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  1. FORUM NEWS & HELP

    1. NEW MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS

      If you've just signed up as a member, feel free to stop in here and post an introduction about yourself, your collection, or any other information you wish to share with this community.

      POSTS IN THIS FORUM DO NOT INCREASE YOUR FORUM POST COUNT

      6.4k
      posts
    2. FORUM ANNOUNCEMENTS

      Check in for announcements, important alerts, and new feature intros from the Administrators.

      247
      posts
    3. FORUM HELP

      Having trouble with a portion of the board? Go ahead and post it here so we can help. *This board is for tech questions about the site, not item ID or help questions.

      2.1k
      posts
      • SGM (ret.)
    4. SUGGESTIONS & COMMENTS

      Have a suggestion or comment about the website? Feel free to post it here. *This is for forum tech/running issues, etc. Please post thoughts or questions about items or sellers in the proper boards.

      525
      posts
      • Laurencek
  2. COLLECTION ASSISTANCE

    1. LATEST FINDS

      Been to a sale and got a great haul to show off? Feel free to post pics here! *Please note that ALL posts in this board are deleted 30 days after posting. Any discussion should be done in separate thread(s) posted in the proper section.

        In Memory of Bob Hudson 

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      posts
    2. REAL OR WHAT?

      It's sometimes hard to tell the real from the fake, especially when you only have online photos to go by: if you have a question or suspicion, post it here.

      58.3k
      posts
    3. WHAT'S IT WORTH?

      USMF's Own Online UNOFFICIAL Appraisal Forum

      DISCLAIMER: THE USMF IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY APPRAISALS POSTED HERE, WHICH SHOULD NOT BE USED TO ABSOLUTELY DETERMINE SALE PRICE OR INSURANCE VALUE. Please read this before posting.

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      posts
    4. FAMILY SEARCHES AND RETURNS

      Have an item you'd like to return to family? Are you looking for an item that belonged to a particular family service member? Post here!

       

      USMF Members: This section is dedicated to highlighting the items that have been returned to recipients/ owners or their families by our membership or items that forum members would like to attempt to return to the original recipient/owner or families or for family members to post ISO queries when searching for missing family items. We will also redirect inquiries from families who join here because of posted items. This section will allow any member to post or list named medals, uniforms, helmets, etc. they wish to be reconnected to the families that could be searching. As always, you as a member have no requirement to respond to contacts about items you post on the forum. If it happens and you are not interested in getting involved, contact a Mod or Admin and they will intercede in your behalf.

      Always proceed with caution and feel comfortable in your contact with parties when returning items. This section is completely VOLUNTARY

      1.9k
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  3. PRE-WWII

    1. (1776-1860) AMERICAN REVOLUTION, WAR OF 1812, MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR, AMERICAN INDIAN WARS TO 1865

      For US Militaria of the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War and Indian Wars eras - 1776-1860.

      1.4k
      posts
    2. (1861-1865) AMERICAN CIVIL WAR - The War Between the States

      For US Militaria of the American Civil War era, 1861-1865.

      9.4k
      posts
    3. (1866-1890) PLAINS INDIAN WARS - Westward Expansion

      For US Militaria of the "Indian Wars" era - 1866-1890.

      3.2k
      posts
    4. (1898-1916) SPANISH AMERICAN WAR, BOXER REBELLION, PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION, MEXICAN BORDER SERVICE TO 1916

      For US Militaria of the 1898 - 1916 era (including Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion, Mexican Border, etc.).

      4k
      posts
    5. (1917-1919) WORLD WAR ONE, RUSSIAN INTERVENTION

      For US Militaria of the World War One era (The Great War) - 1917-1919.

      20.4k
      posts
    6. (1920-1940) THE INTERWAR YEARS, BANANA WARS, HAWAIIAN DIVISION, CHINA SERVICE to 1940

      For US Militaria of 1920 - 1940 period (including Banana Wars, Hawaiian Division, etc.).

      1.6k
      posts
    7. UNIFORM BUTTONS   (33,117 visits to this link)

  4. CLOTHING & GEAR

    1. GROUPINGS PAGE

      Having a hard time deciding where to post your latest grouping, which includes items of all types? Why not post your groupings here!

       In Memory of Bob Gill (aka 'BobGee') 

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      posts
    2. UNIFORMS

      This section contains all types of dress and combat uniforms AND items associated with a uniform to include head gear, foot gear, under clothing and all other clothing accessories.

       In Memory of Gil Sanow

      156.3k
      posts
    3. AVIATION CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT

      For flight suits, flight jackets, flight helmets, parachutes, and more. PLEASE POST DRESS UNIFORMS IN THE UNIFORM SECTION.

