Shoulder Patches the 475th
Might Have Worn
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Second service command .
Most of the enlisted men of the 475th entered the Army at Fort Dix,
N.J., which is within this command.
Army serial numbers starting with 32
indicate that that soldier entered the army from within
the states covered by this command. The first digit
is 3 indicating Selective Service Inductee.
If it is a 1, this indicates voluntary enlistment.
The second digit is the number of the Service Command where active
duty began |
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Sixth service command. Fort
Custer, Mich., the basic training site of the
475th was geographically located within this command
as was Camp Ellis, Ill., its first ZI duty station |
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“Other theatre patches brooked of
ideological symbolism. The European Theater of
Operations patch showed lightning bolts snapping the chains
of Nazi oppression. The ETOs Advanced Base
[patch] superimposed the
Army Service Force patch on the lightning bolt.” |
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After the 475th MPEG Co. returned from the ETO,
it was detached from the Transportation Corps and given a “permanent”
stateside berth. In lieu of a furlough the
troops were given orders for “Delay Enroute’
to their first assignment, Fort Eustis, Va. Ft.
Eustis was in the Third Sevice Command, as were Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
and Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pa. A detachment was detailed
to a Military Intelligence Camp, Pine Grove Furnace, Pa..,1 April to 18
June 1945. This camp was under the command of Carlisle Barracks.
They were transferred to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation,
Pa. for the next week. The bulk of
the 475th was transferred to Camp Pickett,
Va. The detachment from Pa. joined them on 25 June 1945. On
21 August 1945, the 475th was transferred
to Camp Stewart, Ga., Fourth Service Command,
Headquarters in Atlanta. Two detachments were sent to POW
side camps at Statesboro and
Swainsboro, Ga. It was at Camp Stewart in mid-September
that the 475th was inactivated. |
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