spur ride but the Cav Sgm said it was limited to 19 series that year. It's OK though, 11Bs get pretty stuff just for being us. Lol
@@fathead8933 SGM's...cant ever admit to being wrong! Lol! Whenever a Sour ride was held anyone associated with us could attend, seen 11B guys pass & wear a Infantry blue acorn on the Stetson , same with a few Arty guys ( Red acorns) but never saw any non Cavalry men wearing spurs! I did see where a Cav unit awarded spurs to some USAF folk for some assistance the USAF did for the Troop. Too bad its not a DA recognized award.
I had an off-base tailor modify my dress blues (vintage '61-'65) because the uniform was too baggy for my tastes. First, I had the tailor taper the jumper from the armpits to the bottom of the blouse (I think that's what it was called). Then I had the tailor add a hidden zipper down the left side of my blouse. I placed the zipper on the left because if the zipper was on the right side, it would be too noticeable when I saluted). Then I had my dress blue trousers (13-buttons) tapered from my butt to my knees--and then reversed the taper from the knees to the bell bottoms. The result was that the top accented my waist, and the taper-to-reverse taper of the trousers accented the bottom of the bell-bottom trousers.
I was Coast Guard back in the late 70's for six years. Going to and coming back from Southeast Asia I was instructed not to wear my uniform because of the anti-war sentiment that was strong at the time. There's also an old joke about a drunken sailor who goes into a restroom to use the urinal and as he's unbuttoning the 13 buttons on the front flap of his pants, a Marine comes in taking the urinal next to him. The Marine sees what's going on so tells the sailor that he's glad he's not a sailor because of the button issue. The drunken sailor then agrees with the Marine by telling him that he wished he was in the Marine Corp also so all he would have to do to take a pee was take his hat off. Lol, still funny after all these years. Take care everybody.
This episode reminds me of when my Uncle who served in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 as a Carpenters Mate tried on his old uniform sometime in the late 1970's and my Aunt had to cut him out of it. My Uncle swore that it had shrunk with age !
I remember when I tried to put on my Marine dress blues to show off for my wife but I had been out for about 5 years. Best way to describe it is Chris Farley's fat man in a little coat bit.
In the early 70's I converted regulation patch pocket bellbottoms to civilian jeans by sewing on colorful strips of cloth around the very bottom of the bellbottom. May seem odd now but hippies did it. Inside the cuff decoration: Usually done by tailors ashore. In the Philippines, they worked cheap.
I was Canadian Airforce. We had flight jackets. So we had unit (squadron) specific patches we use to sew on the flight jackets. Once you were posted to that squadron you could keep the patch. Just moved and sewn onto different spots o the back sleeves and chest. But your current squadron would be upper left and right shoulder and left upper breast for unit name/callsign patch. Some guys were walking footlockers like your bumper sticker foot locker
I've read several accounts of ex-servicemen immediately after WW2 getting free/reduced fares on trolleys, trains, etc. due to having their "honorable service" patch (aka the ruptured duck). A lot of people may have left their civilian clothing in a seabag ashore; a couple of years later, they might be discharged in a different port, or the clothes no longer fit, or have gotten moldy ...
A bit of Army trivia. All Army officers except those who are in the Corps of Engineers wear the same buttons on their dress uniforms - that was standardized in 1902. Engineers have a different button that has been used since 1802 and were allowed to keep their 'Essayons' buttons. And contrary to the gun bunny who commented below, Engineers also wear red suspenders instead of the regulation black ones with dress uniforms. Sometimes even with Micky Mouse embroidered on them. Ah, the lengths we went to to be funny 50 to 60 years ago.
I have three vintage Bluejacket's Manual (1917, 1940, and 1944) and naturally I wouldn't have seen the ruptured duck insignia in those books. I learned two somethings--didn't know about the Coast Guard shield (it's in the 1944 manual) or why the ruptured duck became part of the uniform. I knew about "no civvies" because Soldiers, Sailors and Marines didn't have them, especially on board ship. Museums and historians remember these things for the rest of us.
The decorated cuffs are “Liberty Cuffs”. Just as you stated when you leave the ship / boat on liberty, undo the buttons and turn the cuffs up to reveal the unique design inside. I have the similar thing done to my jumper (13 button) trousers. Didn’t called ‘em “Liberty trousers” for no reason. Story #2 - rating badges. My rating badge was a crossed spark and quill as a CT. One of my not so observant counterparts went to the exchange and purchased a new “crow” (rank/rating badge). Much his chagrin at some point the next day he found himself “out of uniform” and repeatedly called YN1 (Yeoman). He couldn’t figure it out. Took him aside at lunch and pointed out his lack of observation skills. His nickname is Yeoman-boy to this day.
In the coast guard you could wear a small gold earring if you had been marooned or had survived a sinking. The Coast Guard had isolated duty stations that were primarily LORAN stations found all over the Pacific. Being on one of these stations was considered being marooned for a year. I was on a small station in northern Okinawa for a year so I got my earring. The ring was always supposed to be worn in the ear opposite your best eye. This stemmed from an old tradition that went way back. One other thing. The ribbon panel that you see on dress uniforms was commonly called "fruit salad".
I wonder if the "ear opposite dominant eye" thing relates to shouldering a rifle. Some wooden-stocked rifles have a high enough comb that an earring might touch it with a firm enough cheek weld...
Really enjoyed this video and all the comments. In my personal life, I don’t particularly care much for clothes. Tee shirt and jeans and I’m good. But I’ve always been fascinated by uniforms, be they real or imagined. I can pour over books and websites for hours looking through various military uniforms, Star Trek uniforms, WWE and superhero costumes. Thank you for continuing to provide one of the most informative TH-cam channels. Your videos are a great source of fun facts and interesting tidbits of history. I particularly like that you don’t just focus on your ship, but you look at other ships contemporary to BB-62 and her namesakes.
@@tommyblackwell3760 Yes . I completed OCS 2 Dec1977, got to Athens 3 weeks later. I cried when I found out they had moved back to New Port. Athens was a great school. I still stay in touch with a couple of my OLD friends from the area. Trouble with OLD as we are a dying breed.
@@SuperFrank6666 I was being facetious. On my Tincans, we would wear all kinds of stuff after a long time at sea on the Gunline. Sometimes just to get a rise out of the XO or CPO's. "Youth is too precious to be wasted on the young!"
In the early 60's the Navy decided to put crows on our pea coats. Our first class had one of his petty officers take his coat to a tailor in Sasebo and sew on a "crow". Aviation ratings have wings on most of their insignia, black shoes don't, but ole Stan had the tailor put wings on Richards crossed flags. During inspection the Captain of the Lexington got a big laugh out if it. Richard did not. SMC,USN,Ret.
I remember purchasing a custom fitting dress blue gabardene (sp?) jumper and pants off base. These customs were OK by the Navy, and were a much better looking and fitting dress blue uniform than the boot camp issue. You could get the dragon or other "sleeve art" sewed in as well, if you happened to be in port in either Subic Bay P.I. or Yokosuka Japan
Hm thats interesting. In the australian navy, the three stripes on the blue collar represent nelsons three major battles, dunno if thats same for the USN but who knows
Belt buckles were one personalization that was allowed when I was in the Navy in late 70's/early 80's. The buckle would have the name/logo of your duty station, ship, or unit. They were usually a bit wider and sturdier than the plain ones we were issued and swapping out cotton belts for nylon was common. I still wear my black nylon web belt and Diego Garcia buckle all the time.
Custom belt buckles are still a thing when I was in 2013-17 as long as they were navy related if I recall. I had one with the surface warfare pin on it and one with my rate logo.
There's a whole load of other badges and stripes you could look into on this video. Rank badges, good conduct stripes, trade badges... It's a fascinating subject.
U.S. ARMY 1968-1969. Stateside only unique part of any class uniform was last name tag. Everything else was closely prescribed. In Vietnam, quite common for combat troops to decorate their helmet covers with slogans, nickname and playing cards. REMFs like me could crease our caps, and the sewn on last name tag.
I entered the Navy during the Zumwalt transition. Was issued the CPO like bus driver's double breasted outfit at bootcamp but immediately purchased a set of gaberdine crackerjack set up after graduating bootcamp. Got to wear them for a year before they were officially phased out. The issued style blues were were all made of Melton wool material but you could get privately made uniforms of gaberdine with embroidered silk linings. Whites were made from 100% cotton and LOTS of starch.
Ahhhhh….the starch! I was just telling my wife about that the other day when she was complaining about ironing one of my all cotton shirts. 😂. I hated those CPO style uniforms. Fortunately, they were phasing in just as I got out. The dimwit that came up with that obviously never had to store all his stuff into a locker on board a warship!
We wore our white hats 'Dixie Cups' in different ways. some kept them normal and round. Some pulled the outside edges out and made them look sort of like wings in a way. (I did this.) Some rolled the very top when they were stored and they had a downward turn around the top rim. There were others.
I started in Deck Division. If I'd've pull the sides down like wings I'd've taken a terrible ribbing and been asked if I was a brown shoer. We were Black Shoe through and through. I still am. 😊
BOO!! Never mind the ruptured duck, was that not a right arm rate uniform? I had a wonderful father in law that was a right arm sailor during WWII. You gotta stretch it but it could be your next episode, many swabbies have no idea the Navy had right arm rates.
