History Man Posted November 26, 2013 Share #76 Posted November 26, 2013 What a fantastic opportunity to become the caretaker of the items, they could not have found a better home. While I understand that museums may like this, I think it is exactly where the veteran would have wanted it. The amount of information and documentation is amazing, but the helmet, jackets, and other period items really make the group jaw-dropping. What ended up coming in the last shipment? This group would look stunning displayed. Congrats Mike! Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted November 26, 2013 Share #77 Posted November 26, 2013 Thanks my friend! I see you like Navy uniforms for Samar. I have an id'ed helmet from a sailor that worked on the forward naval base at Samar. Still has the yellowish sand stains to the top of the helmet! Thanks, Mike That's petty darned cool. I was initially attracted to Navy collecting after getting a man's entire military career in a box for all of $50. Couldn't believe it, so the ebay-itis kicked in and the packages rolled in. Read "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" and was hooked. I've backed off a bit, and try not to leap unless a piece (usually jumpers) fits into the collection in a big way, or if I can get it for dirt cheap and ID it myself. What a wealth of information, and the things that were there, on the ship, are top notch. Blues are always connected to the man, but there is something about a deck jacket or helmet that is so interesting because it was there. My Sammy B. uniform was sold separately from a deck jacket that I just couldn't swing, and I kick myself still, but it would have meant a tremendous downsizing. I figure it was on one of the life rafts, or was donated by the PC that picked up most of the Sammy B's men, but I digress. Good stuff, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share #78 Posted November 26, 2013 What a fantastic opportunity to become the caretaker of the items, they could not have found a better home. While I understand that museums may like this, I think it is exactly where the veteran would have wanted it. The amount of information and documentation is amazing, but the helmet, jackets, and other period items really make the group jaw-dropping. What ended up coming in the last shipment? This group would look stunning displayed. Congrats Mike! Philip Thanks for the kind words Philip. A problem I have with some museums is that they will take such an archive and store it away in the loft of the building and never display it. Once the museum closes someone will make money selling it all off. If this archive leaves me (which it will at some point, unless my sons would like to continue with my collections) it will go to other collectors that really have a heart and passion for our hobby! I will display these items at the university where I teach and where we have a large military student body from Ft. Bragg and Pope AFB and Marines as well! I also present items in my classes. It is very personal and the students really get a lot out of it! I think many vets are appreciative of the fact that their artifacts and stories are being used to educate college students about the war effort! The last shipment had the personal item board of Swede's and the photo books and many itmes I have not even opened as yet. I did uncover a really beautiful USS Thorn beer mug late last night! Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Rally Posted November 26, 2013 Share #79 Posted November 26, 2013 I did uncover a really beautiful USS Thorn beer mug late last night! Cheers Mike To fully honor those men that served aboard and preserved the history of the Thorn, you HAVE drink a cold brew using that mug. Like a vintage car is made to be driven, that mug was made to hold and deliver an icy cold beverage. As a sailor, I can say that you would be truly paying homage to those men by this action (unless the mug is to fragile to accomplish this). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share #80 Posted November 27, 2013 To fully honor those men that served aboard and preserved the history of the Thorn, you HAVE drink a cold brew using that mug. Like a vintage car is made to be driven, that mug was made to hold and deliver an icy cold beverage. As a sailor, I can say that you would be truly paying homage to those men by this action (unless the mug is to fragile to accomplish this). It is in pristine condition. So I will open a Guiness and have a big cheers to the crew of the USS Thorn! Cheers! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted November 27, 2013 Share #81 Posted November 27, 2013 I didn't have this ship on my Iwo Jima ships list, thank you! Congratulations for such a awesome donation! LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted November 27, 2013 Share #82 Posted November 27, 2013 Please keep us posted with pictures if you have the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpkdd850 Posted November 27, 2013 Share #83 Posted November 27, 2013 Sir, We recently have seen your posting of these THORN items from the estate of our good friend Swede Swenson. You may be interested to know that a majority of the THORN Association collection (including most of her shipboard artifacts and those items from the new THORN DD988) have been sent to the National Destroyermens Museum at Battleship Cove for preservation, interpretation, and display and are accessible to the National Destroyermens Association (Tin Can Sailors) as Swede wished. We (along with Swede's help) are also the originators, caretakers and now future custodians of the Thorn website and