Army Service Uniform: Adorning The Blanket

The importance of this object may not seem obvious to every person who looks at it. However, it is indicative of the times in which it was being actively used. An Army Service Uniform, also known as “dress blues,” is owned by a military service member and is often worn as formal wear. Adorning the jackets of an individual's dress blues is an assortment of regalia that represent their personal experience while serving their country. Every service members’ jacket holds a unique and personal assortment of medals, patches, ribbons, buttons, and pins. This variety is due to the how different every service members’ career unfolds. Because of the unique nature of these jackets, each one serves as a soldier’s individual story. The adornments on each jacket are able to provide a biography of an individual's military career. It is because of the jacket’s ability to tell the story of its owner, Christopher Witte, that I have chosen to let it not only speak on his behalf, but also let it settle itself into the historical narrative and proclaim its importance.
While allowing the jacket to tell its own story through its regalia, not only is it telling the history of Mr. Witte, but it also can speak on a larger scale. Many of the ribbons and medals awarded lead to implications of large-scale nationwide, and even worldwide, issues. These instances are …show more content…
The ribbons that adorn the service jacket are not randomly placed onto it in any random order, but rather they abide by a certain structure. According to Witte, the order of precedence goes from right to left, and top to bottom. The top row represents the highest awards and the top left is the absolute highest award that a service member has earned. The bottom row right side award is the lowest. The jacket’s owner said that, “It was understood that the awards moving closer to the wearer’s heart are the more important with respect to the individual