I've been going through my father's World War II keepsakes and found a 1941 Maneuvers badge. I did some research and saw that these maneuvers were in Louisiana in November, 1941. My father did not enlist until a year later. After boot camp at Camp Roberts (California) he spent some time at Camp Phillips, Kansas. I'm wondering why he would have this badge. It's not listed on his separation papers. Everything else in his collection is legitimate. Did the maneuvers spill into 1942? Thanks in advance for your help!
The maneuvers badge and other similar ones were not officially recognized by the War Department, but were locally produced and sold to soldiers as souvenirs. He could have easily picked it up at any time, possibly in one of the similar maneuvers in 1942, 1943 or 1944.
