Much has been made of the fact that Bucky Barnes is one of the few people to recognize the greatness in Steve Rogers before his transformation into Captain America. Much has also been made of the fact that, in The First Avenger, Bucky demonstrably feels conflicted about that transformation. Less noted, however, is how Bucky’s sense of conflict and resentment—and the way he dealt with those feelings—reveals the kind of person he truly is. The narrative motif of the man who can recognize greatness in another but not attain it himself, and who is therefore corrupted by his resentment, is a classic trope. It appears in such literary masterpieces as Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, Melville’s Billy Budd, and Schaefer’s Amadeus. However, the story of Bucky Barnes is one of a man who recognizes a greatness he cannot himself achieve and is not corrupted by that recognition. Unlike the villains of the above-mentioned tales, Bucky Barnes comes to terms with the situation, choosing friendship over envy—and heroism over villainy—something that suggests a greatness within Bucky Barnes that Bucky himself is not aware of. But Steve Rogers, of course, is. Just as Bucky is one of the few people to recognize Steve’s greatness; Steve is one of the few people to recognize Bucky’s. Both of them know each other better than they know themselves, and it is that parallel knowledge that ultimately saves them both.
This is for Gemfyre. I realized that I couldn’t find my original post about Steve’s uniform deficiencies, so I rewrote it.
Looking closely at Cap’s war uniform (the Eisenhower jack dress uniform, not the spangly getup in tights), I would like to do a meta breakdown of his ribbons, and then point out a few deficiencies. Hopefully this will provide context for fan artists and fanfic writers.
To start us off:
Here we see the creature Stevus Adorablus Serious in his natural habitat.
This is his insignia from shoulder to hip, right to left.
His rank he wears on his shoulders. This is typical placement for Officer insignia back in the day. Modern Officer uniforms get an actual shoulder bracket. Steve’s a CPT so he gets railroad tracks. His CPT’s insignia is not centered on the shoulder tab. Tisk tisk. Strike one.
Next you see his U.S. lapel pins that all officers wear. The left one is pinned at the correct angle and distance; the right (not pictured) is a bit off. Oh well, pobody’s nerfect. Also, note how they differ from Bucky’s. Bucky is enlisted, which means he wears the rounded US lapel pin on his right our left, and his MOS branch on his left our right. (Bucky is an 11bang bang, or infantry of course):
You’re a beautiful sub, Buck; now straighten your cover
.
Next up, on the bottom lapel, you see Steve’s branch pins. Only Officers wear these, because we branch a career rather than perform an MOS (military occupation specialty). Steve’s branch pins are the SSR logo, which of course is fictional. Again, the right one is a little off in both distance and angle. The left one is correct.
Here’s where it gets fun! Steve has jump wings. But why you ask? He only had like, a week of basic training before receiving the serum! When did he have the time to go to jump school? Fun fact: back in WW2, the only requirement for a soldier to earn jump wings was to perform a combat jump, which Steve did when he went to rescue Bucky. So he would not have had to attend jump school. The jump wings however are my biggest pet peeve when it comes to his pins. They are way too close to his ribbons. There should be a 4th of an inch away from his ribbons, and centered on his pocket. But they are practically touching the ribbons, and aren’t centered on a damn thing. Strike two.
Steve’s ribbons! Steve has a purple heart for valor. The oak leaf represents being awarded the purple heart twice (if it was silver, it would indicate 5 times btw). The purple heart is awarded for extreme valor that results in injury. In this, I’m going to have to show extreme skepticism. I will award Steve 1 purple heart, maaaaaybe, for the pain associated with the serum transformation. But the second one makes no sense. He does not appear to get injured while liberating the 107th, and then is almost immediately wisked away to London for a briefing. Unless he’s spotting a GSW we the audience don’t see, I can’t imagine a scenario where Brass would give him a second purple heart. There is an argument to be made that it was given for meritorious service, in order to be inducted into the Legion of Merit, but I find that unlikely Strike three, you’re out.
The second ribbon is simply a campaign ribbon. Fairly standard. Bucky would have one too. I’ve got one for the global war on terrorism. Any soldier who serves during wartime gets one. However, the campaign ribbon Steve wears is wrong for him. It’s the American Defense Service Medal and they stopped giving them out in ‘41. Steve enlisted in ‘45. Strike…wait, you’re all out of strikes. For shame.
Both ribbons are not well spaced between his jump wings and his CIB btw.
His CIB, combat infantry badge. Standard badge given to an infantryman for taking hostile fire (or going through infantry AIT or IBOLC.) Bucky would have one too.
His gig line isn’t straight! (Belt should be aligned to the edge of the jacket, flush)
Steve has a Presidential Citation Badge that he wears on his right, over his pocket. It’s centered. The PCB is given to a unit that serves under difficult situations. My unit has one for time in Iraq. Fun facts: you are forever authorized to wear the PCB if you serve in the unit at the time it is issued. You are also authorized to wear it if you serve in the unit at any time afterwards, even if you weren’t present at the time it was given, but you must take it off if you change units.
So there you have it. Steve’s uniform in a nutshell. It’s something to note, that pins and insignia are extremely hard to get right, and cause no undue frustration on the part of the soldier. I have a melt down every time I have to pin my uniform, and cry for hours until reaching a point where I use up all my fucks and resign myself to looking like the shitbag I am. It’s also a point of note that most new Officers look completely dicked up in their formal uniforms. It’s just paying your dues, I suppose. And make no bones about it—at this point in his military career, Steve is very much a new Officer. Bucky would have no doubt straightened him out though, the second he got a chance, as is his role in life as Steve’s NCO component. Because while Bucky cares not for decorum, he does care for Steve, and he wouldn’t tolerate him looking dicked up in uniform. And I wrote a fic about that exact thing, go read it.
So: in summary
Steve: -1 point
Costuming: -10 points
Bucky: -2 for cocked cover and sloppy salute, +1 for correct insignia placement.
I leave you with a softly smiling golden retriever
You can click through and then blow up the image for a good reference for what was available and how much it cost back then. The Bowery was not, to put it gently, high end, so it’s suitable for your pre-movie needs…
Everyone who has headcanons about Steve and/or Bucky being awkward with babies and/or small children,
I understand the impulse I truly do I get it, however have you instead considered them growing up poor in the Great Depression and thus in a crappy apartment complex where every adult is working their fingers to the bones when they can find work
and thus a young Steve caring for many an infant when he was well enough to be responsible for anything other than lying in bed and breathing?
and thus a young Bucky watching over dozens of under five year olds at all ages over ten?
And later, Steve taking care of neighbors’ kids when the parents were sick because that’s what had happened for him when Sarah was sick and dying and dead?
And Bucky being a huge hit not just with the ladies he took out but also their little siblings who he’d play with when he arrived to pick her up early and she wasn’t finished getting ready?
Steve and Bucky accepting child-wrangling as a totally normal life skill, just like shining shoes and darning socks, makes 1000% sense to me.
Steve tries to be slightly too Cheery at them a lot of the time, so he’s better with younger kids; meanwhile Bucky is mildly unsettled by this becoming a rarified skill.
By his body’s clock, there’s been less than five years from the beginning until now, from knit top to body armor, from showgirl to warrior of legend, from Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) to Captain America (aka Steve Rogers). He’s barely past thirty, which nobody seems to realize or remember. It’s just as well because sometimes he feels all of the ninety-six years the calendar gives him. Never more so than when he looks at the photos and rare scraps of video from before, when he can see how much the transition has cost him and how much of it he paid even before Bucky fell. He never meant for war to become his life, let alone the only thing he understood. And yet it has.
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