are trying to help create a new THORN Association baselined with the modern vessel. Our goal is to carry on the THORN legacy and teach youth of the sacrifices of yesteryear. We certainly hope that you will do the same with the items you have and make them accessible to any new THORN Association that may develop and for military museums for public display. Sincerely, Rich Angelini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpkdd850 Posted November 27, 2013 Share #84 Posted November 27, 2013 Also of note, Navy crews during WW2 would never stencil the name of their ship on a helmet and risk identification of the vessel in that way... especially in white letters. Typically no to little markings would be on a USN helmet.... jackets would have a stencil in black of the ship name or number but that would be much harder to discern by visual recongition techniques at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share #85 Posted November 28, 2013 Hi Rich, You are correct about the stencil USS Thorn on the helmets! While the helmets were original to the USS Thorn, Swede told me that the stencils were applied just before the last get-together before the Thorn was sunk! They had placed the stencils for memory sake as many of the sailors took their helmets home. The one without the white paint on the rim belonged to Lt. Bill Young, an officer with the deck crew; the other was taken from the officer's quarters but I do not have a name. Congrats on your portion of the archive and also for keeping the website online! Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share #86 Posted November 28, 2013 Please keep us posted with pictures if you have the time. I will do so after the 6th of December when I begin my Christmas break! More to come! Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share #87 Posted December 2, 2013 Sir, We recently have seen your posting of these THORN items from the estate of our good friend Swede Swenson. You may be interested to know that a majority of the THORN Association collection (including most of her shipboard artifacts and those items from the new THORN DD988) have been sent to the National Destroyermens Museum at Battleship Cove for preservation, interpretation, and display and are accessible to the National Destroyermens Association (Tin Can Sailors) as Swede wished. We (along with Swede's help) are also the originators, caretakers and now future custodians of the Thorn website and are trying to help create a new THORN Association baselined with the modern vessel. Our goal is to carry on the THORN legacy and teach youth of the sacrifices of yesteryear. We certainly hope that you will do the same with the items you have and make them accessible to any new THORN Association that may develop and for military museums for public display. Sincerely, Rich Angelini Hi Rich, In all respect, in talking with Swede's daughter, I think that I received most of the archive. I have all of the photos and personal and official papers and documents. She stated that other parts of the archive were shared with you and others, but that I have the central aspects of the archive. Also, while I may share information about the archive, it will not be anytime soon. I am also a private collector and I am not willing to send any aspect of the collection anyway anytime in the near future! Best Wishes, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpkdd850 Posted December 10, 2013 Share #88 Posted December 10, 2013 Hi Rich, In all respect, in talking with Swede's daughter, I think that I received most of the archive. I have all of the photos and personal and official papers and documents. She stated that other parts of the archive were shared with you and others, but that I have the central aspects of the archive. Also, while I may share information about the archive, it will not be anytime soon. I am also a private collector and I am not willing to send any aspect of the collection anyway anytime in the near future! Best Wishes, Mike Hi Mike, I would have to assume you never saw the entire THORN collection together, which was quite extensive. What you have is most of the photo collection (which is also online) , a few historic items such as Swede's jacket, and some of the official papers from the ship. However, that is only a part of the huge collection that included many items (most large) that came off the vessel, original ship blueprints and logbooks from most spaces aboard, Swede's battle helmet and lifebelt, flags, invitations, and so on. Before Swede's passing, I spent a few weekends with him in which most of the collection was transported to the museum. I certainly hope that as a private collector you will share those items with the public. Not sure why you are not interested in furthering the promotion of the ships history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge8 Posted December 10, 2013 Share #89 Posted December 10, 2013 WOW! You'll have to build a new room just to display everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share #90 Posted December 10, 2013 Hi Mike, I would have to assume you never saw the entire THORN collection together, which was quite extensive. What you have is most of the photo collection (which is also online) , a few historic items such as Swede's jacket, and some of the official papers from the ship. However, that is only a part of the huge collection that included many items (most large) that came off the vessel, original ship blueprints and logbooks from most spaces aboard, Swede's battle helmet and lifebelt, flags, invitations, and so on. Before Swede's passing, I spent a few weekends with