I’ve written before about my tour in Korea but I didn’t mention much about my job as Base Photographer.
I took some photo’s of damaged and ruined equipment for the Ordnance Officer. The pictures came out so good the CO asked me to be the base Photographer (We had none at the time). I was issued a Graphic, complete in the box with all the accessories. I had to beg, borrow or steal film, Developer and Paper, never having enough for the CO’s demands. We finally got a Marine Corps Photog, an Old Hand with WWII experience. I was kept on the job until the Photog was ready to let me go (meaning I had all the cr-p jobs). Here’s a photo of me with one of the Interpreters down town looking for stuff to shoot and supplies. “Note the Herring Bone Twill Dungarees” and Sergeant Stripes painted on sleeves.
GySgt. F. L. Rousseau, USMC Retired
Great picture and story, Gunny. The herring-bone utilities look great, really Old Corps. Painted sergeant stripes and un-bloused trousers really sets off the look. Thanks for leading the way for all of us boots to follow. As a fellow amateur photographer, I would love to get my hands on that Speed Graphic camera for a couple of hours or days, or forever. I lucked-out and was able to buy a Hasselblad very cheaply in 1967, but sold it when I got orders back to WestPac & RVN in 1969. So, I got me an Olympus half-frame which I carried and used for about 10 years. It was just about beat to death, but a really good little camera. Semper Fi!!! Top Pro
I wished they still had the herring bone they looked salty. I father M/Sgt Harley Jenkins wore them till he retired in 1971.
We stencilled our ranks on our utility jackets. Sans the stencil maker, you used a pen to ink chevrons on your sleeve. There were some real skinny stripes on a lot of utilities.