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Upstarts
Consequently, I was surprised to hear that before we crossed the channel and went into
combat; every man was not only to sew a divisional patch (ours was the TO design like this
)
on the shoulder of every outer garment, but also to have it painted on the front of the steel
helmet. In addition, all officers were to have their rank insignia painted or soldered on below the
divisional insignia. And just in case you couldn't see the front of the helmet, each officer had to
have a vertical white stripe an inch wide and four high painted on the back. [Sometimes called
an "aiming stake"] Non-commissioned officers (corporals and sergeants) had a similar stripe,
only horizontal.
I felt like a walking billboard.
Before embarking for the invasion, most of us put small camouflage nets over our
helmets, securing them in place by tucking the edges in between liner and shell. They blurred,
but did not conceal, all the painted decorations. Some infantrymen went further and garnished
the nets with sprigs of vegetation, in hopes it would make them blend into the background.
I thought that our helmets carried all the messages that could be expected of them, but I
was wrong. About a week into combat, there arose the sort of misunderstanding that happens
until people get acquainted with their jobs and each other. Some junior infantry commanders
were being grilled as to why they weren't advancing faster, and why they weren't using all the
resources available to help. "Why didn't you call for artillery fire?"
"Well, sir, I thought of it, but I looked around, and there wasn't an artillery FO anywhere.
No artillerymen at all."
But further investigation showed that an artillery FO had been there, ready and willing to
fire if anyone had asked him. No one had noticed him in the confusion.
So every artilleryman in the Corps had a two inch square patch of red, the official
artillery color, painted on each side of the helmet, over the ears.
The only helmet even more conspicuous than ours was worn by General Patton. A
general is authorized to design his own uniform, so Patton had the nice dull pebbledash finish of
his headgear sanded off smooth, then painted with many coats of high gloss varnish and buffed
until it shone like a mirror. With the addition of the stars showing his rank, it was an impressive
sight, especially since he was over six feet tall and never stooped or took cover.
As army commander, he liked to visit the front-line troops to inspire them by his
personal courage.
They hated that. He made such a shining target that every enemy weapon within range
would start firing at where he had been. By the time they got the range, Patton would have left
for somewhere else, but the front-line troops had to stay and absorb the fire that he had drawn.
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