Thought the same thing when I saw it. I knew immediately why he was going to mention that this uniform was special....nope. Not sure if he missed it or if he only wanted to focus on the ruptured duck. I would have covered both.
7:33 in 1967 the coast guard is transferred to department of transportation until 2003 and then it was transferred to the department of homeland security
Us Coasties wore the same cracker jacks (not donald ducks Ryan) as the Navy. only diffeerence was we wore flat hats instead of dixie cups. Our flat hats were called donald duck hats. We also wore a shield patch on our right sleeve. If women asked what the shield meant we told them it meant we were clean, ie... no social disease.
During boot camp, I was issued a Flat Hat, which we all called the Donald Duck hat. I only wore it once during an inspection that called for dress Blues A. With a white hat they are dress blues B.
A couple of things, prior to WWII the head of the Eagle or "Crow" was pointing to the back, this was turned to point forward, as in "Facing the Enemy" Second the Dragon on "Liberty cuffs" always had 4 finger Dragons, 5 finger Dragons, where only use by the Empidor of China and could cause problems!
Watch caps, anyone still have theirs? My Pop had one knitted for him while in Hong Kong. It had a nice embroidered band but you couldn't tell unless you got close because it was all the Navy Blue. He also had his uniform custom tailored in Hong Kong. I have heard that these uniforms were against regs.
My watch cap is long gone….but it sure was warm! Any change to the uniform was strictly prohibited. I and a lot of others did it, but you always ran the risk of getting put on report and being forced to buy replacement boot camp issue clothes.
I had a set of "Liberty Blues" The trousers had functioning waistband buttons and two of the 13 buttons, the ones on the corner of the Broadfall, The other 11 were sewn on the front of the Broadfall. The Broadfall was held in place with the two corner buttons and velcro. My jumper had a zipper on the right side and I had Liberty Cuffs on each sleeve. One was a Polar Bear because I crossed the Arctic Circle and the other was a Dragon because I was a Shellback. Got the tayloring done in PI
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you hear that sailors and Marines ever visited brothels. Us USAF guys would never stoop so low as to a visit to a brothel. Picking up hookers in bars and off the street may have happened a few times. Of course, I never didn't anything like that, but I heard stories.
So, what I noticed here is that Ryan didn't talk about red versus gold coloring for the chevrons on the arms. I was just a civilian working in the Pentagon from 1989-1995, and I heard a couple different stories about that. However, I'd love to hear better explanations from sailors around that time.
Gold for 12 consecutive years good conduct with no NJP's (Captains Masts) or Courts Martial's. Red for all others. Thee was a saying that said that any engineers who had gold stripes wasn't a real engineer!
Fascinating! I remember having Dragon liberty cuffs on my dress blues with "Hong Kong" underneath. Made at the China Fleet Club in Singapore, whom had done it for years. Sailors used to have embroidery done on the back of the flap and also the front bell bottoms flap. Have heard of but not seen flares that were sewn into the bottom of the bell of the pant cuffs. Back then, sailors had Liberty Dress Blues and Inspection Dress Blues. It wasn't until Admiral Zumwalt was in power that the off ship uniform requirement was rescinded. With all of the horrible guerilla tactics that occur nowadays, it's more common sense than anything else that forces all servicemen to dress in civilian clothes if they have the option off base or off of ship. My dollars worth-John in Texas
The Army in Vietnam allowed each unit to have this or that, this is where the Special Forces got their now famous Green Berets, by the 1980s the Pentagon tried to get the whole Army to wear the same uniform, with only a little success. The combat uniform was pretty much standardized with the BDU, where you see the personalization now is often the combat uniforms. In Iraq, I noticed at least five thousand possible variations. Things like extra pockets began to appear on sleeves and legs. The modern combat uniform adopted many of these. The coolest thing that I have ever seen was a white shirt worn under a set of dress blues but the back was a multi hued sunset.
First jumper you held up looks just like my dad's! The rank/rating on the sleeve was that of a Yeoman Second class or Y 2/c. Dad served aboard USS West Virginia prior to WWII, was a plank owner on USS Casa Grande (LSD-13) during the war as a Yeoman.
Dad's Liberty Cuffs were embroidered dragons that were done right after the Japanese surrendered. He was on the USS Fomalhaut (supply ship) and survived the typhon that hit Buckners Bay Okinawa in Oct. 1945. He was then sent to Tokyo then on to China as a crew member that patrolled the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. He reenlisted in the Army Air Corps which turned into the US Air Force. He retired after 28 years' service and awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.
Between 1971 and 1973, I was in the 2nd fleet out of Norfolk and was not a 7th fleet (asiatic) sailor but I did sew the asiatic cuff liner (dragons) into my dress blues. Strictly prohibited, but impossible to see unless you rolled up your cuffs. I also had the legs of my dress blues pegged for more of a flair look. Issue pants are nearly straight legged baggy pants..not really bell bottoms. On my dungarees and undress whites (short sleeve white shirt instead of a jumper) my belt buckle was silver with a picture of my ship instead of the standard issue brass. This was not strictly legit, but no one cared. I believe the three stripes on the blues cuffs and flap commemorate the three greatest naval battles in history. Not sure of what they are, but believe one is for the battle of Trafalgar. In the days of sail, I am pretty sure the flap was buttoned on and could be replaced if it got dirty from tar. The old salts used to tar their hair purposely….which is why sailors are called tars. There is no way you can cut off the flap on a modern blues jumper without a major tailoring job. But that’s okay as i don’t think anyone tars their hair any longer 😉. I had an American flag and squadron logo sewed on my working jacket but my division officer eventually made me remove them. Go figure. We could wear the “official” ships baseball cap or white hat with our dungarees as we so choose. Some guys wore gaberdine blues which were prohibited, but they got away with it. Some guys also had patent leather shoes (which I always hated). Again, though prohibited they seemed to get away with it. Instead of issue boon dockers, I bought a pair of Marine Corp black rubber soled combat boots which I wore with my dungarees. You may want to show the button flap pants which have 13 buttons on the flap commemorating the 13 original colonies. I always thought that was an interesting feature of the uniform. Another interesting factoid is that through most of the 20th century, deck ratings (boatswains, gunners, etc) used to wear their insignia on their right arm. Everyone else on the left arm. The name of the ship was not allowed on the uniforms during WWII because when you are on liberty, everyone (spy’s included) can tell what ships are in port. When I went in, no civilian clothes were allowed. You could not get off the ship or even the base without a dress uniform of the day. We used to have locker clubs outside of the base where you could keep civies. By the time I got out, that had changed. I thought the ruptured duck was for reservists back in the forties?? Every sailor had to have a wardrobe that exactly duplicated what you were issued in boot camp (and yes, we used to have what they called sea bag inspections on the ship). You ran the risk of getting put on report if you failed to maintain your boot camp issued stuff. True chicken shit, but there you have it.
Interesting to see the ship's name on a shoulder patch. In the Royal Navy the ship's name is usually written on the cap tally, but during wartime a plain "HMS" cap tally was substituted for the same security reasons mentioned here.
I bet.... When that ship empties on port of call, everyone on ship buys the same prevailing style available at stores.... Army same thing happens. Everyone gets leave all at once, buys everything "in style" once 2 friends and I ended up with same coat. Hey look at us we're the 3 caballeros. (More like 3 stooges) Good times Good times
When you’re fresh out of basic and get to the fleet, E1 thru E3 are about the same. Once I got my first stripe and went from an Airman to Petty Officer 3rd class was such a great feeling and accomplishment. You left the “us” group and became part of the “them” group. And the Navy promotion system is different than any of the other branches. It’s not easy to advance. Then when I got my second stripe I became a professional sailor. Much more responsibility and less of the crap from above. I discharged a month before I was eligible for 1st Class Petty officer. Almost made me want to stay in another 4 years
I provided leadership training for brand new 3rd classes (E4s). The first thing I would say after introducing myself was, "as of this moment, you are no longer friends with your shipmates you partied with last night." Their responses were in disbelief that a small promotion could change that. Usually, within a few months someone would see me and let me know that was so true. Great times.
I was Coast Guard in the early to mid 70s. Due to the Vietnam war, we were forbidden to go ashore or on liberty in any type uniform, working or dress, unless we were on orders to do so. The OOD would inspect us at liberty call to ensure we were in civies. The mood towards men in uniform was hostile. It was for our protection. We referred to the Navy uniforms issued us as Crackerjacks and the flat tally hat as the Donald Duck hat/cover. We transitioned to the current Bender Blues/Bus driver uniform in the mid 70s. I still have both types of unifom in storage. USCG enlisted wear a single shield on the right forearm. Officers wear a shield on each forearm above their rank stripes on the cuffs. The shield is supposed to represent the maritime law mission of the USCG. Great topic, we could spend hours on this subject.
If you wore your rolled neckerchiefs half way up the V on your uniform it was supposed to mean you had been to sea. Really Salty LOL. I was aboard USS Midway CVA 41 from 70-72. I was an AG2 which was an aerographers mate with a circle with an arrow through it with wings. We were sometimes calle aviation arrowsmiths or aviation indians. BTW I had lightning bolts on my liberty cuffs.
