Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Display box containing an arrangement of military patches and insignia pins owned by John Phillips, who served in the United States Army from June 1945 to January 1947. The collage includes insignia of the 42nd Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment, and US Forces in Austria. He was stationed with the Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. Phillips served with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1945 November-1947
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Cristy L. Phillips
- Contributor
-
Subject:
John P. Phillips
- Biography
-
John Pines Phillips was born on June 28, 1924, in Anson, North Carolina, to Walter Binyon (Bun) and Sallie Gilmore Phillips. He had eleven siblings. His father Bun was a carpenter. John was a salvage inspector. On December 8, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered, but the US was still at war with Japan. On June 29, 1945, John was inducted into the United States Army. He trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Camp Pickett, Virginia, and qualified as an M1 rifle marksman. On September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. On January 27, 1946, John was discharged from the wartime draft force and re-enlisted in the regular army. John was sent to Europe on April 1 as part of the Army of Occupation. He was stationed in Germany and Austria. He served as a private first class with the 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. The 42nd was inactivated in June and John was transferred to Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division. The 5th was inactivated in November and John was moved to F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On January 3, 1947, John returned to the US. He was discharged on January 24 and returned to North Carolina. On August 2, John married Louise Abernathy (1922-2008). They had two sons. John worked at Phillips Construction. John, age 86, died on February 22, 2011, in North Carolina.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Badges
- Object Type
-
Color patches (military patches) (aat)
- Physical Description
- Rectangular, glass enclosed, black plastic frame with a collage of military insignia attached to a white windowpane mat. Within the center window is a green cloth with a green plastic button, likely from a US Army shirt, pinned with 2 columns of metal badges: left column: shield shaped 1st Infantry Div. badge, red 1 on a gold field; gold US 16 disk insignia for enlisted men, 16th Inf. Reg.; sharpshooter crossed rifle insignia disk. Right column: cross pattee shaped marksmanship badge with plaques for rifle, machine gun, and grenade; shield shaped badge with diagonal blue, white, red stripes; 3 blue and white checkerboard 16th Inf. Reg. badges, gold US insignia officer's pin. On the mat exterior are 3 columns of patches. Left column: red, blue, and yellow rainbow 42nd Inf. Div. shoulder patch, green overseas patch with 2 gold bars, black and white photograph of an American soldier. Center column: shield shaped shoulder patch, big red 1 on green field with a blue 42 Rainbow Div. banner sewn to top; 2 place ribbon bar with WWII Victory ribbon and Army of Occupation ribbon; red USFA [US Forces Austria] shoulder tab. Right column: red, blue, and yellow rainbow 42nd Inf. Div. shoulder patch, green overseas patch with 2 gold bars; red, white, and blue USFA shoulder patch with sword and laurel branch.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 13.375 inches (33.973 cm) | Depth: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm)
pictorial area: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 12.250 inches (31.115 cm) - Materials
- overall : cloth, metal, thread, paper, emulsion, adhesive, plastic, corrugated board, mat board
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The shadow box was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Cristy L. Phillips, the granddaughter of John Phillips.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 17:17:58
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn88155
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Also in John Phillips collection
The collection consists of five pieces of Allied Military currency, three military identification tags, a shadow box with a collage of military insignia, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of John Phillips while a soldier in the United States Army from June 1945 to January 1947, and as part of the Army of Occupation from April 1946-January 1947.
Date: 1945 June-approximately 1947 January
Allied Military Authority currency, 5 schilling, for use in Austria inscribed by an American soldier
Object
Allied Military currency, five (funf) schilling, for use in Austria, acquired by John Phillips, a soldier in the postwar United States Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. The value 50 cents is handwritten in the corners. Military currency or occupation money was produced for use by military personnel in occupied territories. The notes for different currencies: lire, francs, kroner, marks, schillings, and yen, had similar designs for ease of production. Phillips served in the US Army from June 1945 to January 1947, with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Allied Military Authority currency, 1 mark, for use in Germany owned by an American soldier
Object
Allied Military currency, one [eine] mark, for use in Germany, acquired by John Phillips, a soldier in the postwar United States Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. Military currency or occupation money was produced for use by military personnel in occupied territories. The notes for different currencies: lire, francs, kroner, marks, schillings, and yen, had similar designs for ease of production. Phillips served in the US Army from June 1945 to January 1947, with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Allied Military Authority currency, 1 mark, for use in Germany owned by an American soldier
Object
Allied Military currency, one [eine] mark, for use in Germany, acquired by John Phillips, a soldier in the postwar United States Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. Military currency or occupation money was produced for use by military personnel in occupied territories. The notes for different currencies: lire, francs, kroner, marks, schillings, and yen, had similar designs for ease of production. Phillips served in the US Army from June 1945 to January 1947, with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Allied Military Authority currency, 5 mark, for use in Germany owned by an American soldier
Object
Allied Military currency, five (funf) mark, for use in Germany, acquired by John Phillips, a soldier in the postwar United States Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. Military currency or occupation money was produced for use by military personnel in occupied territories. The notes for different currencies: lire, francs, kroner, marks, schillings, and yen, had similar designs for ease of production. Phillips served in the US Army from June 1945 to January 1947, with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Allied Military Authority currency, 2 schilling, for use in Austria inscribed by an American soldier
Object
Allied Military currency, two (zwei) schilling, for use in Austria, acquired by John Phillips, a soldier in the postwar United States Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. The value 20 cents is handwritten in the corners. Military currency or occupation money was produced for use by military personnel in occupied territories. The notes for different currencies: lire, francs, kroner, marks, schillings, and yen, had similar designs for ease of production. Phillips served in the US Army from June 1945 to January 1947, with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
John Phillips papers
Document
Consists of photographs and documents related to the experiences of John Phillips, a member of the 42nd Infantry Division (and later a member of the 5th and 16th Infantry Divisions). Includes images of his visit to the Dachau concentration camp in the fall of 1945, a photograph of German soldiers in April 1940 (which Phillips likely took off a German soldier), and photographs of the post-war occupation of Germany and Austria.
Three military metal identification tags worn by an American soldier
Object
Military dog tags belonging to 21 year old John Phillips, who served in the United States Army from June 1945 to January 1947. He was stationed with the Army of Occupation in Austria and Germany from April 1946 - January 1947. Two tags are standard issue, with name, blood type, tetanus inoculation, and religion. The third is for the 8277th General Hospital, a provisional US Army hospital for German prisoners of war, which opened on September 14, 1945, in France. Phillips served with the 222nd Infantry, 42nd Infantry Division, Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division, and F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