him in which most of the collection was transported to the museum. I certainly hope that as a private collector you will share those items with the public. Not sure why you are not interested in furthering the promotion of the ships history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share #91 Posted December 10, 2013 Hi Rich, I think you have some great items and I do hope that you will enjoy them and I am sure you will display them well! You maybe did not read all of my posts here. I am a professor here in North Carolina, not far from Fort Bragg and Pope Air Base. I am a helmet collector fist and foremost. I give displays in our library most summers. I also show them in my cultural anthropology classes. I have many Vets from recent wars in my classes from all branches of the military. I have a well-known collection (known well by some of the world's best known helmet collectors on this forum) of U.S. Navy helmets from the invasion of Europe and from the Pacific. I also have a large collection of helmets from the U.S. Army on D-Day and beyond and U.S. Marine helmets from the Pacific, including two from Iwo Jima. The Thorn items will be displayed here at some point and in my local shows at local libraries. Swede's daughter said that he would be very happy knowing that these items will help educate students about the role of the USS Thorn during WW II. What I really love about the items sent to me are the many personal items and memos of Swede's! I recently published an article on my ID'ed 29th division helmet in the French magazine, Militaria. I certainly will work on an article about Swede and the USS Thorn for publication. So many items will be used in displays, lectures, and publications. Finally, I do not wish to communicate further with you on the forum about the collection. I think many of the collectors that I have known for many years hear will understand. I will come and see your museum sometime in the future. Also, in terms of museums, many of us on the forum feel that this site itself is a world-wide museum unmatched by few others! Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share #92 Posted December 10, 2013 WOW! You'll have to build a new room just to display everything. We are moving soon to the Wilmington Area and a bigger house! I think I need a whole floor!! Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leatherneck72 Posted December 10, 2013 Share #93 Posted December 10, 2013 Very neat how he had it all organized and cared for it all these years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share #94 Posted December 12, 2013 Very neat how he had it all organized and cared for it all these years... Thanks Leatherneck72. It is amazing! I hope to do an article on Swede and his naval carrier. Going through the archive I have found several really interesting themes and items that I will share this weekend. I am almost finished with going through all the files!! Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted December 13, 2013 Share #95 Posted December 13, 2013 That's a conversation that should have been kept private. I got more than you did ? What is that really about ? I just can't read through this without commenting on that. Remove my/this post if you have to but doesn't anyone else see it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share #96 Posted December 13, 2013 That's a conversation that should have been kept private. I got more than you did ? What is that really about ? I just can't read through this without commenting on that. Remove my/this post if you have to but doesn't anyone else see it ? Manayunkman, you are right on about that and it should have been kept private. However, the two of us have now communicated off line (which it should have been in the first place!) and we are actually sharing a common interest and apologies have been made and I am looking forward to our sharing with each other the great archive that was bestowed upon us. Wish I could remove those couple of posts but don't know if I can! Your concern is right on and I do apologize for the childishness. Happy Holidays, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted December 13, 2013 Share #97 Posted December 13, 2013 Mike, Their first post blew me away. That said I am very glad to hear that the tone has changed and something positive is coming from it. Thank you for your last post, you didn't have to but you did and that speaks volumes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share #98 Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks Peter, This is a strange situation where two people share a common collection like this. Rich apologized for the abrupt manner and it came off as confrontational on both our parts. I regret it. But our better sides have prevailed in this situation and all is well. We agree that we have a responsibility to the vets of this great ship to work together to promote the honor they so richly deserve! I am very happy that you pointed us out on this! Cheers my friend! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted December 13, 2013 Share #99 Posted December 13, 2013 I have been in situations similar and failed. With that said I'm embarrassed to be given any credit since I am more guilty. Mike your attitude says "moving in the right direction". P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-40Warhawk Posted March 25, 2014 Share #100 Posted March 25, 2014 Mike, I'm not sure if you are keeping score of the 'Thorn' helmets out there, but one was sold by AGM in 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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