I went through boot camp at Great Mistakes in 1980 and our company was one of the first to get the reissued Cracker Jack (NOT Donald Duck!) uniform. The Service Dress Blue Cracker Jacks were awesome! Especially in the Fleet. In boot camp, we were taught a way to fold them that made sure they never got wrinkled. And many of us, myself included, would stow the uniform under our coffin rack mattress. Always looked fresh as a daisy when pulled out. The embroidery on the cuffs is known as "Liberty Cuffs". By the time I was in, we were always on liberty in civvies, so I never saw them on liberty, but the ones I did see were dragons. The polar bear motif is really unique, at least to this WestPac Sailor. About civvies on liberty. I was on Carl Vinson and we made a liberty call to Hong Kong in 1983 (IIRC). That was the only time I had to wear a uniform on liberty, but just on the first day in port. USS Texas was in our battle group. The skipper of that ship made his Sailors were a white shirt and tie when they went on liberty. Yikes! Never heard of that on any other ship. You'll notice on some of the uniforms, the rank is on the right sleeve, and some on the left. I don't know when that ended, but all our ranks were on the left sleeve in the 80s and beyond. When there were ranks on the right, those ratings were called "right arm rates". All deck rates IIRC. BMs, GMs come to mind. I don't remember when ship/command names became mandatory for E-6 and below. I made CPO in 1989 and I never had to have my command name sewn on my uniforms when I was a "white hat". I think it was sometime after 1990 when that was mandatory. On the trousers, there were 13 buttons, I'm sure for the original 13 states. Well, if you were drinking and needed to use the facilities, you had to "go through 13 states to take a piss"! So, more than one Sailor had a zipper installed around edge of the flap on the front of the trousers. MUCH easier. Interesting tidbit: I was told by my English mother-in-law that it was good luck to touch the star on a Sailor's frock.
Idk about "personalized" but I had the name tape to my parka stapled on last second and colored in the metal bits with a sharpie. Worked so well I forgot to ever fix it.
The U.S. Coast Guard currently operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to the U.S. Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense by order of the U.S. President or by act of Congress. Prior to its transfer to Homeland Security, it operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003 and the Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967. A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I. By the time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. Coast Guard had already been transferred to the Navy by President Franklin Roosevelt. My father served aboard the U.S.S. Wakefield AP-21 during 1945-46 before mustering out. I have his dress blue uniform, including the "Donald Duck" hat, and he has dragons embroidered inside both cuffs. Funny thing is neither his jumper or his trousers have his name stitched inside, rather both are from different sailors from his ship whom he traded with as he grew during his service. I have photos of both of my sons when they each were 15 standing alongside their grandfather wearing his uniform. Very proud of his service, and all of the "Greatest Generation , as well as all members of our armed forces!
Personalized uniforms? Not really. Often Chiefs and officers would have bakelite name tags but not the enlisted men. On dungarees and the old utilities (circa 1975-80) sailors stenciled their last names above the left breast pocket and right hip pocket. About the only "personalization might be things like specialist crests. Things like submariners 'dolphins'; surface or air warfare crests or UDT/SEAL crests. Those would be a metal pin worn on a dress uniform or a patch sewn or adhered to a work uniform.
It is a tradition for the Field Artillery to wear red socks and suspenders with our Army Blue Uniform. The rest of the Army chose not to follow our example.
@@SSN515 If I remember, Civil War Union dress uniforms went something like this: Yellow trouser stripes and rank insignia: Calvary; Red trouser stripes and rank insignia: Artillery; Blue trouser stripes and rank insignia: Infantry. Head gear and other accouterments varied by branch and unit. And the Artillery were called "Red Legs." The others branches, I can't remember. In movies, Calvary were Horse Solders; what they were called in the day, I don't know.
@@garymemetoo2238 Thanks. That sounds right. I know the Civil War US Union snipers wore a all green uniform with brown boots and a specially made backpack.
Current issue dress blue pants have a standard button and zipper fly now, the complainers of the 13 button flap finally got their way and it was reduced to an ornamental sewn on flap. The dress blue jumper is pretty much the same now as it was in WWII, but the rank insignia is on the left arm now, as are the service stripes (one per 4 years.) One change that is recent is the use of gold chevrons, before you could only wear gold if you had 12 years of continuous service with no NJP. As of 2018, now anyone over 12 years of service can wear gold. As a wearer of gold chevrons who retired in 2014, I do not approve. One other thing: the dress blue jumper has always been wool, AFAIK, which is why it is worn in winter only. For summer white jumper and pants are worn. The dress white jumper flap and sleeve had blue stripes added a few years ago, so they look much like the dress blue jumper. Rating badges have come and gone, as rates have been created or disestablished. My original rate, AK, or Aviation Storekeeper, was folded into SK in 2001.
pretty good, but if you have to use a nickname for the Service Dress Blue uniform , the term "crackerjacks" is the one to use, not "the Donald Duck Uniform" ... and those decorations on the inside of the sleeve are called "Liberty Cuffs" because you only turned up your cuff when you were on liberty ... you don't see them much today however ... perhaps in a future segment you could mention how rating badges show the sailors job was, why some uniforms have the rank badge on the left or right sleeve (only a WWII and before convention), the meaning of hashmarks and why the difference between gold and red markings, a brief discussion of WWII ribbons/decorations, why E-1 to E-3s have different color rank -- blue, red, white, etc. ... finally, i recall my Dad (WWII vet) telling that you were not allowed to wear civilian clothes anywhere -- on or off base during the war ... thanks for your post.
Two stories about the 13 buttons on that damn flap. One way to "enhance" your uniform was to have the buttons sewn in place, then have a hidden zipper behind the flap. Made nature calls much easier. Sometimes, we didn't button all 13 of the buttons, but only the top corner buttons. It made access much quicker and easier. Sea Story: A marine and a sailor make a bathroom stop. The Marine unzips, does his thing, and zips up. The sailor goes thru the ritual of unbuttoning all 13 buttons and dropping the flap before he can relieve himself. As the Marine watches the sailor, he makes a remark along the lines of "in the Marines, we have easy to open uniforms". The sailor responds with "in the Navy, they teach us not to pee on our hands".
I remember the 13 buttons on the pants of the Crackerjack Uniform. Always said to represent the 13 colonies and also 13 chances to say no. Some would have their pants altered so the "flap" was velcroed so it could be quickly unfastened allowing access when needed to relieve yourself in cases of when you might be inebriated.
You missed something about ranks. In WW 2, you did not come out of boot camp with three stripes on your cuffs, the amount of stripes on your cuffs told your rank. Also, we didn’t call dress blues “Donald Ducks”, they were cracker jacks, the Donald Sucks refer to the old blue covers, similar to what Donald Suck wore, I believe they went out sometime after WW2
Was the Coast Guard ever under the Treasury Department? I know for a long time it was under the Department of Transportation. But a few months after 9/11, it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security and it has been there ever since.
Man I wish I could do a whole video on this. The best part is the liberty cuffs. It's gone now. The three stripes is almost acurate. The flap is close. Port and starboard rating badges is fun. The broken bird is 💯 true.
It is a common belief in the US Army, that Navy enlisted ranks and ratings exist to confuse the US Army. Geoff Who notes back in the 1970s Grade was inserted behind the written rank in inter-service written communications. This is because a Captain in the US Army is O-3, in the US Navy O-6.
I lived on Fort Myer for a while. One day I was walking down the sidewalk wearing my dungarees and a ball cap with a PO3 pin on it. The pin had a crow over a single chevron. I saw an army officer coming towards me. I was just about to salute when he saluted me. I assume he thought I was an O-6, although I'm not sure why he thought a 24-year-old could be an O-6 in any service.
Served in the Navy in the 80's...hated the dress blues so much I ignored it unless I was required to wear it...never gave any thought to adding to it...the 13 buttons were a bitch...best thing that happened when I got to be duty Master at Arms for my duty section and didn't have to stand OOD watches on the Quarterdeck..Think I had one set of civilian clothes on board when we were deployed...no way to wash them but...
I've seen used jumpers that had a custom pocket sewn on the inside so you could carry a pack of cigarettes or a lighter or something. And extra pockets in the bellbottoms. Nice little practical things like that.
While in Viet Nam was in a laid back company probably due to only having about 100 Americans in our camp. Was drafted and always felt & acted like a civilian. During a day off while I was the company como & electrician my Sargeant asked me to cover for switchboard operator so he could eat lunch. While there a guy came around and snapped my picture while dressed in cut off denim shorts and a brown knit shirt. Got my ass chewed out due to only picture in company year book wearing civilian clothes. Got back from Nam 50 years ago and made the best of it.
Hate to say this but civilian clothes were allowed on ships in the late 50s-60s. In fact, most of the time that dad did any traveling while in the Navy he was out of uniform. And that included time while on military aircraft. While on Cyprus, the only time he was in uniform was while on base, not while traveling to or from the house to the base. And most pictures taken of the Navy personnel even for many official functions such as promotions were done in civilian clothes. His name and all the other Navy personnel's names were listed in the US Consulate's phone directory which should give a hint as to one reason why they were not in uniform off base. His trip from here to MD in 1963 was in civilian clothes for a military conference. Dad's trip to his ship out of South Africa in 1964 was authorized travel in civilian attire per his orders which were amended in route to show his promotion to MCPO. None of this was due to the Vietnam War, it was due to who they were and what they did. Even the rating names hid what they did until the 1976.
