THE ORIGINS OF THE 604th

The 604th had a striking unit insignia: a Greek tragic mask mounted on a red shield. We wore one on each lapel and one on the cap. Almost no other units had such insignia at the time, and it set us apart, though I doubt that it made us behave any better.

THE ORIGINS OF THE 604th:
John Francis Ohmer, Jr., an engineer from Ohio ( 1891-1950,) formed the 604th Engineer Camouflage Battalion in 1938 as a unit of the 4th Army. He had served as a lieutenant and battalion adjutant on the Mexican border with the 148th Infantry, Ohio National Guard. He was later in command of the Mounted Scouts Border Patrol. When the United States entered into the First World War he was appointed 1st lieutenant in the Engineer Officers Reserve Corps, U.S. Army. He organized an enlisted reserve auxiliary of cameramen in the motion picture industry and created camouflage study groups.