      37.4k
      posts
    4. 96.1k
      posts
    5. FIELD & PERSONAL GEAR SECTION

      Post any type of equipment or field gear, including packs, pistol belts, etc. and any type of personal gear, like rations, lighters, soap, shaving cream, etc. NOTE: Holsters can be found in the Firearms & Ordnance section.

       In Memory of Craig Pickrall (aka 'craig_pickrall') 

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      posts
    6. BASE/BIVOUAC/CAMP/DEPOT ITEMS

      For base/bivouac/camp/depot/etc. type items, including but not limited to sleeping systems, cooking pots, mess hall cutlery, blankets, foot lockers, wall lockers, tents, field desks, coffee pots, bunk beds, flags, pennants, standards, burgees, guidons, etc.

      4.4k
      posts
  5. MEDALS, SHOULDER SLEEVE & METAL INSIGNIA

    1. 194.4k
      posts
    2. 131.6k
      posts
    3. 21.4k
      posts
    4. BADGES, AWARDS, DUI, AND COLLAR BRASS

      If you like qualification badges, distinctive unit insignias, or collar brass, then step inside! It is all right in one place! Anything not covered in the listed sub-boards should be posted directly in the "BADGES & AWARDS" board.

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      posts
    5. 11.7k
      posts
    6. MARINE CORPS EGA DISCUSSION

      For for US Marine Corps EGA / EG&A / Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblems from all periods. 

        In Memory of Gary Mohrlang 

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      posts
    7. WING BADGES

      This section is for the display and discussion of U.S. military related wing badges. So, if you are a wing collector, then step inside!

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      posts
    8. HALLMARKS

      This section includes photographic illustrations and / or information regarding the manufacturer codes and hallmarks seen on various types of U.S. military insignia. 

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      posts
  6. FIREARMS, ORDNANCE & EDGED WEAPONS

    1. FIREARMS

      Post all types of firearms and firearm accessories, such as ammo, magazines and clips, gun parts, slings, holsters, and ordnance .

      14.2k
      posts
    2. EDGED WEAPONS

      Post any type of knives, bayonets, swords, or other edged weapons.

         In Memory of Greg Robinson   

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      posts
    3. ORDNANCE

      For posting any type of Ordnance, including (but not limited to) artillery, cannons, mortars, bazookas, rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, mines, hand grenades, rifle grenades, smoke generators and pots, demolition charges and equipment, pyrotechnics and signal/flare projectors, chemical warfare items, anti-submarine explosives, and aerial bombs and rockets.

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      posts
  7. VEHICLES, AIRCRAFT & SHIPS

    1. MILITARY AIRCRAFT & AVIATION

      This section is for posting items, information, pictures, etc. on U.S. military aircraft or military aviation.

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      posts
    2. 9k
      posts
    3. MILITARY VEHICLES

      Post all vehicle information, manuals, pictures, etc.

      17.6k
      posts
  8. HOMEFRONT & VETERANS

    1. HOMEFRONT & THE WAR EFFORT

      Feel free to post any items from the war effort and the homefront struggle to support to the troops abroad.

      16k
      posts
    2. VETERAN RECOLLECTIONS

      Have interviews, letters, or other direct-from-the-veteran information that you wish to share with the community? Feel free to post it here!

      4k
      posts
    3. VETERANS' ORGANIZATIONS

      Post any type and any period of veterans' organization items here.

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      posts
    4. 1.2k
      posts
    5. SPOILS OF WAR

      For bringback items found in duffle bags, footlockers, etc. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR ENTIRE NON US COLLECTION.

       

      This section is for foreign items, enemy or allied, brought back by a US soldier, sailor or airman. Preferably these posts include the story of the serviceman who brought them home. Items clearly marked as war prizes or are accompanied by capture papers are also acceptable. Items posted that do not meet these criteria may be removed.

      19k
      posts
    6. UNOFFICIAL MILITARY AWARDS (PLAQUES, STEINS, CUPS, CIGARETTE / CIGAR CASES & LIGHTERS, ETC)

      For UNOFFICIAL MILITARY AWARDS including (but not limited to) Steins, Cups, Plaques, Cigarette and Cigar cases, Cigarette Lighters (Zippos and other brands), Swagger Sticks, etc.

      6.4k
      posts
    7. TAPS

      A section for members to post memorials and in memoriam posts. Also, if you know a Forum member has passed away, please post the notice here and include their username.

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      posts
  9. MILITARIA MISC.

