A Blue (Winter) Service Dress Uniform to Chief Petty Officer Aviation Machinist Mate L. C. Boyd
The service dress was similar to officer's service dress with smaller buttons and a rating on the sleeve vs. officer shoulder boards. The hat also had a different device than officers.
Standing in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on leave in Pearl, CPO Boyd wears the standard blue service dress for Chiefs and Warrant officers. This tunic was called the sack coat or monkey jacket.
The rank was indicated by the rate on the arm. The red stripe at the cuff indicated time of service. Each stripe indicated four years service.
CPO Boyd was a brave sailor as indicated by his awards. The bronze star (the first award) has a 'V' indicating the award was for valor. The gold star indicates the second time it was awarded. The other awards are the American Defense medal (1939-41) and the American Defense medal (1941-45). The wing designated Boyd as active Navy Aircrew and was introduced in 1944. The stars on the banner were awarded for each active engagement up to a maximum of three.
Chief Petty Officers wore a unique visored cap similar to officers but with a different cap device which is illustrated here. It is a simple fouled anchor with the initials USN.
The three chevrons joined by the arc indicated a Chief Petty Officer and was the highest Petty officer rank. This also entitled them to wear the jacketed uniform vs. the sailor uniform. CPO's who received multiple good conduct awards were entitled to wear gold colored chevrons. All others wore the standard red as pictured above.
CPO Boyd had his uniform made in Long Beach or Hawaii based on the label. I have not been able to find his records. If you know anything about this man, please email me.
The standard button of the US Navy with an Eagle perched on an anchor surrounded by stars. Officer uniforms had similar buttons but larger.