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Here's my collection, I sold most modern pieces, kept the ones I like.

I’m kidding, but I believe I have seen your videos before welcome aboard officially 😀

I know the channel, I’ll post a link for other members to view.

Thank you very much, I believe this coat was issued while overseas as the contract date if I remember dates it to June of 1918. It also has some small field repairs so I’m guessing this was a coat he wore pretty late war and during the occupation. Also my first ID’d uniform. I really like this set.

The Tiger Bde was based at Ft Hood, as part of the 2nd Armored Div. The posted patch is a not too old paki-made creation. I’ve never seen an original worn patch of this design. When I was in the 2AD in the early 80’s, the only place I saw this insignia was on a large sign outside the HQ building.

Lately I've been looking at my collection and thinking to myself, what have I done? And what am I going to to with all this stuff? Justin

I just realized I have never introduced myself, even though I have over 130 posts and have been on this forum since September. Anyways. Hello. I am Levi, though I go by my last name, Wade. I have been collecting militaria since I was 10. I live in Central Minnesota, USA. When I was 11, I dug a foxhole in my backyard and started a YouTube channel where I post WW2 reenactment videos. Please, don't try to find it. It is pretty bad. My main focuses are WW2 and Vietnam, but I do sometimes collect the 1980s era gear or other military gear that crosses my path (as long as it's cheap). I have no main area of expertise. I do speak Spanish fluently (I've been learning since I was maybe 5), a little bit of German, and a TINY amount of French. Thank you all for all the help given, Wade.

A very nice pattern 1918 service coat, and with composition buttons, too.

What is amazing is that anybody would accept that a patch with a black back with a matching black twill backing as being WWII is beyond me. I don't get it...... -Ski

I am still missing some things for this though, such as a victory medal, some Collar brass, a good picture of him. He’s like a ghost, you just can’t find him!

I replied to this thread four years ago, and at that time I was still adding to the collection. Today, I'm looking to reduce the collection to better manage it, and to return to the original purpose I started some 25 years ago. The hundred plus helmets has been reduced to 85 and hopefully will be reduced by another 5 to 10 in the next month. Knives and bayonets are going up for sale at a local military show, along with some uniforms, web gear, and unique items. I am still buying to fill some holes, but carefully. I believe that at a certain time (up to each individual) one realizes that the collection has taken over, and that time has marched on. I've reached that point, and from now on, more will go out than comes in. In the end I'll have six sets of gear for WW1, WW2 (three sets), Korea, and Vietnam. along with my milsurps and edged implements. It should take me about two years to get there. On the other hand, I went to a local gun show and bought a Webley Pre-RIC pistol and then picked up a book on it, even though I have no British collectables. Sometimes it's tough to stay on plan in this business.

Hey all, I have had this uniform for A LONG time and never really been able to identify it till mid last year and even then I wasn’t sure as the name was practically gone, from but with the help of a black light and being able to study the uniform and narrow it down I came upon the Conclusion that this uniform belonged to Raymond Clarence Franklin of Co. “E” 318th Sappers apart of the 6th infantry division in France. He enlisted on March 8th 1918 in Portland Oregon and was sent to Vancouver Barracks an at the to the 318th where they trained for a total of 3 months brute departing to the New Jersey to be shipped overseas with the 6th. They departed from Hoboken NJ on May 8 and arrived at breast in June and soon started working building Barracks and water supply systems behind the lines near Chatteu Thierry and in that general vicinity where they nearly participated as an infantry unit because of lack of troops. After working for a Few months they later transferred to the Vosges sector around late August early September, they remained here manning the line even though it was a rarely quiet sector. Here Co. E and Co. F worked continuously on building better trails and road for artillery and supply purposes. Here they worked under frequent shell fire and suffered a few minor wounds. Towards the end there they were transferred off the line for a bit but later joined the 6th infantry division the Meuse Argonne Offensive for the last week or two. Here they worked more as a frontline Engineer unit working right in the wake of the German retreat and even rebuilding a crucial bridge near the town of Stonne. This helped the allied pursuit of the retreating Germans. While doing this they were attacked multiple times by enemy machine guns and aircraft as well as booby traps that were left behind by retreating Germans. For example when laying low In a German trench a group from Co. E was cooking In a German stove unbeknownst to them there were a handful of grenades up the stove pipe which cooked off and instantly killed two of the sappers and wounded the surrounding group. Soon the armistice was announced and the unit stayed as an occupying force in the Alsace region. Soon in June-July the 318th was sent back to the states including Pvt. Franklin who arrived back and went back to Oregon where he spent the rest of his life living peacefully on the river. He never married or had any family. Pvt. Franklin may not have had the most interesting service or life in general, but I think his story is very simple in the best way possible. He served his country even at the age of 40 when he enlisted having been born in 1879. Hope someone here enjoyed my very basic write up and the uniform which came with a nice little bit of pocket litter including some business cards to a man in the 88th, some German coins he probably picked up in the Alsace region, his footlocker key, And a spoon dated 1916. The spoon and coins were both found inside the lining of uniform as they had fallen through a rip in the pocket. Hope ya’ll enjoyed and a big thanks to @stratasfan for doing the basic research that helped me put this together.

