Complex sentence: For majors, the shoulder strap contained an oak leaf, but like the second lieutenant, the epaulette had no grade insignia; the major was still recognizable due to the more elaborate epaulette fringes worn by field grade officers.
Split into simpler sentences: For majors, the shoulder strap contained an oak leaf, but like the second lieutenant, the epaulette had no grade insignia. However, the major was still distinguishable from the second lieutenant due to the more elaborate epaulette fringes worn by field grade officers.