I have no respect for military uniforms these days. Why? Because their significance and honor has been hijacked by crooked politicians and contractors who come up with new variants at the drop of a hat, pun intended, make the serviceman buy it, are not recompensed for it, and the cycle continues. I have respect for an officer's uniform because it commands a salute and I give respect to the uniform because of the officer and his rank. Otherwise, I respect military personnel themselves. Not the uniforms. The United States of America my parents knew has vanished. They are now a disparate hegemony of disingenuous, ignorant, irreverent, and thieving politicians and oligarchs.
We had another good one we had this guy he looked like a clown. He was standing watch the petty officer came in he said "Good evening petty officer seaman recruit" then he giggled. The petty officer said "ohh oh ohhh haa, seaman recruit clown boy!"
Right out of the gate. 1:15 No. no no no no. It is the "Kracker Jack" Uniform. "Donald Duck" was the cover that looked like a combination cover without a brim.
I don't know how you tell the difference between officer and enlisted until you're right up close and facing them. Then, how do you know what their job is without a rating insignia. Come to think of it, what's the difference between the squids and jarheads?
@@johnslaughter5475 with some uniforms the officers have a totally different uniform than enlisted. The Khaki uniform used to be officers and Chief Petty Officers Only. Uncertain how much now if any the Khaki's are worn. living dangerously John. Unless stuff has changed way more than I think navy and Marine Corp have significantly different uniforms - Navy now has uniforms that look very much like cammies - but there are differences. However - IRT Marines - there are NO Marines of a few specialties- so some Navy people of those specialties are Assigned to Marine Unit - and may opt to dress in Marine Uniforms.- Medical specialties, Religious Specialties are the 2 main categories. the 3 stripe stuff. For the modern Merchant Marine - Able Body Seaman only requires 3 years sea service plus pass the test from USCG. There still could be another video on content I would have expected but not here (rating and Rate should patch dress uniforms) the Dress uniform enlistment sleave insignia.
@@wfoj21 I meant the camos. I don't have the vaguest idea what they're all trying to hide from. There wasn't a damn thing wrong with our dungarees. Then, when you made chief, you earned the right to wear a suit and The Hat. Although I never knew any to do it, I believe chiefs could still wear dungarees if they were going to get dirty, but they still had The Hat to say they were a chief petty officer.
We would get hand made belt buckles in the Philippines. Most common was having one with your rate. But I've also got one with the plane I worked on as the design.
I can't confirm the authenticity of this, but as a Marine stationed in Memphis working with the Navy, I was told that the two stars on the collar represented each time that the US Navy defeated the Royal Navy (battle for independence and then the war of 1812) and the space between the two stars was so there was room for more stars, should the need ever arise. Can anyone confirm that?
Why is it that many sailors don’t have the “able seaman three stripes” on the flap of their white uniform while others do, do boots not rate the three strips on their whites?
Forgot about the liberty cuffs. The blue berry fatigues where a joke. Glad I was long gone when they came. A chaplain told me a group came to where he was in the middle east and they stuck out like sore thumbs. The new whites with the blue pipping look disgusting.
In the basic training we had a master chief wearing camouflage 4 sizes too big he said "when I say feet you will say feet back to me you have to work as a team the only way you will make it in the fleet!". "Feet!" Then he said "that was not together we will try it again! "Feet!"
What the hell is going on about this guy's belt that hold up his pants!! Hanging out like a tounge?? Why let it hang out like that, how bout triming it off.... Wierd!!!
After ww2,there were no civilian clothes, so they passed a law that if you put a ruptured duck on your uniform and were then able to wear it, most veterans used this law as a way to wear their uniforms as dress clothes into the mid 1950s...
![[UNCUT] “บอสณวัฒน์” ลากไส้!! ใครหนุนหลัง "แม่ตั๊ก ป๋าเบียร์" I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ I 30 ก.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QlD7mU2KKRk/mqdefault.jpg)
We called them "Liberty Cuffs" Thanks for bring back a great memory!
My dad was in the Marines during WW2, he had a few " Ruptured duck" insignia in his WW2 souvenirs.
“So you know who to get in fights with in the bar.”😂
I always thought the rivalry was between sailors and marines...?
😁
About the only way I was able to personalize my uniforms was the rank insignia on my dungaree shirts. I went to a tailor that would put the Machinists' Mate screw inside the First Class crow ... just like on my dress uniforms. I had a chief chew me out for that before a big inspection, told me the CO was a real stickler for uniform regs and was going to give me hell. The CO took one look and said that he loved it, and wondered if that could be made standard issue.
When we changed command we typically had an admiral's inspection. I stood inspection in my gaberdine tailor made uniform. The admiral called me out and complemented me on my uniform.
I bet that was humbling for the CPO who gave you a bunch of $h*t, for nothing! LOL!
As a navy vet,, your comment about ships names on the uniform,,, the bar reference killed me! Had me in stitches!🤣
Used to be a place called "7 Seas Locker Club" on Broadway in San Diego. Huge place, took up almost an entire city block. Besides offering showers and a place to store civvies, they tailored uniforms, had a wide variety of Liberty cuffs, food, postcards, food and I remember a machine that rolled neckerchiefs to regulation. Long gone with the Post-Vietnam reductions and the fleet no longer anchoring in the bay.
That was before San Diego became "cultural" and "civilized". Broadway was where it was at. Nasty City outside of 32nd Street was a close second.
@@SSN515 Aww, The Westerner (Hog Locker).
@@abefroman4953 "Home of the two stoolers"! And Westpac Widows.
The fleet is still at 32nd Street. What killed the locker clubs was the regulation changes that Zumwalt made. Civvies were allowed on board for everybody, and you no longer were required to be in uniform when arriving or departing the ship.
@@jameshowland7393Yep. I went through the Z-gram era and beyond. I remember the 1st Classes and CPO's were totally pizzed that everybody could now wear and keep civvies. The Locker Clubs were still around because we didn't have much room to store civvies on our Tincans.They didn't disappear until the 90's or so. I still had a locker at the Fleet Locker Club in Yoko until around 1990 or so. The "new" ships, build in the 80's and after had more locker space for that stuff. I remember the beard authorization pizzed off the Joe Navy types, too.
I was navy, OTM3 from 89-93. I also provided the definity phone system replacement for the USS New Jersey a few years ago. Hope it's still cooking along. Just a few fun facts about the dress blue crackerjacks featured. In addition to the embroidery , sailors would have the beel bottoms tailored so they were extra tight at the top, and extra flared out on the bell bottom. The dress blues pants had 13 buttons forr the colonies, and they were a pain. Also if you notice the first exhibit, the chevron was on the right sleeve. When I was in, rank/rating was on the left arm, but in WW2, you had either right arm or left arm ratings, so your rating(job, MOS) defined whee the patch went. Another fun fact is in the days when you had to take liberty in your crackerjacks, the neckerchief was not good if you got in a scuffle. The sailors used to roll them with a roll of pennies or dimes in them for a makeshift blackjack.
Back in the 1960s and '70s we all smoked cigarettes, but there was no place in any enlisted whites or blues uniform to hold a bulging full pack of cig's. So we all used our socks, keeping the cig packs tucked into the top elastic band of one or both socks, along with our cash. The Bic or Zippo lighter might have just fit into a pants pocket or the hidden inside pocket of a jumper. Our socks were actually POCKETS!
Kept extra cash and MPC's in our socks, too.
So they were "sockets" perhaps?
@@criggie Groannnnnnnnn!!!
I was in during Vietnam. We didn't tend to wear our uniforms in the states. On the other hand, I was proud to wear mine when on liberty overseas. We wore whites, fortunately with a short sleeved shirt, in Hawaii and P.I. Blues in Japan and Hong Kong. We were limited to our ports at the time because of Vietnam and tensions with North Korea. I bought my Gabardines on my 2nd cruise after I made 3rd Class. The jumper had silk lining with a big dragon and the cuffs had the dragons, too. My trousers had silk linings down to about my knees.
When Ryan showed the WWII jumper, it was that of a Gunner's Mate 1st Class. Notice that the Crow was on the right sleeve. When the Navy established the enlisted rating system in 1841, there few ratings. Those were all worn on the right sleeve up until 2 Apr 49. The right arm ratings were Boatswains Mate, Turret Captain, Signalman, Gunners Mate, Fire Controlman, Quartermaster, Mineman, and Torpedomans Mate. BTW, Bo's'n's Mate is the only Navy rating that can command a vessel. Usually these are boats like tugs. Oh, the Eagle on a Petty Officer's rating always faces forward.
Cool information. Thanks for your service!
Boatswains mates are also one of the oldest rates in the Navy. Former BM3 here, 1996 to 2000
Yeah….not so fast knuckle dragger….Quartermasters can also qualify as craftmaster (that also includes tugboats) 🔱
@@BobJones-jx2ff I rather have a QM driving than a Deck Ape.
Thank you for your service sir, I’m sure you looked very dapper in uniform
One more, I modified my uniform when I had SP, 1st class and down. You put a half roll of pennies in the back of your neckerchief. That will take down a scallywag that wants to scrap. Never needed it but i felt warm knowing it was there.
The half-roll of pennies worked just fine.