Woah…… I am seething with jealousy. Where did you find that?!?

Here is an unusual M3 I picked up recently. It is a late 60's or early 70's M3 knife made in Japan and imported by Parker Brothers Chattanooga, TN. You see the 1960's Japanese made M4 bayonets but this is the first Japanese made M3 I have seen. You see the 90's Camillus reproduction m3's, later Ontario M3's, and new Chinese cheapo M3's. Couldn't resist buying it.

And of course, we have to add more Dallas wings to the list. The Johnson Company of NY, which appears to have made yet another "Dallas" style wing--but from New York City! These spade shield wings are now probably firmy established as vintage (at least in part) to WWI. It's not clear to me how well the Johnson wings sold, or if they ever reached the Army pilots or were just some dead stock. I am waiting to see your article.... "wink wink nudge nudge say no more"... which I think sheds some light on the source of these wings and may clear up the old lore. It's been my suspicion that these Dallas wings were striking and popular with pilots. They show up nicely on the vintage photos, and they sure are handsome. Too bad they moved away from them.

outstanding and unique grouping!! Thanks for sharing it with us. Steve

Have been a watcher on the forum for a while. Served regular Army for 6 years 7 months as an Infantryman 11C/11B. Was a WW2 reenactor and Civil War reenactor. Along with those hobbies comes collecting. Was always mostly interested in combat infantry gear. pretty much interested in US bayonets and Army knives.

Thank God I have an interest in something that keeps me very busy, I love every second of it.

Not sure what it is, but the Latin on the patch roughly translates to “You give us your TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) and we’ll drop your peace pigeons for you.”

I think the Schiffer book is very nice, but I have found some errors here and there, including what I call "dealer lore" as opposed to actual scholarly research (such as copies of the pertinent regulations). Since the USN provided everything that an aviation cadet was going to wear, AND the Navy regulations very clearly proscribed what could be worn, I doubt that the cadet could wear V5 wings while in primary flight training (to steal a line from Animal House.... "Is that a PLEDGE PIN on your UNIFORM!') if it wasnt specifically allowed. Again, graduation from V5 program did NOT make you a Naval aviator, If the cadets WERE allowed to wear such a pin, there would be a statement in the cadet regulations that said: "If you graduated from the V5 program, you can wear V5 wings 1 inch above the center seam of the right breast pocket of your uniform...". That would be the type of scholarly proof I would want to see... Or maybe even a picture of new aviation cadets walking about with V5 wings on their uniform. The V5 program was basically the Navy contingent of the CPT-WTS civilian training program. The USAAF aviation cadets weren't wearing their CPT wings whilst being trained and I suspect the V5 guys were in the same boat with the USN. Still, never say never.... There is almost always an exception.

