Treasure Chest, the memorabilia of Gen. F.J. Chesarek

[scottplen]

Wow The history !!!!

[Guest Upriver]

UPDATE

 

It is hard to imagine that almost a year has gone by since I traveled to California to receive my Uncles Military artifacts and memorabilia.

I have learned a lot about his 32+ years of service to our country and will continue to research and post any new finds of interest.

 

Recently I wrote to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL to see if they had any photos or documents concerning Ches's tenure

as Commanding Officer of the Army Materiel Command or AMC. The materiel command provides everything the U.S.Army needs.

" If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, communicates with it, or eats it – AMC provides it." AMC motto.

 

And not only did they send me a nice DVD of photos but also several interesting documents which he authored.

 

General Chesarek was the second Commander following General Frank S. Besson Jr. and several of the photos they sent showed the

change of command ceremony from March 10, 1969. This was also the same day in which Ches was promoted to full General! Must have been an exciting day!

Hope you enjoy these. Bob

 

Waiting to begin...

 

Stanley R. Resor was United States Secretary of the Army at the time.

 

Passing of the AMC colors to General Chesarek from General Westmoreland.

 

General Besson congradulates General Chesarek on his new assignment.

 

And a great photo, just a shame its a little out of focus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cavcon]

This is just an awesome collection of family history. You should be extremely proud of your uncle and his career. It is also amazing that he saved all of these items and your aunt thought enough of you to hand them down. I am sure you uncle would be proud to know that you have accepted them. Thank you for sharing.

[Butch L.]

Very cool!

 

Butch

[4STARCHRIS]

It is interesting to note that that is the General Westmoreland uniform I had in my collection. Don't think I seen that pic before. thanks for all the memories, history and allowing us to "relive" a great soldiers history again.

4starchris

[tsakers85]

A couple more quick uniform photos. I will do a more thorough feature in the appropriate section in the future.

 

Dress whites with ID suit bag.

 

 

 

This photo was taken in Verona

 

 

I've never seen general's whites with the wide cuff band. Awesome uniform!

 

You have some great family history!

[Hatz50228]

Ches-Gen-4

I just saw this thread and I think I can answer the questions on your Uncle's USMA articles. With the blankets, I do not know about the black ones with the gold USMA crest. They may have been from a gift shop picked up at a reunion. The Grey one in the venter is the is the issued grey blanket that went on a cadet's bed and is still issued today. The green wool blanket looks like a standard Army-Issue that if issued to him at USMA would have been used for summer training at West Point.

 

On the Cadet Dress Coat, The three small stripes on the sleeves denote how many years the cadet has been at USMA, three indicating a Senior or "Firstie." The lack of rank is most likely due to West Point's policy of having cadets turn in their stripes after graduation or have to pay for them.

 

Finally, for the medal my guess is it was awarded for winning a Cadet Brigade Intramural Championship. USCC does mean United States Corps of Cadets. My guess in 1938 D Co means that the recipient belonged to D Co in 1938. Of note, in the 1930's the USCC consisted of only 1 Regiment A-I Cos where as now there are 4 Regiments.

 

Also, did you happen to find your uncles USMA bathrobe? During the time your uncle was there, the old barracks were very cold and drafty during the long winters. Cadets frequently wore there bathrobes to help keep warm. The usually decorated them by sewing several patches on to them of various Army units.

 

Great job displaying all of your Uncles Memorabilia.

 

Wade USMA Class of 2004

[Dakota]

Over the past 2 Years that you posted the memorabilia I truthfully enjoyed your Uncle's "Treasure Chest" IT IS OUTSTANDING! I've monitored the items you continued to add and it was just jaw dropping. Thank you for posting and your Uncle would be proud on how you honored him.

 

 

 

D

[Ches-Gen-4]

Ches-Gen-4

I just saw this thread and I think I can answer the questions on your Uncle's USMA articles. With the blankets, I do not know about the black ones with the gold USMA crest. They may have been from a gift shop picked up at a reunion. The Grey one in the venter is the is the issued grey blanket that went on a cadet's bed and is still issued today. The green wool blanket looks like a standard Army-Issue that if issued to him at USMA would have been used for summer training at West Point.