    1. CHAPLAINS & MEDICS

      For any discussions about the Chaplains Corps and Medical Corps (including but not limited to Chaplain's gear, chapels, personal medic’s gear, any type of hospital equipment, insignia, pamphlets, photographs, posters, groupings, stretchers, field gear, hospital beds and items, etc.) and anything related to their service with the US Armed Forces. Additional topics could include shell shock, trauma, battle fatigue, moral injury morale, and other conditions and/or diseases dealt with by the military. 

      6.9k
      posts
    2. MILITARY EDUCATION & TRAINING

      For any item pertaining to any US Military Academy (i.e. West Point), Colleges, Schools, ROTC (both High School and College), Training Fields/Bases (i.e. Camp Lee, Chanute Field), etc. Whether you are interested in Texas AMC or Chanute Field . . . come right in and discuss anything about all items relating to the above.

      486
      posts
    3. BASES, AIRFIELDS, FACILITIES, AND INDUSTRIAL SITES

      For posts related to Bases, Airfields, Facilities, and Industrial Sites.

      1.3k
      posts
    4. EPHEMERA, PHOTOGRAPHS & MILITARY ARTWORK

      Post any paper documents, newspapers, illustrations, photographs and military artwork.

       In Memory of Eric Queen

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      posts
    5. WOMEN'S SERVICES

      This section is a section for items related to the female/women's services, including WAACs, WACs, WAVES, SPARs, USMC Women's Reserve, American Red Cross, and USO.

      7.3k
      posts
    6. PRISONERS OF WAR / P.O.W.'S

      This section is for items used, issued, worn, etc. by prisoners of war.

       

      Any US items issued by the US to AXIS P.O.W.'s are also allowed here.

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      posts
    7. AMERICANS IN FOREIGN SERVICE

      For militaria of Americans who served with (or in) Foreign armies and formations.

      906
      posts
    8. ANIMALS IN SERVICE

      For anything related to dogs/pigeons/horses/mules/mascots (any animal) in the service of the US Military.  Including, but not limited to, animal specific equipment, handler groupings, photographs, documents, manuals, insignia, etc. 

      936
      posts
    9. METAL DETECTING AND RELICS

      Post any metal detector finds or relics that have been discovered! US items only, please. NOTE: Threads in this board are automatically deleted after six months of no activity.

      354
      posts
    10. REENACTING GROUPS & REPRO GEAR

      Want to share a great piece of repro gear? Want to show off your reenacting impression or talk about the latest reenactment you've been to? This is the board to post anything about reenacting or repro gear! NOTE: Threads in this board are automatically deleted after six months of no activity.

      2.7k
      posts
    11. MISC MILITARIA

      If you have a US military item that does not fit any of the above categories, then feel free to post it in this section.

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      posts
  10. HISTORICAL DISCUSSION

    1. MILITARY HISTORY DISCUSSIONS

      Want to discuss U.S. military history, such as historical personalities or battles? Step inside here and post away.

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      posts
    2. MUSEUMS, BATTLEFIELDS, AND MONUMENTS

      Share your travels and photos of military museums, battlefields, memorials and cemeteries. US and overseas locations involving US military history welcome.

       

      10.6k
      posts
  11. INTERNATIONAL MILITARIA & HISTORICAL DISCUSSION

    1. INTERNATIONAL MILITARIA & HISTORICAL DISCUSSION   (38,265 visits to this link)

      NOTE: Clicking here takes you to our sister forum, the WMF, which requires a free WMF account to post.

  12. COLLECTION MAINTENANCE AND DISPLAY

    1. DISPLAY IDEAS

      Have a great display or a great idea for one? Feel free to post those things here!

      317
      posts
    2. PRESERVATION

      Have a great preservation / conservation idea or need advice on preservation / conservation? If so, then this is the place. So, go ahead and step inside!

      9.4k
      posts
  13. HOBBIES & ENTERTAINMENT

    1. MODELING

      Like military models and modeling? Then this is the place for you! Share your creations, learn techniques, and just have fun!

      21k
      posts
    2. TOYS & GAMES

      Post your military-themed toys and games! Including Toy soldiers, Soldier dolls, Board games, Spotter card games, GI Joes, etc.

      1.8k
      posts
    3. BOOK REPORTS

      Got a fiction or non-fiction book you wish to tell others about? Be it a good or bad report, we'd love for you to post your thoughts here.

       In Memory of Roger Bender 

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      posts
    4. MOVIE & TV REVIEWS

      Got a movie or television show, series or documentary that you wish to tell others about? Be it a good or bad report, we'd love for you to post your thoughts here. Also, please feel free to post foreign movies that involve the US military and/or US servicemen.