We used full rolls of dimes. Shame the neckerchief wasn't mentioned more. Dress whites and blues were called crackerjacks because of their appearance on the crackerjack candy box. Enlisted folks also had a dress uniform that looked more like a policeman's uniform. White shirt and regular black tie.
In the Army in the eighties we were allowed to change one item on our dress uniform. Being in the Air Cav we had Cavalry Stetsons and a lot of us wore Cav spurs as noone looked down
We had to earn our Spurs and Stetsons and could only wear them when Saber Six authorized it and then only within The Cavalry footprint. Seems Saber Six always found a reason to let us wear our Spurs and Stetsons around post! LOL!
We’re you in 6th Cav, at Hood? I was at Hood after the Navy in late 80’s to early 90’s and there was part of 1st Cav that wore the Cowboy hats and dressed like soldiers of the Indian wars…with Chuck wagon and all the trimmings. They thought their shit didn’t stink! LoL 🤔
I was in a Regiment that gives uniform alterations. 21st Infantry (Gimlets) are allowed to carry a Gimlet stick on their thigh, after being inducted into the Gimlet Clan (smoke fest followed by drinking). We wore them like tankers wear Stetsons. They aren't supposed to be carried over to a new unit, because they're not ordered, but most guys carry them over with the "come take it off me attitude".
@@tankman7711 I was 25th when we first got tankers for the MGS, they brought the Stetsons and Spurs. I was sponsored to spur ride but the Cav Sgm said it was limited to 19 series that year. It's OK though, 11Bs get pretty stuff just for being us. Lol
@@fathead8933 SGM's...cant ever admit to being wrong! Lol! Whenever a Sour ride was held anyone associated with us could attend, seen 11B guys pass & wear a Infantry blue acorn on the Stetson , same with a few Arty guys ( Red acorns) but never saw any non Cavalry men wearing spurs! I did see where a Cav unit awarded spurs to some USAF folk for some assistance the USAF did for the Troop. Too bad its not a DA recognized award.
I had an off-base tailor modify my dress blues (vintage '61-'65) because the uniform was too baggy for my tastes. First, I had the tailor taper the jumper from the armpits to the bottom of the blouse (I think that's what it was called). Then I had the tailor add a hidden zipper down the left side of my blouse. I placed the zipper on the left because if the zipper was on the right side, it would be too noticeable when I saluted). Then I had my dress blue trousers (13-buttons) tapered from my butt to my knees--and then reversed the taper from the knees to the bell bottoms. The result was that the top accented my waist, and the taper-to-reverse taper of the trousers accented the bottom of the bell-bottom trousers.
Cracker Jacks, NOT Donald Ducks please.....
I was Coast Guard back in the late 70's for six years. Going to and coming back from Southeast Asia I was instructed not to wear my uniform because of the anti-war sentiment that was strong at the time. There's also an old joke about a drunken sailor who goes into a restroom to use the urinal and as he's unbuttoning the 13 buttons on the front flap of his pants, a Marine comes in taking the urinal next to him. The Marine sees what's going on so tells the sailor that he's glad he's not a sailor because of the button issue. The drunken sailor then agrees with the Marine by telling him that he wished he was in the Marine Corp also so all he would have to do to take a pee was take his hat off. Lol, still funny after all these years. Take care everybody.
I heard that joke while I was a Marine 1971-1975.
Ah yes, the old P1$$ cover routine.
That urinal joke scenario was taken from a scene in the 1973 Jack Nicholson movie, "Last Detail".
This episode reminds me of when my Uncle who served in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 as a Carpenters Mate tried on his old uniform sometime in the late 1970's and my Aunt had to cut him out of it. My Uncle swore that it had shrunk with age !
I can fit in my Pops Chiefs uniform, he can't any longer.
@@2manycatsforadime My Dad can still fit in his uniform but mine seems to have shrunk on the hanger! LOL!
There is no way I can fit into my old dress blues any more, and I’m not fat. I guess I just got bigger.
I remember when I tried to put on my Marine dress blues to show off for my wife but I had been out for about 5 years. Best way to describe it is Chris Farley's fat man in a little coat bit.
In the early 70's I converted regulation patch pocket bellbottoms to civilian jeans by sewing on colorful strips of cloth around the very bottom of the bellbottom. May seem odd now but hippies did it. Inside the cuff decoration: Usually done by tailors ashore. In the Philippines, they worked cheap.
I was Canadian Airforce. We had flight jackets. So we had unit (squadron) specific patches we use to sew on the flight jackets. Once you were posted to that squadron you could keep the patch. Just moved and sewn onto different spots o the back sleeves and chest. But your current squadron would be upper left and right shoulder and left upper breast for unit name/callsign patch.
Some guys were walking footlockers like your bumper sticker foot locker
Ryan is so comfortable doing these now
I've read several accounts of ex-servicemen immediately after WW2 getting free/reduced fares on trolleys, trains, etc. due to having their "honorable service" patch (aka the ruptured duck). A lot of people may have left their civilian clothing in a seabag ashore; a couple of years later, they might be discharged in a different port, or the clothes no longer fit, or have gotten moldy ...
A bit of Army trivia. All Army officers except those who are in the Corps of Engineers wear the same buttons on their dress uniforms - that was standardized in 1902. Engineers have a different button that has been used since 1802 and were allowed to keep their 'Essayons' buttons. And contrary to the gun bunny who commented below, Engineers also wear red suspenders instead of the regulation black ones with dress uniforms. Sometimes even with Micky Mouse embroidered on them. Ah, the lengths we went to to be funny 50 to 60 years ago.
I have three vintage Bluejacket's Manual (1917, 1940, and 1944) and naturally I wouldn't have seen the ruptured duck insignia in those books. I learned two somethings--didn't know about the Coast Guard shield (it's in the 1944 manual) or why the ruptured duck became part of the uniform. I knew about "no civvies" because Soldiers, Sailors and Marines didn't have them, especially on board ship.
Museums and historians remember these things for the rest of us.
The decorated cuffs are “Liberty Cuffs”. Just as you stated when you leave the ship / boat on liberty, undo the buttons and turn the cuffs up to reveal the unique design inside. I have the similar thing done to my jumper (13 button) trousers. Didn’t called ‘em “Liberty trousers” for no reason.
Story #2 - rating badges. My rating badge was a crossed spark and quill as a CT. One of my not so observant counterparts went to the exchange and purchased a new “crow” (rank/rating badge). Much his chagrin at some point the next day he found himself “out of uniform” and repeatedly called YN1 (Yeoman). He couldn’t figure it out. Took him aside at lunch and pointed out his lack of observation skills. His nickname is Yeoman-boy to this day.
Ha, ha, that's hilarious!
In the coast guard you could wear a small gold earring if you had been marooned or had survived a sinking. The Coast Guard had isolated duty stations that were primarily LORAN stations found all over the Pacific. Being on one of these stations was considered being marooned for a year. I was on a small station in northern Okinawa for a year so I got my earring. The ring was always supposed to be worn in the ear opposite your best eye. This stemmed from an old tradition that went way back. One other thing. The ribbon panel that you see on dress uniforms was commonly called "fruit salad".
I wonder if the "ear opposite dominant eye" thing relates to shouldering a rifle. Some wooden-stocked rifles have a high enough comb that an earring might touch it with a firm enough cheek weld...
Really enjoyed this video and all the comments.
In my personal life, I don’t particularly care much for clothes. Tee shirt and jeans and I’m good. But I’ve always been fascinated by uniforms, be they real or imagined. I can pour over books and websites for hours looking through various military uniforms, Star Trek uniforms, WWE and superhero costumes.
Thank you for continuing to provide one of the most informative TH-cam channels. Your videos are a great source of fun facts and interesting tidbits of history. I particularly like that you don’t just focus on your ship, but you look at other ships contemporary to BB-62 and her namesakes.
I wore fishing lures on my ball cap when at sea. The CO and XO were both fishermen and approved. I was the Supply Officer.
You should have worn a fishermans hat.
Did you go through the Supply Corps School in Athens? I manage the library on that campus now, it was probably the museum when you were there.
@@SSN515 I had my command ball cap as per regulation with purple worms and silver and gold spoons.
@@tommyblackwell3760 Yes . I completed OCS 2 Dec1977, got to Athens 3 weeks later. I cried when I found out they had moved back to New Port. Athens was a great school. I still stay in touch with a couple of my OLD friends from the area. Trouble with OLD as we are a dying breed.
@@SuperFrank6666 I was being facetious. On my Tincans, we would wear all kinds of stuff after a long time at sea on the Gunline. Sometimes just to get a rise out of the XO or CPO's. "Youth is too precious to be wasted on the young!"
In the early 60's the Navy decided to put crows on our pea coats. Our first class had one of his petty officers take his coat to a tailor in Sasebo and sew on a "crow". Aviation ratings have wings on most of their insignia, black shoes don't, but ole Stan had the tailor put wings on Richards crossed flags. During inspection the Captain of the Lexington got a big laugh out if it. Richard did not. SMC,USN,Ret.
Crackerjacks Ryan. That's what we used to call the service dress blues when I wore them. Never called them Donald Ducks. STG1 (Ret.) 79-99
Ditto. Cringed when I heard him say Donald Ducks. Almost as bad a sailor suit.
"Crackerjacks". And our undress blues for everyday in the office were 'Gunslingers'.