 

On the Cadet Dress Coat, The three small stripes on the sleeves denote how many years the cadet has been at USMA, three indicating a Senior or "Firstie." The lack of rank is most likely due to West Point's policy of having cadets turn in their stripes after graduation or have to pay for them.

 

Finally, for the medal my guess is it was awarded for winning a Cadet Brigade Intramural Championship. USCC does mean United States Corps of Cadets. My guess in 1938 D Co means that the recipient belonged to D Co in 1938. Of note, in the 1930's the USCC consisted of only 1 Regiment A-I Cos where as now there are 4 Regiments.

 

Also, did you happen to find your uncles USMA bathrobe? During the time your uncle was there, the old barracks were very cold and drafty during the long winters. Cadets frequently wore there bathrobes to help keep warm. The usually decorated them by sewing several patches on to them of various Army units.

 

Great job displaying all of your Uncles Memorabilia.

 

Wade USMA Class of 2004

 

Thank you Wade for the insightful information you have provided. His USMA bathrobe was not in the items I received, but knowing him, he most likely wore it till it was thread bare.

I was able to get a copy of Uncle Ches's USMA Transcript or Consolidated Cadet File and was delighted to read it over and over, especially the individual delinquency record where every months offenses are listed for the 4 year term. He defiantly wasn't into cleaning, polishing brass or his shoes.

Here's another funny one: May 1935 "Failing to wear pajamas in bed, about 1:30 am" he actually got 2 demerits for that one.

I appreciate the complements on the display. Bob

 

 

[Ches-Gen-4]

Major - Dakota

I am glad that you have enjoyed viewing my Uncles memorabilia as much as I enjoyed presenting it. Thanks for the complements. Bob

[doyler]

Bob

I have been simply amazed at the amount of material and history that you have shown with the archive of items from your Uncle.Thankyou for taking so much time to post his items and the descriptions.An outstanding tribute to an outstanding man.

 

The period pictures of of him really are a great addition.A classic uniform study of two combat officers.Im guessing the color of his scarf may have been red or maroon seeing he was an artillery officer.I also noted in the pictures of him with the other officer they both wear what appear to be custom made shoulder holsters.This was a common practice especially during the occupation as service men would have the locals make holsters and other items im exchange for goods.Both holsters for US and captured weapons were made.I own a few examples.

 

Thanks again for the great post on your uncle

 

RON

[Ches-Gen-4]

It has been my pleasure Ron. Thanks for the complements and thank you to everyone for keeping this thread alive...wow over 13,000 views!

I think my Uncle would be humbled. Bob

[manayunkman]

Very nice captured items.

 

Having held on to a few blades over the years I would say the nicest one you have is the I.R. engraved bayonet with an upgrade stag handle.

[firefighter]

WOW!! Amazing stuff.

[Ches-Gen-4]

Please add the following photos back into the appropriate posts. The photos belong to post # 82 thru post # 119. Thank you, Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[firefighter]

Again, WOW!!! The Order of the Cloud & banner is very cool and I really like the plaque from Vietnam.

Thank you again for sharing your family history.

[Ches-Gen-4]

FOUND! General Chesareks WWII Footlocker!

 

Early this spring I was doing some research on the Colonel that was my Uncles Aide De Camp during his time as Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command and found out that Colonel Van Meter had died years ago. In the obit was listed his wifes name so I wrote a letter to her asking about her husbands military service and if she knew any details about his service with my Uncle.

Much to my surprise I received a phone call from her excited to tell me abut how much her husband admired the General and how fortunate he felt to have worked for him and with him. She offered to send me some photographs and material about her husband and then kind of matter of factually said that she believed she had my Uncles old footlocker down in the basement. Apparently her husband had brought it home or was keeping it for the General.

Then she asked me if I would like to have it !!!!

I had to stop stammering enough to say... YES, I'd love to have it!

She said she would drag it outside and take a photo of it and send it to me.

