Well, I ain't putting the Pussers Rum back into the jug, but I'll strain it through my kidneys.
Look at it this way....the Navy didn't equate the collar stripes to Nelson's battles.....but WE did! Easier the thinking there are 10's of thousands of us that were incorrectly informed while in boot camp!
Oh, a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm Oh, a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm Oh, a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm And we'll all hang on behind.
So we'll roll the old chariot along An' we'll roll the golden chariot along. So we'll roll the old chariot along An' we'll all hang on behind!
When I went through Alameda in '69 we had no stripes sewn on until right before we were going to graduate, then had SA stripes sewn on.
I still proudly own my jumper and my flat-hat, as well as one full set of officer's uniforms. I think the CG took a hit with the change to "Bender Blues." And, as an officer, I certainly did not like the choker whites that were sewn with cotton thread that would shrink when cleaned, so the whites always looked wrinkled.
Cotton and wool were good uniforms. Polyester sucks, and stinks.
My wife is particularly disgusted with the blouses that were designed by Edith Head, that had buttons on the back that would poke women in the kidneys when that sat in a chair.
When I went through Alameda in '69 we had no stripes sewn on until right before we were going to graduate, then had SA stripes sewn on.
That's interesting as I went through in 1960 and we had SR stripes on our dress blues from the time we received them. They were added by the tailor shop when they made the necessary alterations.
CG shield was about 1920 / 21. All the rating badges were to be worn on the left arm. For the CG, the BM, QM, GM, FC, and TM ?? made the shift. The SR , SA , SN stripes also started then.
Went thru Cape May in Feb 64 and the SA stripe was on when we got them from the tailor.
I was looking through a couple old pics recently and there was one of me on a "Double 11" liberty while in boot. I had a single stripe on my dress blues.
So Stan? How about submitting some of these old pix you were going through to the Coast Guard Channel so we can build a page for you. People love seeing the old pix!