Thank you for this interesting information! (Eager for more about ancient uniforms..) 👍🏻⚓️
I remember purchasing a custom fitting dress blue gabardene (sp?) jumper and pants off base. These customs were OK by the Navy, and were a much better looking and fitting dress blue uniform than the boot camp issue.
You could get the dragon or other "sleeve art" sewed in as well, if you happened to be in port in either Subic Bay P.I. or Yokosuka Japan
Hm thats interesting. In the australian navy, the three stripes on the blue collar represent nelsons three major battles, dunno if thats same for the USN but who knows
Yes, I believe it is the same in the USN.
Belt buckles were one personalization that was allowed when I was in the Navy in late 70's/early 80's. The buckle would have the name/logo of your duty station, ship, or unit. They were usually a bit wider and sturdier than the plain ones we were issued and swapping out cotton belts for nylon was common. I still wear my black nylon web belt and Diego Garcia buckle all the time.
Custom belt buckles are still a thing when I was in 2013-17 as long as they were navy related if I recall. I had one with the surface warfare pin on it and one with my rate logo.
I was on the Rock like you, 9 months
as a cm United States Seabees
There's a whole load of other badges and stripes you could look into on this video. Rank badges, good conduct stripes, trade badges... It's a fascinating subject.
I still have my Dress Blue Navy uniform. I earned Gold Chevrons and 5 Gold Hashmarks. 1982-2003...
The ultimate uniform was to have a tailor made uniform, in gaberdine. Cuffs, your crow and chevon's were embroiled.
U.S. ARMY 1968-1969. Stateside only unique part of any class uniform was last name tag. Everything else was closely prescribed. In Vietnam, quite common for combat troops to decorate their helmet covers with slogans, nickname and playing cards. REMFs like me could crease our caps, and the sewn on last name tag.
I entered the Navy during the Zumwalt transition. Was issued the CPO like bus driver's double breasted outfit at bootcamp but immediately purchased a set of gaberdine crackerjack set up after graduating bootcamp. Got to wear them for a year before they were officially phased out. The issued style blues were were all made of Melton wool material but you could get privately made uniforms of gaberdine with embroidered silk linings. Whites were made from 100% cotton and LOTS of starch.
Ahhhhh….the starch! I was just telling my wife about that the other day when she was complaining about ironing one of my all cotton shirts. 😂. I hated those CPO style uniforms. Fortunately, they were phasing in just as I got out. The dimwit that came up with that obviously never had to store all his stuff into a locker on board a warship!
Loved the John Wayne Uniforms.
We wore our white hats 'Dixie Cups' in different ways. some kept them normal and round. Some pulled the outside edges out and made them look sort of like wings in a way. (I did this.) Some rolled the very top when they were stored and they had a downward turn around the top rim. There were others.
I started in Deck Division. If I'd've pull the sides down like wings I'd've taken a terrible ribbing and been asked if I was a brown shoer. We were Black Shoe through and through. I still am. 😊
@@johnslaughter5475 I was an AT. 😊🖖
The Last Detail is one of my fav movies and the way Jack rolled and wore his flat hat was what I wanted to do.
@@johnslaughter5475 deck dept here too, BM3.
@@bender7565 The Sand Pebbles is a great flick too.
BOO!! Never mind the ruptured duck, was that not a right arm rate uniform? I had a wonderful father in law that was a right arm sailor during WWII. You gotta stretch it but it could be your next episode, many swabbies have no idea the Navy had right arm rates.
Thought the same thing when I saw it. I knew immediately why he was going to mention that this uniform was special....nope. Not sure if he missed it or if he only wanted to focus on the ruptured duck. I would have covered both.
My father had a dragon inside his cuff. He also had anchor with a ribbon twist around the anchor tattoo on his arm.
7:33 in 1967 the coast guard is transferred to department of transportation until 2003 and then it was transferred to the department of homeland security
Us Coasties wore the same cracker jacks (not donald ducks Ryan) as the Navy. only diffeerence was we wore flat hats instead of dixie cups. Our flat hats were called donald duck hats. We also wore a shield patch on our right sleeve. If women asked what the shield meant we told them it meant we were clean, ie... no social disease.
During boot camp, I was issued a Flat Hat, which we all called the Donald Duck hat. I only wore it once during an inspection that called for dress Blues A. With a white hat they are dress blues B.
A couple of things, prior to WWII the head of the Eagle or "Crow" was pointing to the back, this was turned to point forward, as in "Facing the Enemy" Second the Dragon on "Liberty cuffs" always had 4 finger Dragons, 5 finger Dragons, where only use by the Empidor of China and could cause problems!
Steve McQueen's uniform in "the San Pebbles" was not correct for that period.
Watch caps, anyone still have theirs? My Pop had one knitted for him while in Hong Kong. It had a nice embroidered band but you couldn't tell unless you got close because it was all the Navy Blue. He also had his uniform custom tailored in Hong Kong. I have heard that these uniforms were against regs.
My watch cap is long gone….but it sure was warm! Any change to the uniform was strictly prohibited. I and a lot of others did it, but you always ran the risk of getting put on report and being forced to buy replacement boot camp issue clothes.
I had a set of "Liberty Blues" The trousers had functioning waistband buttons and two of the 13 buttons, the ones on the corner of the Broadfall, The other 11 were sewn on the front of the Broadfall. The Broadfall was held in place with the two corner buttons and velcro. My jumper had a zipper on the right side and I had Liberty Cuffs on each sleeve. One was a Polar Bear because I crossed the Arctic Circle and the other was a Dragon because I was a Shellback. Got the tayloring done in PI
On my dress blues I had dragons under the cuffs.
USS Constitution would've had a surgeon who would also have functioned as the ship's barber.
Vice versa ashore... back-in-those-days...💈
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you hear that sailors and Marines ever visited brothels. Us USAF guys would never stoop so low as to a visit to a brothel. Picking up hookers in bars and off the street may have happened a few times. Of course, I never didn't anything like that, but I heard stories.
You flyboys are super classy.
🤣
They came to your 5 star hotel lol
That’s why I joined the Navy instead of the Air Force…I heard that sailors could go to whore houses but airman could not 😁
So, what I noticed here is that Ryan didn't talk about red versus gold coloring for the chevrons on the arms. I was just a civilian working in the Pentagon from 1989-1995, and I heard a couple different stories about that. However, I'd love to hear better explanations from sailors around that time.
Gold for 12 consecutive years good conduct with no NJP's (Captains Masts) or Courts Martial's. Red for all others. Thee was a saying that said that any engineers who had gold stripes wasn't a real engineer!
Fascinating! I remember having Dragon liberty cuffs on my dress blues with "Hong Kong" underneath. Made at the China Fleet Club in Singapore, whom had done it for years. Sailors used to have embroidery done on the back of the flap and also the front bell bottoms flap. Have heard of but not seen flares that were sewn into the bottom of the bell of the pant cuffs. Back then, sailors had Liberty Dress Blues and Inspection Dress Blues. It wasn't until Admiral Zumwalt was in power that the off ship uniform requirement was rescinded. With all of the horrible guerilla tactics that occur nowadays, it's more common sense than anything else that forces all servicemen to dress in civilian clothes if they have the option off base or off of ship. My dollars worth-John in Texas
There was a band that went around your helmet and it kept the cammo cloth tight on the helmet guys would write all sorts of things on those mostly FTA
The Army in Vietnam allowed each unit to have this or that, this is where the Special Forces got their now famous Green Berets, by the 1980s the Pentagon tried to get the whole Army to wear the same uniform, with only a little success. The combat uniform was pretty much standardized with the BDU, where you see the personalization now is often the combat uniforms. In Iraq, I noticed at least five thousand possible variations. Things like extra pockets began to appear on sleeves and legs. The modern combat uniform adopted many of these. The coolest thing that I have ever seen was a white shirt worn under a set of dress blues but the back was a multi hued sunset.
Thank you.
First jumper you held up looks just like my dad's! The rank/rating on the sleeve was that of a Yeoman Second class or Y 2/c. Dad served aboard USS West Virginia prior to WWII, was a plank owner on USS Casa Grande (LSD-13) during the war as a Yeoman.
Hypothetical question... Would the four Iowa class battleships be able to save Mariupol if they were stationed off it's coast?
Dress Blues are called cracker Jack's, not Donald duck . AOC
BZ, IYAOYAS
Dad's Liberty Cuffs were embroidered dragons that were done right after the Japanese surrendered. He was on the USS Fomalhaut (supply ship) and survived the typhon that hit Buckners Bay Okinawa in Oct. 1945. He was then sent to Tokyo then on to China as a crew member that patrolled the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. He reenlisted in the Army Air Corps which turned into the US Air Force. He retired after 28 years' service and awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.
I am currently trying to figure out my uncle's WW2 Navy Sea Bee unform insignia. Thanks this helped a bit.
There only seven rates for Seabee's. You could go to Seabee on line and see which one you have .
Between 1971 and 1973, I was in the 2nd fleet out of Norfolk and was not a 7th fleet (asiatic) sailor but I did sew the asiatic cuff liner (dragons) into my dress blues. Strictly prohibited, but impossible to see unless you rolled up your cuffs. I also had the legs of my dress blues pegged for more of a flair look. Issue pants are nearly straight legged baggy pants..not really bell bottoms. On my dungarees and undress whites (short sleeve white shirt instead of a jumper) my belt buckle was silver with a picture of my ship instead of the standard issue brass. This was not strictly legit, but no one cared.
