The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-06-16
ABOUT WOUND STRIPES.
Only One Allowed for Wounds Re
ceived simultaneously.

ceived simultaneously.
Many questions are asked about wound |
stripes Here are some of the leading
ones:
If man is wounded twice by separate
bullets at the same time, does he get
one stripe or twoy
What about the man hit in many places
by fragments of the same shell?
If he is hit once, then starts back and is
hit again, is it one wound or two?
If leg and arm are shot off simultane-
ously, what about it2
These questions were taken to the war
department at Washington to a clerk.
there who specializes III wound stripes.
The clerk looked over the list. THAT
is all covered" he said, ''by General Or
der 3d." and pointed to the following:
"A gold chevron of pattern identical
with that of the war service chevrorf, to
| be worn on the lower half of the right
| sleeve of all uniform coats, except fatigue
coats, by each officer, field clerk, and en-
| listed man who has received, or who may
| hereafter receive, a wound in action with
| the enemy, or as the result of an act Of
the enemy, which necessitates treatment
| by a medical officer, and an additional
chevron for each additional wound; but
| not more thon one chevron will be worn
| for two or more wounds received at the
same time. Disablement by gas necessi-
tating treatment by medical officer shall
be considered to be wound within the
meaning of this order
"All those questions have come up"
said the clerk, "and the answer is as the
order shows that no matter how many
wounds are received at the same time the
man gets only one chevron. If soldier
were wounded and started back and was
wounded later he would be entitled to
. two wound chevrons The many ques-
lions that have arisen have required Off
| cial Interpretation of other parts of the
order For example, the medical officer
must be an officer of the army-to keep
, the records clear-and this issue was set
tied by the claims of soldiers of a mer-
chant ship, that they were wounded in a
submarine attack. There was no army
medical officer on board; their wounds
were not serious enough to require at
( tention after the ship reached port, Sc
S that no connection was established will
j the medical department of the army
+ Their claims had to be denied
The wound chevron is naturally the
!, most priced in the army There are sol
). diers in the United States army who wer,
: wounded during the Spansh-American war
: They began to put in applications sool
Il after the order was issued on the groun,
5 of a wound received more than 20 year
g ago 1t was ruled that the order wa
retroactive, and the veterans Of the Span
: ish-Amercan war received the covete
chevrons Then the question came u
as to the Civil war, and this, OF course
! ii Al,
Q the later war Those affected are retire
{ army officers They may wear woun
4 chevrons for the Civil war wounds o
3 those occasions, limited in number, whe
I the regulations permit them to appear i
4 uni orms.
1 Some are seen on the streets now wit
4 wound chevrons and other chevrons sewe
4 on civilian clothing This is against tn
regulations and is covered in the follow
8 ing memorandum from the adjutant gel
q eral, p. c. Harris:
a ''These chevrons (meaning alb are fC
wear on the army uniform only an
should not be worn on civilian clothin
Neither gold. blue, nor silver chevror
q will be issued to men after their discharl
q from the army, but the war departmer
Il has no objection to honorably discharge
4 the necessary service, purchasing serviC
4 chevrons from private firms, provide
i they wear them only on their uniform
4 when that uniform may be worn, and pr
4 vided also that they make application I
I the adjutant general of the army, stain
1 service rendered, so that the same may /
4 verified and the right of the applicant I
! wear tho chevrons be verified"
Y No steps have been taken against thos
who have chevrons on civilian clothe
:. the practice thus far simply being discou
= aged, but there is authority and if ii
g custum spreads this authority may be il
E. voked. OF course the army has no contr
IT over discharged men but the National D.
y Tense act of 1916 prohibits any unautho
lied person from wearing the army un
form or any distinctive part thereof, whic
the wound or any other chevron is-Ne
Nayl- Tinnpc