Well, I was in shock. What did she have? What would it look like? My questions were answered when she sent me this photo:

 

 

There it was, big letters across the top...COL. F.J. CHESAREK over his serial number 021177. AWESOME! It looked a little beat up and there was this big swatch of tan paint covering up some other lettering, but none the less this was Ches's footlocker! And it still had the brass padlock marked U.S. with a key and chain.!

To make a long story short, I finally received the footlocker here in Pennsylvania back at the end of July.

My initial inspection revealed that there was no tray inside and even the wood strips that the tray would have sat on were removed. I could see the holes where they would have been attached through each side. The left side of the box was severely damaged by some kind of animal. The handle was loose and half chewed away and large pieces of the top layer of plywood were torn off. The top corners of the box were chewed away clear to the inner layer. Lastly, the box just stunk! That moldy, mildewy smell that stuff gets from being in a damp basement for years.

After looking at it in the garage for a week (my wife would not let me bring that smelly old box up to our display room ) I decided that I had to restore it enough to make it look presentable but not like new. I wanted to keep some of the damage that came from dragging that box to Europe and back and for all I know maybe to Korea too.

I sanded the interior and applied two coats of satin Polyurethane. That cured the musty smell and provided a nice smooth finish as I plan to store some of the Generals possessions inside. Then to tackle the outside there was several things I had to do. First I spent a week lifting all the separated outer layers of plywood and spreading wood glue underneath and clamping them back into position. And there were a LOT of loose layers. Then I used a combination of different wood fillers to repair the stripped off layers of missing plywood and rebuild the half chewed away handle.

After that dried I found a very close match of paint and touched up the wood filler. The paint doesn't look real close in the photos but in person looks much better. Lastly, I very gently scraped away some of the tan over paint covering the address underneath to reveal - 2776 FORT SCOTT DRIVE, ARLINGTON 2 VA. Cool!

Now I know this may make some of you cringe but I wanted to bring back some of the color and seal the dry wood so I carefully applied a thin coat of the aforementioned satin polyurethane to the outside of the box. To me (and the wife) it now looks awesome and is a welcome addition to the Generals collection. Something we will not be afraid to store his artifacts in and keep on display.

I hope you enjoy the following photos showing the before and after restoration. Thanks for looking, Bob

 

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General Chesareks WWII footlocker restoration photos.

 

 

 

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Bob,

 

You actually found THE treasure chest simply by happenstance.

 

A fortunate thing indeed.

[Ches-Gen-4]

Restoration photos - part two.

 

 

 

Restoration photos - part three.

 

Close up of the restored lid. Thanks

 

 

 

 

[Ches-Gen-4]

Bob,

 

You actually found THE treasure chest simply by happenstance.

 

A fortunate thing indeed.

 

Ha Ha..that's funny! I never thought of that you are right, we found the treasure before the chest! Good one!

 

[uniformcollector]

Wow that is amazing! How lucky was that? Congrats on another great item and a nice restoration job.

[firefighter]

Great job. An amazing find.

[Ches-Gen-4]

Talk about out of the woodwork...I still can't believe it. Thanks for the complements. Bob

[Ches-Gen-4]

AND YET ANOTHER SURPRISE - THE GENERALS PERSONAL SIDE ARM!

 

A couple of weeks ago my Aunt call and said that she was going through some boxes and found something she knew I wanted to have of my uncles. In the box was his Colt .32 acp Govt. issue pistol!

When I went out to CA. 3 years ago to pick up all of his military artifacts, I was given his Officers pistol belt and holster but my aunt said she did not know where the pistol was.

Well we know where it is now

 

Uncle Ches was issued his Colt on March 23, 1961 according to Sam Lisker of ColtAutos.com. I also found out from his web site that this pistol was produced by Colt between 1944 and 1945 based on a list of serial numbers and years of manufacture. Ches became a Brigadier General on June 30, 1961.

 

Below is his Colt, dog tags and one of his Shoulder boards.

 

 

 

Here is a photo of the other side:

 

 

 

 

And his belt and holster.

 

[uniformcollector]

That is so great! It is wonderful to know that there is someone in the family who wants to save these things for future generations. In a sense, you are preserving your uncles memory.