A First War American 3rd Army; 32nd Division Doughboy Tunic

A First War American 3rd Army; 32nd Division Doughboy Tunic -  This tunic is fabricated from an olive drab wool, each shoulder with epaulette straps held in place via small bronze buttons with the United States coat-of-arms. The left shoulder has a 63 mm three-color 3rd Army patch, comprised of two white strips of cotton forming the "A" enclosed in a red cotton circle, all sewn on a navy blue wool base. Immediately below is a 25 mm x 90 mm 32nd Infantry Division patch, illustrating a red embroidered arrow with a horizontal line through the middle, on a black wool base.  The upper left arm has a Discharge Stripe, composed of a upward-pointing red wool chevron on an olive drab wool base, while the lower left forearm has a pair of downward-pointing gold-bullion wire War Service Chevrons, each representing six months overseas service. There are bronze collar disks held firmly in place via screwbacks on both collars, the right collar with a U.S. Army disk, the left collar with an "M.G." (Machine Gunner) disk. The hook and eye closures at the collar have been lost to time but the protective tab remains on the left side. The front has four large pockets, one on each breast, with slightly larger pockets below each, all pockets with the same small bronze buttons as used with the epaulette straps and have fold over flaps with a reinforced buttonhole. Inside the lower right pocket is a maker label inscribed "LEOPOLD MORSE CO. BOSTON MASS. Contract No. 1030. Feb. 16, 1918 BOSTON DEPOT" with an ink stamping along the bottom of the label that has faded over the years. The front is completed by a vertical row of five large bronze buttons, each with the United States coat-of-arms, the reverses maker marked "AM BUTTON CO. NEWARK N.J.", facing an equal number of reinforced button holes on the left. The inside of the tunic is unlined, with a 42 mm wide brown cotton strip in the collar, to protect the neck from the coarseness of the wool, along with a 65 mm long brown cotton strap for hanging the tunic on a hook. The tunic measures 440 mm across the shoulders and 740 mm in length overall, exhibiting scattered mothing on the back panels and on the 3rd Army patch, the second and third large buttons on the front having been re-sewn to the uniform. The tunic continues to exhibit flawless, quality workmanship, thanks to the superior fabrics employed, with intact stitching, maintaining its original period look. Near extremely fine.   Footnote: The 32nd Infantry Division was organized from the Michigan and Wisconsin National Guard at Camp MacArthur, Texas in August 1917. The arrow was selected because they “shot thru every line the Boche put up”. The Division's First World War campaigns included: Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, Meuse-Argonne, Alsace and Champagne.