88th Division 313th Combat Engineer Battalion Officer

1st LT C. F. C-U-R-R-I-D-E-N was born in 1921 in Salem, New Jersey. Enlisting in the Army in 1942 he was quickly put into the combat engineers with his strong background in building construction. He was assigned to the 313th Combat Engineering Battalion in the 88th Division. Shipping out to the MTO, Lt. C wasn't shy about being in the thick of combat. He was wounded in action THREE separate times and awarded the Bronze Star Medal twice. Leadership under fire flowed through his veins and Uncle Sam took notice. He received a battlefield promotion to 2nd Lieutenant on November 12, 1944. After his time in combat was over, he spent several months as an instructor at Ft. Belvier Virginia (hence the Washington Command patch)

The story of ID-ing this uniform is just as thrilling as C's. It came to me via the forum as an unnamed, unidentified jacket and whistle uniform group with a BEAUTIFUL bullion 88th Division patch. I was able to get in touch with the original ebay seller that stated it came out of an estate sale in Salem NJ. Upon finding a digitized 313th unit booklet with a full roster in the back, I was stunned to find an 88th Engineer from Salem County NJ listed in it!

I reached out to his family via ;their names in C's son's obituary and they provided me with a WEALTH of information, documents, and photos. I believe that this jacket was sold at his son's estate sale in 2012-2013. All that I added was the ribbon bars to reflect his service record (wartime originals of course) The rest is history as they say and I will let the rest of the photos do the talking.

NOTE: I believe the whistle attached to his enlisted 4-pocket jacket in the portrait photo below, is the very whistle I received with this jacket!