      14.8k
      posts
  14. SOCIAL MISC.

    1. EVENTS CALENDAR

      Know of a militaria show, veterans reunion, or other interesting event? Feel free to post it here.

      1.5k
      posts
    2. WHERE TO VISIT, PLACES TO BUY MILITARIA WHILE TRAVELING

      Where to visit, places to visit, military shop locations, places to buy militaria while traveling.

       

      For questions and suggestions of places to visit. Please start your thread title with the name of the state your post focuses on.

       

       

      1.6k
      posts
  • Current Donation Goals

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  • Recent Posts

    • Laurencek
      Trying to track down Doctor and get more info on him in military archives. Trying to research military service of Captain J.H. Skivery, No. 0388147. Comm Zone, ETO. Thanks Laurence
    • Laurencek
      B&W pic of Captain submitted in error. Not related this post. Thanks
    • Salvage Sailor
      Perhaps, you've noted the possible family connection which has led to dead ends in my research for several years.   I'm still looking for confirmation that the "1st LT Offutt" in the 75th Service Squadron is Casper Yost Offutt, older brother of Jarvis Offutt.  In all of the Offutt biographies and websites (and there are several with many photographs, including sections on military service), Casper Y. Offutt is always noted as a Diplomat and a Banker, not a Pilot in the Army Air Service (Corps) in the 1930's and there is no mention of Army service nor of Hawaii in any of the biographies.  He was a wealthy man from a very well known family.  It would be unusual that a Lawyer with diplomatic service would spend an interlude in his career in the interwar US Army Air Service in Hawaii, and then resume his diplomatic and banking career.   More research is needed to positively identify "1st LT Offutt" in the 75th Service Squadron.  The resemblance in the photographs is remarkable, and it's very possible that they may be one in the same person.   Link -->> Special Dedication from the 1970s   From the Omaha World Herald, dated November 9, 1971, I learned that Casper Yost Offutt and his sister, Virginia Offutt Gates donated a beautiful portrait of their brother, Jarvis Jenness Offutt to the Offutt Air Force Base.     General and Mrs. Holloway, Casper Yost Offutt and his wife, Mary Longmaid Offutt, unveil a portrait of Jarvis at the party held at the Offutt Air Force Base Officer’s Club. “The portrait donated by Casper Offutt and his sister, Virginia Offutt Gate, of San Francisco, will hang in the dining room at the Officer’s Club.” The painting was done by Woodi Ishmael, a professor at the Troy State University. I wonder if that painting still hangs at the Officer’s Club?         Link -->> First Lieutenant Jarvis Offutt smoking.  He looks so much like an Omaha fellow I know. (Great photo from Home of the Firebirds–see website below.)     During these years, sons Casper and Jarvis would graduate from Omaha Central High. Casper would attend Harvard Law School between 1915 and 1917. Jarvis would go to Lawrenceville Prep before graduating from Yale University where he was a member of Battery B of the Yale Batteries. He then entered the first Officers Training Camp at Fort Snelling, Minnesota after joining the U.S. Army Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. At age 23, Jarvis, then a pilot, was transferred to his combat outfit near the front lines. He was killed in the line of duty on August. 13, 1918, near Valheureuv, France. “He was the first Omaha airman to die during World War I, which led to the naming of Offutt Air Force Base in his honor.” Jarvis Jennes Offutt never married. See http://www.56sqnfirebirds.org.uk/TheFirebirds/jj_offutt.htm.
    • Laurencek
      Trying to research military service of Captain J.H. Skivery, No. 0388147. Comm Zone, ETO. Can anyone figure out departure and destination City on Southern Pacific Railroad Ticket also? WWII US Army Medical Corps Captain Named _Ike_ Jacket - Army Service Forces -... _ eBay.pdf
    • Shanny1298
      This is so cool!
    • Shanny1298
      Super interested if this is the same Carpathia as well, eagle mtn
    • Shanny1298
      Wow… words cannot explain how grateful we are for all of this information! I’m with my mom and she said her and the brothers would play with that helmet as kids back in the 60’s! haha   We’re super excited to share this information with my uncles and grandma. It’s a piece of family history that will be new to all of us. Seriously thank you, thank you, thank you!   - Shannon
    • KurtA
      With the better photos just provided, I concur  
    • eagle mtn
      I wonder if the ship he left in was the same Carpathia that rescued the Titanic survivors 
    • GEB
