Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 277:
Description
Named World War II U.S. Army officer’s service coat belonging to **Captain Joseph Esersky of Claremont, New Hampshire**, a Dartmouth College graduate and Harvard-trained dentist who served during the Second World War in the **U.S. Army Dental Corps**. The coat retains its original **"U.S." collar insignia** and Dental Corps caduceus devices, along with a distinctive shoulder patch and officer sleeve braid. The interior carries a **Rogers Peet Company, New York-Boston** tailor label and a named label inscribed **"Lt. Joseph Esersky, D.C."**, providing direct period identification to the wearer.
Esersky was a member of the **Dartmouth College Class of 1931** and went on to earn his dental degree from Harvard in 1936. Contemporary Dartmouth wartime directories list **Joseph Esersky as a U.S. Army Medical/Dental Corps officer**, first as a lieutenant and later as a captain during the war. Dartmouth’s 1944 class notes specifically record that **"Joseph Esersky [was] now a captain in the Medical Corps, "** while his later obituary states that he served **three years in the U.S. Army as a captain in the Dental Corps** before establishing his postwar dental practice in Claremont.
The uniform is tailored in olive-drab wool in the classic officer’s four-pocket service-coat pattern, with gilt U.S. Army buttons, epaulets, notched lapels, waist shaping, and officer braid at the cuffs. The left sleeve bears a large embroidered **China-Burma-India-style shield insignia**, visually recalling the well-known CBI shoulder patch with its blue upper field, white sun, and red-and-white striped lower shield. If original to Esersky, this may indicate service in or attachment to the China-Burma-India theater, though the currently located biographical sources confirm his wartime Army Dental Corps service but do not independently establish his exact overseas assignment. The sleeve also shows additional embroidered service/rank-related insignia near the cuff.
Following the war, Esersky returned to civilian practice and became a prominent New Hampshire dentist. His obituary records that he opened a practice in Claremont in 1946 and later served as **chief of the dental staff at Claremont General Hospital**. He was active in the New Hampshire Dental Society, American Dental Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, American Legion, and numerous civic and fraternal organizations.
A strong, well-documented named WWII medical officer uniform with direct identification to a known Army Dental Corps captain. The combination of the original named tailor label, Dental Corps insignia, officer tailoring, shoulder patch, and surviving biographical documentation gives the coat considerably more historical interest than an anonymous medical-service uniform. Condition is Very Good overall with expected age and service wear, minor surface soiling, and light textile wear as photographed. Buyer should review all images for exact insignia, markings, and condition.
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