2 very interesting brave men, one cover

[Thor996]

While this may not be as 'sexy' to collect as helmet or a uniform, I believe this is a pretty cool find: one thing I have definitely learned since I started collecting militaria, the devil is definitely in the details and those details can be very rewarding at times. Take these envelope covers, the person who sent this cover was at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was KIA on September 18, 1944 and earned a bronze star on June 7, 1944 and soldier's medal for heroism on June 12, 1944 - He was killed outside Aachen on September 18, 1944.

But, even MORE interesting is the fellow who signed the censor on this one: LIEUTENANT COLONEL CLEMENT C. VAN WAGONER- his story is below in the link provided.

 

 

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRECB-2008-pt14/html/CRECB-2008-pt14-Pg18719.htm

 

[Thor996]

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[Nic]

Great find! I would definitely agree that these types of covers aren't the most 'sexy', but some can have a lot of history behind them as you have shown. For younger and/or collectors on a budget, these postal covers/letters can normally be found in the sub-$20 range and are a great way to get a real historical piece cheap. This one (with a letter) I picked up was in the McDonald's Happy Meal price range : http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/186871-purple-heart-group-to-a-massacre-at-oran-nov-8-1942-1st-arm-div/page-2

[Thor996]

Thanks Nic! that's a great one! I agree this is a great way for some collectors who love history to 'get a piece of the action' for a happy meal price! I have turned some of these cheaper pickups into some good money- one of these cost me less than your happy meal one - it was also a really interesting history lesson digging around for the information and I had some great help from forum members AustinO and Stealthytyler because they were able to get the information for me off of the newspaper site.