      I’ve spent 30+years as a medical social worker. Almost all of that in association with two, ”Level One Trauma Centers.” I worked for many years on the evening shift in the ER of a very busy urban trauma center. But the following story is from my time on the faculty in a Family Medicine Residency program, in a large urban university hospital & Trauma Center.) Right up front, I want to be clear that in this work, we encounter some difficult things. Our world is as full of ugliness and cruelty as it is of beauty and compassion. And we can often be left to sort out those details on our own.    I also need to acknowledge my own struggle sometimes with cries for mercy that only arise when ones vengeance has failed or when some offending act is simply, excused. We live in a difficult time. I suppose we always have. But this feels different. And thus, I'm compelled to think. (Most of the following details are drawn from my personal journal in which through the years I’ve reflected on the work I do. Work that is often confusing and confounding.  My recent retirement conveniently provides time to do exactly that. Perhaps in excess. Sorry.)   Perhaps 20 or 25 years ago, in my work at the hospital, I met a combat veteran of World War Two. At the end of his life, quite literally on his death bed, he recounted to me a troubling story from his youth. His war.   He told me of dutifully assaulting a strong enemy line, an assault in which many of his friends and “comrades” had been fatally struck down by enemy machine-gun fire. He told me how he too had been struck down by a bullet that lost most of its force as it drilled through his rifle before painfully penetrating the flesh beneath his left arm. (Lifting his arm and shifting the loose hospital gown, he showed the scar. Also revealing an ancient tattoo of his blood type adjacent to the wound on his left chest wall.) He went on to explain how their assault had almost been repulsed when the enemy guns suddenly went silent. And enemy soldiers suddenly stood beside their empty weapons with arms raised in surrender.   With sudden tears in his eyes and fingers clinched in supplication he suddenly and unexpectedly plead for my mercy. Seeking my forgiveness for an act that had occurred eight years before I had even been born. And he then told how he and his surviving squad members had slowly risen from the snow, walked forward, and through searing pain and rage had murdered the now unarmed enemy. “Murdered” was the very word he used.   Having denied mercy some 54 or 55 years earlier, he now begged for what he’d once been unable to extend. Think about this. For just a moment. Please. What do you think?   Now consider this further detail. This old man had been born in Germany and had only immigrated to the US in 1952. (The same year I was born.) And that tattoo on his left side? It revealed to me a historical detail I’d recognized as a result of my own interest in and study of martial history. He had not been a mere draftee, fighting in the GERMAN army, but had been a volunteer in the vicious Nazi SS. And those unarmed enemy he told of murdering in December of 1944, had been Americans.   I held his hand. And forgave him. And then with his permission I called a Protestant Chaplain to visit with him as well. This all felt so, right. (or had I simply been moved by an old man’s tears?)   (Later that night I found myself considering the stories I’d heard, of my own uncle who I never had a chance to know.  Jimmy had been killed in that same war. In that same year.  By a German.  And is buried in the American Battle Monuments Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.) But this old man was not the vicious storm-trooper of martial lore. He was a loving husband, a father, and grandfather. A humble welder who’d worked for the same company for 40 years. And my sense was he’d never shared this story with his wife or children. He died in the night, maybe 1 or 2 days later. (And this dialog remains our secret.) Was what I did, and what I've done since, mercy? Or merely merciful? Was mercy, mine even to give? Was it something else? Something that was simply just and proper. Is that mercy too?   Briefly compelled to explore manifestations of that ideal, I started with the dictionary: Merriam -Websters Dictonary: Definition of Mercy 1 a :  compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power    b : imprisonment rather than death 2 a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion    b : a fortunate circumstance And then I went on-line: from “Got Questions: Your questions. Biblical Answers.” I chose from the menu, "What does it mean that God is merciful?      Answer: “God being merciful basically means that, when we deserve punishment, He doesn’t punish us, and in fact blesses us instead. Mercy is the withholding of a just condemnation.”   But I’m not God. From another source: “Grace is getting what you do not deserve; while mercy is not getting what you do deserve.”   Which left the question, What does ANYONE deserve? And who is to choose?  Dang. From the Episcopal Church “Daily word of Grace 4/23/2020, I found this:   “mercy is also what God gives us every day regardless of how aware or unaware we are of it-by not punishing us for every foul thought word and deed, not punishing us for the myriad selfish “devices and desires of our own hearts” (The Book of Common Prayer 41), not punishing us for the many ways we hurt others and hurt ourselves, not punishing us for our conscious and unconscious taking God for granted and presuming on God’s grace.”   And so still thinking, pondering, and wondering, it occurs to me that there IT is. Without condition.   I suppose at a time such as this and under such circumstances, such a petition for the lords’ mercy is entirely warranted. Regardless of everything else. I suppose. Hope, and prayers. Ich hatt' einen Kameraden
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