Friday, July 01, 2011

That Old Slouch Hat -- Campaign Hat USMC

That Old Slouch Hat -- Campaign Hat USMC:

"I like the book, Soldiers Of The Sea, by Robert Debs Heinl, Jr., Colonel, USMC, for many reasons. I personally consider it to be the most thorough and detailed account of the Marine Corps as it was.

And, I also like it, if for no other reason, the opening pages contain the photograph by Lou Lowery of the actual flag raising at Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima on 23 February 1945--not, mind you, the photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the 'replacement' flag raising which occurred later that same morning. And, the scope of Heinl's book is from 1775 thru 1962--just as well, after 1962...well, things began to change in many ways for the old Corps soon after that. In any case, this author presents a most thorough and detailed account of Corps history with information on topics of interest that I've seen in no other writings.

I was surprised to read that Colonel Heinl referred to the service hat, or campaign hat as it is more popularly known, as the 'old slouch hat.' Prior to my reading of that I had thought of that term soley as a reference to the Australian campaign-type hat; and this caused me to look into the matter a bit further. But then I recalled that there was that old song by Hank Snow, from back in the 1950s...

'Just a-Bummin' Around"

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