I believe the three stripes on the blues cuffs and flap commemorate the three greatest naval battles in history. Not sure of what they are, but believe one is for the battle of Trafalgar. In the days of sail, I am pretty sure the flap was buttoned on and could be replaced if it got dirty from tar. The old salts used to tar their hair purposely….which is why sailors are called tars. There is no way you can cut off the flap on a modern blues jumper without a major tailoring job. But that’s okay as i don’t think anyone tars their hair any longer 😉.
I had an American flag and squadron logo sewed on my working jacket but my division officer eventually made me remove them. Go figure. We could wear the “official” ships baseball cap or white hat with our dungarees as we so choose.
Some guys wore gaberdine blues which were prohibited, but they got away with it. Some guys also had patent leather shoes (which I always hated). Again, though prohibited they seemed to get away with it.
Instead of issue boon dockers, I bought a pair of Marine Corp black rubber soled combat boots which I wore with my dungarees.
You may want to show the button flap pants which have 13 buttons on the flap commemorating the 13 original colonies. I always thought that was an interesting feature of the uniform. Another interesting factoid is that through most of the 20th century, deck ratings (boatswains, gunners, etc) used to wear their insignia on their right arm. Everyone else on the left arm.
The name of the ship was not allowed on the uniforms during WWII because when you are on liberty, everyone (spy’s included) can tell what ships are in port. When I went in, no civilian clothes were allowed. You could not get off the ship or even the base without a dress uniform of the day. We used to have locker clubs outside of the base where you could keep civies. By the time I got out, that had changed.
I thought the ruptured duck was for reservists back in the forties??
Every sailor had to have a wardrobe that exactly duplicated what you were issued in boot camp (and yes, we used to have what they called sea bag inspections on the ship). You ran the risk of getting put on report if you failed to maintain your boot camp issued stuff. True chicken shit, but there you have it.
Ryan you are physically treating that vintage ww2 sailor uniform very badly...
Interesting to see the ship's name on a shoulder patch. In the Royal Navy the ship's name is usually written on the cap tally, but during wartime a plain "HMS" cap tally was substituted for the same security reasons mentioned here.
I bet.... When that ship empties on port of call, everyone on ship buys the same prevailing style available at stores.... Army same thing happens. Everyone gets leave all at once, buys everything "in style" once 2 friends and I ended up with same coat. Hey look at us we're the 3 caballeros. (More like 3 stooges)
Good times
Good times
This has a ring of truth, and familiarity lol.
When you’re fresh out of basic and get to the fleet, E1 thru E3 are about the same. Once I got my first stripe and went from an Airman to Petty Officer 3rd class was such a great feeling and accomplishment. You left the “us” group and became part of the “them” group. And the Navy promotion system is different than any of the other branches. It’s not easy to advance. Then when I got my second stripe I became a professional sailor. Much more responsibility and less of the crap from above. I discharged a month before I was eligible for 1st Class Petty officer. Almost made me want to stay in another 4 years
I provided leadership training for brand new 3rd classes (E4s). The first thing I would say after introducing myself was, "as of this moment, you are no longer friends with your shipmates you partied with last night." Their responses were in disbelief that a small promotion could change that. Usually, within a few months someone would see me and let me know that was so true. Great times.
The collar device for Navy Civil Engineer Corps officers is a pair of "crossed bananas". Just remember that the acorns always point up.
I was Coast Guard in the early to mid 70s. Due to the Vietnam war, we were forbidden to go ashore or on liberty in any type uniform, working or dress, unless we were on orders to do so. The OOD would inspect us at liberty call to ensure we were in civies. The mood towards men in uniform was hostile. It was for our protection. We referred to the Navy uniforms issued us as Crackerjacks and the flat tally hat as the Donald Duck hat/cover. We transitioned to the current Bender Blues/Bus driver uniform in the mid 70s. I still have both types of unifom in storage. USCG enlisted wear a single shield on the right forearm. Officers wear a shield on each forearm above their rank stripes on the cuffs. The shield is supposed to represent the maritime law mission of the USCG. Great topic, we could spend hours on this subject.
If you wore your rolled neckerchiefs half way up the V on your uniform it was supposed to mean you had been to sea. Really Salty LOL. I was aboard USS Midway CVA 41 from 70-72. I was an AG2 which was an aerographers mate with a circle with an arrow through it with wings. We were sometimes calle aviation arrowsmiths or aviation indians. BTW I had lightning bolts on my liberty cuffs.
I went through boot camp at Great Mistakes in 1980 and our company was one of the first to get the reissued Cracker Jack (NOT Donald Duck!) uniform. The Service Dress Blue Cracker Jacks were awesome! Especially in the Fleet. In boot camp, we were taught a way to fold them that made sure they never got wrinkled. And many of us, myself included, would stow the uniform under our coffin rack mattress. Always looked fresh as a daisy when pulled out.
The embroidery on the cuffs is known as "Liberty Cuffs". By the time I was in, we were always on liberty in civvies, so I never saw them on liberty, but the ones I did see were dragons. The polar bear motif is really unique, at least to this WestPac Sailor. About civvies on liberty. I was on Carl Vinson and we made a liberty call to Hong Kong in 1983 (IIRC). That was the only time I had to wear a uniform on liberty, but just on the first day in port. USS Texas was in our battle group. The skipper of that ship made his Sailors were a white shirt and tie when they went on liberty. Yikes! Never heard of that on any other ship.
You'll notice on some of the uniforms, the rank is on the right sleeve, and some on the left. I don't know when that ended, but all our ranks were on the left sleeve in the 80s and beyond. When there were ranks on the right, those ratings were called "right arm rates". All deck rates IIRC. BMs, GMs come to mind.
I don't remember when ship/command names became mandatory for E-6 and below. I made CPO in 1989 and I never had to have my command name sewn on my uniforms when I was a "white hat". I think it was sometime after 1990 when that was mandatory.
On the trousers, there were 13 buttons, I'm sure for the original 13 states. Well, if you were drinking and needed to use the facilities, you had to "go through 13 states to take a piss"! So, more than one Sailor had a zipper installed around edge of the flap on the front of the trousers. MUCH easier.
Interesting tidbit: I was told by my English mother-in-law that it was good luck to touch the star on a Sailor's frock.
Idk about "personalized" but I had the name tape to my parka stapled on last second and colored in the metal bits with a sharpie. Worked so well I forgot to ever fix it.
The U.S. Coast Guard currently operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to the U.S. Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense by order of the U.S. President or by act of Congress. Prior to its transfer to Homeland Security, it operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003 and the Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967. A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I. By the time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. Coast Guard had already been transferred to the Navy by President Franklin Roosevelt.
My father served aboard the U.S.S. Wakefield AP-21 during 1945-46 before mustering out. I have his dress blue uniform, including the "Donald Duck" hat, and he has dragons embroidered inside both cuffs. Funny thing is neither his jumper or his trousers have his name stitched inside, rather both are from different sailors from his ship whom he traded with as he grew during his service. I have photos of both of my sons when they each were 15 standing alongside their grandfather wearing his uniform. Very proud of his service, and all of the "Greatest Generation
, as well as all members of our armed forces!
"Donald Duck" uniform was white jumper and blue trousers with a flat hat. This combination was not approved by the authority structure.
Personalized uniforms? Not really. Often Chiefs and officers would have bakelite name tags but not the enlisted men. On dungarees and the old utilities (circa 1975-80) sailors stenciled their last names above the left breast pocket and right hip pocket. About the only "personalization might be things like specialist crests. Things like submariners 'dolphins'; surface or air warfare crests or UDT/SEAL crests. Those would be a metal pin worn on a dress uniform or a patch sewn or adhered to a work uniform.
It is a tradition for the Field Artillery to wear red socks and suspenders with our Army Blue Uniform. The rest of the Army chose not to follow our example.
Didn't they wear red trouser stripes and red Kepi's in the 19th century artillery?
@@SSN515 If I remember, Civil War Union dress uniforms went something like this:
Yellow trouser stripes and rank insignia: Calvary;
Red trouser stripes and rank insignia: Artillery;
Blue trouser stripes and rank insignia: Infantry.
Head gear and other accouterments varied by branch and unit.
And the Artillery were called "Red Legs." The others branches, I can't remember. In movies, Calvary were Horse Solders; what they were called in the day, I don't know.
@@garymemetoo2238 Thanks. That sounds right. I know the Civil War US Union snipers wore a all green uniform with brown boots and a specially made backpack.
Current issue dress blue pants have a standard button and zipper fly now, the complainers of the 13 button flap finally got their way and it was reduced to an ornamental sewn on flap. The dress blue jumper is pretty much the same now as it was in WWII, but the rank insignia is on the left arm now, as are the service stripes (one per 4 years.) One change that is recent is the use of gold chevrons, before you could only wear gold if you had 12 years of continuous service with no NJP. As of 2018, now anyone over 12 years of service can wear gold.
As a wearer of gold chevrons who retired in 2014, I do not approve.
One other thing: the dress blue jumper has always been wool, AFAIK, which is why it is worn in winter only. For summer white jumper and pants are worn. The dress white jumper flap and sleeve had blue stripes added a few years ago, so they look much like the dress blue jumper.
