Navy Dress Hat and Epaulets

Jack Tallman

After my father's death I found a small box, constructed like a minature trunk, with his pre-WW II dress naval cocked (fore & aft) hat, epaulets, and dress sword belt. My father, by the way, was class of 1927.

The small trunk has a shipping tag addressed to my father, H. L. Tallman, USS Lexington. That was his last pre-war ship. He had always suffered from serious myopia, and had made his way through the academy and subsequent duty by giving the corpsman a carton of cigarettes on the occasion of his annual physical exams. They caught up with him in 1938 or 39 and physically retired him as a lieutenant just before WW II. He was called back in late 1940, and served out the war on the staff of Admiral Hill's 5th Amphibious Forces from Tarawa to Okinawa. Later, Admiral Hill was key in my entering the academy, but that's another story for another time.

Inside the box (also in the photo) is his academy slide rule, a K&E model, which is what we sure should have been issued instead of that stupid Picket magnesium mess.

It's hard to believe that the Navy was still using the cocked hat in "modern" times. All these items were made in France. The label inside the hat says, "Midshipmen's Store, United States Naval Academy". Somewhere, I have a photo of my dad and another officer in their full dress.