DIs
Jay Massaro After 48 Years! 
When I was a cadet many long years ago, I paid a visit to Al Littman and saw his spectacular DI collection. This was in 1952. One piece that really caught my attention was the 750th Tank Bn. (750A): a raised demi-dragon in silver on an oversized green shield, edged black and painted. Within the shield above the dragon was the motto “Ire in Adversa” in red on a silver scroll. I had to get one! Little did I know how long it would take.
My first effort was at Ft Knox when I went to the Armor Officer Basic Course as a 2nd LT in 1954. I found the WW II after action reports of armor units in the Armor School Library. I found the 750th CO’s name and wrote him. His reply, dated 5 Jan 55 stated in part, “Sure sorry to disappoint you, but the crest was never fabricated in metal.” Something was wrong here, since the one I had seen was certainly not a fake.
It pretty much became a dead issue until I was stationed in St. Louis in 1970. I went to the AG Records Center and found several printouts of the names of the officers in the 750th from June and November 1945. After some digging I found the addresses of six officers whom I wrote. No luck; no one had ever seen the insignia.
At this point it was apparent that the insignia was only a sample or one of a very limited run.
There was one other officer on the roster whom I didn’t write because he was still on active duty and I couldn’t get his address.
So I put the file away and pretty much forgot about it. But, as fate would have it, that last officer ended up being my boss at HQ, Allied Forces Southern Europe in Naples in 1973. It didn’t take me long to pounce, but, again, no luck since he had never seen the insignia.
We became friends and have exchanged Christmas cards over the years. More as a joke than anything else, I always put in a jab, “Hey! When are you going to find me one of those 750th DIs?” Well, wonder of wonders, several months back he called, saying he had been talking to another former lieutenant of the 750th who had the DI!
As a result, I wrote the owner one of my most abject, craven, begging letters ever conceived, explaining my incredible need for the 750th DI. It was so tragic that it must have struck a chord, for the owner sent it to me. Nice guy.
It is a spectacular DI, all the more so for having been made in the fall of 1945 in Berlin. (The 750th was inactivated 16 December 1945; the 30 November 1945 roster shows only 14 officers assigned). It’s unusually large, about 38 mm. high and the raised dragon against the green is quite eye-catching. The fastener is a European T-pin with open catch.
This is only partial text and a limited number of graphics from the original article. The original article, which contains much more detailed information than here, and additional graphics, is contained in the January - March 2001 issue of The Trading Post. |