Duncan Campbell once opined about WW1 era wings, "One to two new patterns heretofore unseen by collectors seem to crop up every year." While this has remained consistently true to the present, mostly attributable to the one-of-a-kind bespoke wings made by individual jewelers, it does seem especially strange that a wing made by a major manufacturer could evade collector knowledge. That seems to be the case with one such badge almost surely made by Bailey Banks and Biddle (BB&B) of Philadelphia, PA. Because this is a thread about "Dallas" wings, for ease of characterization and to avoid confusion with other types of multi-piece wings, we'll focus on Dr. Frost's @pfrost excellent collector's definition for Dallas wings: This simple but apt definition neatly expands the "Dallas" category to encompass all versions and all ratings of these popular badges, avoids the pitfall of tying the type to one specific manufacturer, and helps collectors understand how this popular design fits in with other WW1 era wing badges. Within the last decade, a few collectors became aware of another pattern of "Dallas" wings. In design and construction detail, these badges were categorically similar to other Dallas wings, but especially so to those known to have been made by BB&B. Side-by-side examination with a strong magnifying glass reveals the leather and cloth components to be identical. Certain mechanical construction techniques (i.e. a smooth, thin, flat, gold US affixed to a supporting "table" incorporated into the shield's die work, shape of the leather piece) are also fully consistent. Finally, the hinge and catch are identical--varying only by length of pin. While it is true multiple jewelers purchased findings from commercial manufacturers, and there is overlap, the physical consistency across the badges is noteworthy. The badges also share a common design "language." Until actually having a chance to examine a few examples of these badges "in the flesh," I too thought they were best described as yet another example of the popular Dallas wing. However, a side by side comparison with other BB&B wings revealed a key difference: These new badges are overall about 15% smaller: Despite being comparatively smaller than the larger badge, the 2nd type nonetheless remains over-sized; measuring in at just under three and a half inches. By the closing months of WW1, the Army had increasingly grown frustrated with the general state of non-uniformity across its various insignia. With respect to wing badges the ultimate (and for some, unhappy) result was establishment of the Adams design badges in 1919. Before these Adams badges supplanted all the others, various manufacturers seem to have responded to this pressure from "the brass" by marketing versions of their popular Dallas badges that hewed somewhat closer to the prescribed three-inch size specified by regulations. Another possibility worth considering is these smaller badges might represent a BB&B submission to the Government for evaluation when the Army was looking to crack-down on the wild WW1 era badges. This latter theory is not unreasonable; BB&B was responsible for many official designs of government medals and insignia. To date, no BB&B manufacturing records or advertising materials seem to have surfaced that reference these smaller badges. Coming late in the war, retailers may not have known they were an option for order--partially explaining their scarcity. Perhaps as well, they came late enough in the era that they were replaced almost immediately by the "FROM OFFICIAL DIE" Adams patterns--before many could find their way into the hands of many Aviators. We do know at least Brigadier General Billy Mitchell owned a pair. At any rate, these smaller badges are quite scarce and seldom encountered. If you are fortunate enough to spot one out in the wild, the aspect that stands out above all others is how much smaller they appear compared to other BB&B Dallas wings. The photo above captures this size difference well and should help if encountering one of these scarce wings.

Those are neat wings. While they may seem like "just" sweetheart wings, they hit three or four collecting interests. There is a LOT of interest in Mexican jewelry, and this is a classic of that type of workmanship. Hector Aguilar was an important artist and his work is highly sought after in its own right. Second, if you look at the hinge and catch, these are the same type of findings found on many of the Walter Lampl (AKA Juarez) and Bell wings. Probably made in the same general geographic area (Southwest US/Northwest Mexico), it underlies the relationship to the region, craftsmanship, and art. Rumor has it that Lampl used Mexican silver and craftsmen to make their iconic wings. However, there is a lack of clarity regarding this exact fact, which probably requires further research. I suspect if you were driving down the old Route 66 in 1946 or 47, you could find these types of items being offered for sale at every gas station/trading post along the way. The ones I found (discussed in the link above) are cast examples made using the lost wax method. I suspect that they were made as copies rather than by Hector Aguilar's workshop.

I had to dig it out but here's the accepted 205th/206th Infantry Shoulder Insignia (circular patch with silk screened beaver). Big distinction from long tailed weasel looking animal (we call them mongoose overhere on the islands) within the red diamond that is attributed to the 4th AAMGB. Ummm, yeah, details count!!!

Lieutenant Rollin "bud" bauschpies 1957- 1958 flight suit. And his aph 5 helmet VF 22 and VF11 squadron. F2 banshee 1930 - 2017 . Retired captain

I'm not addicted, I only have 165 uniforms and a few hundred medals!