Model 1917 Pattern Wool Service Coat of Corporal John Nelson

Nelson, John · 1917 00 00+ / 1917 00 00+, 1918 00 00- / 1918 00 00-

U.S. Army Model 1917 pattern service coat as worn by Corporal John Nelson of Company C, 306th Machine Gun Battalion, 77th Division from December 1917 to May 1919. A native of Farsund, Norway, Nelson entered the Army from Brooklyn, New York on 6 December 1917. Arriving in France on 13 April 1918, Nelson would first enter the fighting of the Western Front in July. For caring for wounded comrades under enemy fire while in action at the Vesle Front on 22 August, the Army awarded Nelson received a Silver Star for valor. Promoted to corporal on 21 October, he survived the war without any wounds. Returning to the United States in May 1919, he would be honorably discharged on the ninth.