ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Share #1 Posted May 20, 2015 Evening all, I have quite an amusing, but rather sad story to share with everyone. There is one Old Breed Marine left in my locale. He was with the 11th Marines on the Canal [bloody Ridge, Matanikau River, Lunga etc]. When he came off the island, he brought with him to the LST an emormous [almost unbelievable] amount of souvenirs. Among the most memorable, a huge bundle of Katanas. At that time, having lived through the campaign, he was more interested in having a smoke than hauling his trophies around. So he asked around the ship's company which members would have cigars, and traded all his souvenirs, including every one of the katanas, for 3 boxes worth of cigars. Has anyone ever come across a Guadalcanal bringback which was said to have been traded to USN personnel, by a Marine, for a cigar or box of cigars? He really regrets getting rid of them and expressed to me [because of my being internet savvy] to put the word out. He knew it was a very long shot, but stranger things have been found after 7 decades! Figure it could be narrowed down [in case any other Canal Marines had a cigar craving post-battle] by determining which LST received members of the 11th Marines after the campaign. Thanks very much! VFG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USdog Posted May 20, 2015 Share #2 Posted May 20, 2015 What was the marines name? It sometimes says in the muster rolls what ship they embarked on from a specific island I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted May 20, 2015 Actually already looked for him lol, didn't find any enteries at all... I'll PM you Connor, he didn't want his name disclosed publically... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted May 20, 2015 Hopefully more information to come gents. I'm still a rookie at Ancestry's rolls so I very well may have missed his entries somehow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted May 20, 2015 Share #5 Posted May 20, 2015 Has anyone ever come across a Guadalcanal bringback which was said to have been traded to USN personnel, by a Marine, for a cigar or box of cigars? He really regrets getting rid of them and expressed to me [because of my being internet savvy] to put the word out. He knew it was a very long shot, but stranger things have been found after 7 decades! Figure it could be narrowed down [in case any other Canal Marines had a cigar craving post-battle] by determining which LST received members of the 11th Marines after the campaign. I am confused. What exactly is he looking for? Once the word is out, what does he want? He wants to buy the katanas back? I am sure there were thousands of Marines who traded thousands of items to thousands of Navy personnel. This is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. If he wants a katana, why not just buy one off the internet? There is no way to find and prove that one item was actually the one he found. ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted May 20, 2015 Share #6 Posted May 20, 2015 He'd like to get some of his souvenirs back. The cigars are the only clue that might connect the dots. Everybody knows it's beyond a longshot, including the marine. What the heck, maybe he'll get lucky. I don't see anything wrong with trying to help the old timer out no matter how thin the odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted May 20, 2015 Share #7 Posted May 20, 2015 He'd like to get some of his souvenirs back. The cigars are the only clue that might connect the dots. Everybody knows it's beyond a longshot, including the marine. What the heck, maybe he'll get lucky. I don't see anything wrong with trying to help the old timer out no matter how thin the odds. I understand this but does he want his souvenirs back? If so, is he going to pay for the items or have someone give him the items? You could be talking about thousands of dollars. Does he want to find the soldier that he traded with? What does he mean by get the word out? To me, this request is a little vague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted May 20, 2015 He'd like to get some of his souvenirs back. The cigars are the only clue that might connect the dots. Everybody knows it's beyond a longshot, including the marine. What the heck, maybe he'll get lucky. I don't see anything wrong with trying to help the old timer out no matter how thin the odds. Thanks man. Yes, he wondered if there would be a chance to find his souvenirs again. It's the beauty of the internet, networking that might just produce results. How he would go about getting them back is putting the cart before the horse lol...Being vague has nothing to do with it. Any research project is vague until more details are known. By gettign the word out, I meant merely posting a message to those on this site that might say, solely collect LST crew items/groups, or some such facet of collecting. Also those who research, that they would have skills better than mine to find the ship he re-embarked on, thus narrowing the field. & really it's not hard if a Navy vet happens to be from an [or the if it happens only on vessel took the majority of the 11th off the island] LST that is recorded as having taken members of the 11th Marines off Guadalcanal. We know his [the Marine's] unit, and may be able to know the exact vessel. That narrows it down considerably to a single ship. Since he supposedly had such a variety, that narrows the chances again. Many items traded on one vessel. Furthermore, many Naval vessels have reunion or veteran associations/websites, including several I've seen for members of a particular LST. What if? What if this LST happened to have a website, or a newsletter distributed to vets and their families? It's a shot in the dark I'd like to take, and we'll just have to see where it goes. Sure as shootin' can't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatic Posted May 20, 2015 Share #9 Posted May 20, 2015 I'm of no help at all, but want to wish you good luck with the search. I really hope you can find some of his items Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted May 20, 2015 Thanks very much. I once located [through one vague lead] the sole surviving squad member who was with a local GI when he died at the Roer River. Different situation entirely, but I'm not discouraged at any longshot situation until I have reason to feel discouraged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellasilva Posted May 20, 2015 Share #11 Posted May 20, 2015 Anything is possible and I wish both of you luck in finding his souveniers. Crazier things have happened than a sailor documenting the name of Marine that he traded some cigars for katanas with. If he's still around and kicking, he could still be in possession of them. How neat would it be to see him reunited with them? Keep us updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted May 20, 2015 Surely will, working with Connor to find him [my friend] on the rolls at this point. Turns out I got part of his name incorrect initially... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewfinderGyrene Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share #13 Posted May 20, 2015 As of now I know he was in O Btry/5th Battalion, 11th Marines. The 11th Departed as a whole on 12/15/42. I used to have a Fold3 account, but haven't renewed yet. Plan to cross-reference their ship diaries to see if I can locate the vessel that boarded 5/11... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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