The patches on this green wool trench coat refer to the soldier's ranks -- both Staff Sergeant and Corporal -- and service unit, the US Army Quartermaster Branch of the 79th Infantry Division. The Quartermaster Corps is a support branch of the military who job is to oversee supplies.

This coat was worn by Ernest B. L. Eckberg. He was born in New Sweden Township, Minnesota in 1891, one of 16 children born to his parents: a Swedish immigrant and the daughter of Swedish immigrants. After the war, Eckberg moved to western Minnesota to work at a bank.