Staff sergeant of a Tank Battalion
This staff sergeant wears the one-piece HBT suit intended for mechanics and vehicle crews. As was common with HBTs - but rare in the Pacific - he has inked his rank on to the sleeves of his overall. He wears the first pattern of the .45 pistol shoulder holster, which was intended for the use of tankers and drivers. In his fibre and leather tank crew helmet he carries K-ration boxes, the breakfast, dinner and supper meals meals marked and colour-coded.

© 2003 Osprey Publishing Ltd., Men-at-Arms 342: The US Army in World War II (I)
The Pacific by Mark Henry