Rating badges have come and gone, as rates have been created or disestablished. My original rate, AK, or Aviation Storekeeper, was folded into SK in 2001.
pretty good, but if you have to use a nickname for the Service Dress Blue uniform , the term "crackerjacks" is the one to use, not "the Donald Duck Uniform" ... and those decorations on the inside of the sleeve are called "Liberty Cuffs" because you only turned up your cuff when you were on liberty ... you don't see them much today however ... perhaps in a future segment you could mention how rating badges show the sailors job was, why some uniforms have the rank badge on the left or right sleeve (only a WWII and before convention), the meaning of hashmarks and why the difference between gold and red markings, a brief discussion of WWII ribbons/decorations, why E-1 to E-3s have different color rank -- blue, red, white, etc. ... finally, i recall my Dad (WWII vet) telling that you were not allowed to wear civilian clothes anywhere -- on or off base during the war ... thanks for your post.
Two stories about the 13 buttons on that damn flap. One way to "enhance" your uniform was to have the buttons sewn in place, then have a hidden zipper behind the flap. Made nature calls much easier.
Sometimes, we didn't button all 13 of the buttons, but only the top corner buttons. It made access much quicker and easier.
Sea Story: A marine and a sailor make a bathroom stop. The Marine unzips, does his thing, and zips up. The sailor goes thru the ritual of unbuttoning all 13 buttons and dropping the flap before he can relieve himself. As the Marine watches the sailor, he makes a remark along the lines of "in the Marines, we have easy to open uniforms". The sailor responds with "in the Navy, they teach us not to pee on our hands".
I remember the 13 buttons on the pants of the Crackerjack Uniform. Always said to represent the 13 colonies and also 13 chances to say no. Some would have their pants altered so the "flap" was velcroed so it could be quickly unfastened allowing access when needed to relieve yourself in cases of when you might be inebriated.
You missed something about ranks. In WW 2, you did not come out of boot camp with three stripes on your cuffs, the amount of stripes on your cuffs told your rank. Also, we didn’t call dress blues “Donald Ducks”, they were cracker jacks, the Donald Sucks refer to the old blue covers, similar to what Donald Suck wore, I believe they went out sometime after WW2
Cracker Jack is another name for the dress uniform. I never heard the term Donald Duck for the uniform but..... it was used for the "flat hat".
Was the Coast Guard ever under the Treasury Department? I know for a long time it was under the Department of Transportation. But a few months after 9/11, it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security and it has been there ever since.
4:10 Ooooo, I see... Now I understand what that flap is for. It's been bugging me for decades.
Man I wish I could do a whole video on this. The best part is the liberty cuffs. It's gone now. The three stripes is almost acurate. The flap is close. Port and starboard rating badges is fun. The broken bird is 💯 true.
It is a common belief in the US Army, that Navy enlisted ranks and ratings exist to confuse the US Army. Geoff Who notes back in the 1970s Grade was inserted behind the written rank in inter-service written communications. This is because a Captain in the US Army is O-3, in the US Navy O-6.
I lived on Fort Myer for a while. One day I was walking down the sidewalk wearing my dungarees and a ball cap with a PO3 pin on it. The pin had a crow over a single chevron. I saw an army officer coming towards me. I was just about to salute when he saluted me. I assume he thought I was an O-6, although I'm not sure why he thought a 24-year-old could be an O-6 in any service.
Served in the Navy in the 80's...hated the dress blues so much I ignored it unless I was required to wear it...never gave any thought to adding to it...the 13 buttons were a bitch...best thing that happened when I got to be duty Master at Arms for my duty section and didn't have to stand OOD watches on the Quarterdeck..Think I had one set of civilian clothes on board when we were deployed...no way to wash them but...
I visited Hong Kong in the Navy 1980s and got silk Dragon Liberty Cuffs
I've seen used jumpers that had a custom pocket sewn on the inside so you could carry a pack of cigarettes or a lighter or something. And extra pockets in the bellbottoms. Nice little practical things like that.
While in Viet Nam was in a laid back company probably due to only having about 100 Americans in our camp. Was drafted and always felt & acted like a civilian. During a day off while I was the company como & electrician my Sargeant asked me to cover for switchboard operator so he could eat lunch. While there a guy came around and snapped my picture while dressed in cut off denim shorts and a brown knit shirt. Got my ass chewed out due to only picture in company year book wearing civilian clothes. Got back from Nam 50 years ago and made the best of it.
Hate to say this but civilian clothes were allowed on ships in the late 50s-60s. In fact, most of the time that dad did any traveling while in the Navy he was out of uniform. And that included time while on military aircraft. While on Cyprus, the only time he was in uniform was while on base, not while traveling to or from the house to the base. And most pictures taken of the Navy personnel even for many official functions such as promotions were done in civilian clothes. His name and all the other Navy personnel's names were listed in the US Consulate's phone directory which should give a hint as to one reason why they were not in uniform off base. His trip from here to MD in 1963 was in civilian clothes for a military conference. Dad's trip to his ship out of South Africa in 1964 was authorized travel in civilian attire per his orders which were amended in route to show his promotion to MCPO. None of this was due to the Vietnam War, it was due to who they were and what they did. Even the rating names hid what they did until the 1976.
I have no respect for military uniforms these days. Why? Because their significance and honor has been hijacked by crooked politicians and contractors who come up with new variants at the drop of a hat, pun intended, make the serviceman buy it, are not recompensed for it, and the cycle continues. I have respect for an officer's uniform because it commands a salute and I give respect to the uniform because of the officer and his rank. Otherwise, I respect military personnel themselves. Not the uniforms. The United States of America my parents knew has vanished. They are now a disparate hegemony of disingenuous, ignorant, irreverent, and thieving politicians and oligarchs.
We had another good one we had this guy he looked like a clown. He was standing watch the petty officer came in he said "Good evening petty officer seaman recruit" then he giggled. The petty officer said "ohh oh ohhh haa, seaman recruit clown boy!"
Right out of the gate. 1:15
No. no no no no. It is the "Kracker Jack" Uniform.
"Donald Duck" was the cover that looked like a combination cover without a brim.
What about modern Navy everyday, on board, clothing. enlisted and officer.
brown skivvy shirts, navy blue FRV's, and black leather steel toe boots.
I don't know how you tell the difference between officer and enlisted until you're right up close and facing them. Then, how do you know what their job is without a rating insignia. Come to think of it, what's the difference between the squids and jarheads?
@@johnslaughter5475 with some uniforms the officers have a totally different uniform than enlisted. The Khaki uniform used to be officers and Chief Petty Officers Only. Uncertain how much now if any the Khaki's are worn. living dangerously John. Unless stuff has changed way more than I think navy and Marine Corp have significantly different uniforms - Navy now has uniforms that look very much like cammies - but there are differences. However - IRT Marines - there are NO Marines of a few specialties- so some Navy people of those specialties are Assigned to Marine Unit - and may opt to dress in Marine Uniforms.- Medical specialties, Religious Specialties are the 2 main categories. the 3 stripe stuff. For the modern Merchant Marine - Able Body Seaman only requires 3 years sea service plus pass the test from USCG. There still could be another video on content I would have expected but not here (rating and Rate should patch dress uniforms) the Dress uniform enlistment sleave insignia.
@@wfoj21 I meant the camos. I don't have the vaguest idea what they're all trying to hide from. There wasn't a damn thing wrong with our dungarees. Then, when you made chief, you earned the right to wear a suit and The Hat. Although I never knew any to do it, I believe chiefs could still wear dungarees if they were going to get dirty, but they still had The Hat to say they were a chief petty officer.
We would get hand made belt buckles in the Philippines. Most common was having one with your rate. But I've also got one with the plane I worked on as the design.
Once you are well and truly done with your unies....... donate them to a theater group. Period decorator Items and furniture is often welcomed.
I can't confirm the authenticity of this, but as a Marine stationed in Memphis working with the Navy, I was told that the two stars on the collar represented each time that the US Navy defeated the Royal Navy (battle for independence and then the war of 1812) and the space between the two stars was so there was room for more stars, should the need ever arise. Can anyone confirm that?
Why is it that many sailors don’t have the “able seaman three stripes” on the flap of their white uniform while others do, do boots not rate the three strips on their whites?
Forgot about the liberty cuffs. The blue berry fatigues where a joke. Glad I was long gone when they came. A chaplain told me a group came to where he was in the middle east and they stuck out like sore thumbs. The new whites with the blue pipping look disgusting.
In the basic training we had a master chief wearing camouflage 4 sizes too big he said "when I say feet you will say feet back to me you have to work as a team the only way you will make it in the fleet!". "Feet!" Then he said "that was not together we will try it again! "Feet!"
They were called "Cracker Jacks", not "Donald Ducks".
Army, I removed the buttons and sewed in velcro. I was ahead of my time. It wasn't allowed but I didn't get caught.
The flap to keep the oily hair off your uniform. Not the tar, just unwashed oily hair. HA
What the hell is going on about this guy's belt that hold up his pants!! Hanging out like a tounge??
Why let it hang out like that, how bout triming it off.... Wierd!!!
After ww2,there were no civilian clothes, so they passed a law that if you put a ruptured duck on your uniform and were then able to wear it, most veterans used this law as a way to wear their uniforms as dress clothes into the mid 1950s...