M38 White Five Points Star

RRossi · Post by **RRossi** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 7:37 am

Hi guys
I'm from Brazil and I bought a M38 1951.
I want to paint the five points star on my Jeep but I'm not sure if it has to be only the five points star or the star with a broken circle.

What is the correct for a 1951 vehicle?

Thanks in advance and best regards!
Renato

Post by **wesk** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:48 am

Stars were meant for use in theater's of operation where air superiority was not solely ours. They helped keep friendly forces from shooting at our tactical vehicles. It was common during WWII. The broken circle arrangement was a WWII invasion of Europe thing. Theater commanders were the decision makers for any use of the national star. There are very few in service photos of the M series jeeps produced from 1950 thru 1972 with national stars with the WWII arrangement.
Several of the paint and markings Manuals cover the use and placement of these markings in great detail. Most of the AR=850 issues were made during WWII. In the illustration below you can see that in the mid 50's the Army switched the star's mounting direction on the hoods from WWII - two points forward and one point aft to 1954 & on - one point forward and two points aft.

zeke57 · Post by **zeke57** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 8:14 pm

Interesting so my a1 being a 1952 would have two points forward?

Post by **wesk** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:20 pm

Keep a few things in mind.

1 - Willys did not paint the stars on factory delivered jeeps.
2 - The Army painted the stars in the field and then only when directed by the theater commander.
3 - The first star on your jeep if it ever had one could of been painted on anytime in it's career, so the point direction depends on when that particular star was painted on that particular jeep.
4 - The military was notorious for following regulations changes immediately. So in most cases any stars with the point pointed aft would have been repainted quickly when the regulation change took place.

RRossi · Post by **RRossi** » Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:55 am

So, can I assume that for my 1951 the correct is the five points star only and with two points forward?

mdainsd · Post by **mdainsd** » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:20 am

From what Wes tells us, your Jeep (51) can be correct with:

No star as delivered from the factory (correct for a factory restoration).

Star pointed at the windshield (sometime after delivery to the Army. Motor Pool restoration).

Star pointed to the front of the vehicle (if you are representing your vehicle in a specific timeframe after 1954, again Motor Pool restoration).

Ring around the star, probably not. But if done would be white not yellow or some other color.

I think I got it right.

Both of my M38s (51) had the star pointing at the windshield. I know that one was surplused in '55 so it wasn't in long enough to get switched around.

RRossi · Post by **RRossi** » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:58 am

Perfect!
Thank youso much guys!