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New set of dog tags with a bit of family history tied to them


Blu1989
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Hey everyone. I was browsing ebay a while back and these came up during a search. I thought they were curious and decided to go for them since the marine in question (1st Lt Aikman) had a rather long career. He served in China in 1937 as a last generation China Marine before coming back stateside and playing football for USC in 1939. He also was enlisted in WW2 and was one of the poster marines (I guess his picture was used for recruitment and bond drive posters) and around that time he lived in the same town my mom's family was from in Pennsylvania, which peaked my interest as well. I saw in his obit that he also served in Korea, retiring in 1956 as a 1st Lt. At some point he served in the 1st Marine Division since he belonged to many organizations associated with them but I'm not sure when exactly he served with them. Also looking at his obit I noticed his last address he lived at before he passed away in 1984 was very familiar so I ran it by my mom and she told me something very surprising. The address (a small apartment building with maybe 20 units) he used to live at was the very address one of my great uncles also used to live at and had lived at for several decades until he passed away recently! That threw me for a loop for sure and I wondered if maybe the two gentlemen knew each other as my great uncle was extremely sociable and made it a point to befriend all of his neighbors. Anyway my mom had been talking to the owner of the complex in regards to some issues relating to my great uncle's passing and somehow 1st Lt Aikman came up. When my mom asked about him and my great uncle we learned that both gentlemen knew each other intimately since they lived two doors down from each other and would meet regularly until the 1st Lt got sick and briefly moved out prior to his passing in 1984. That made this set of dog tags that much more special to me since they belonged to a good friend and neighbor of my great uncle, who I cherished greatly. When I got this set I put them on a plastic dog tag holder I had found at a flea market a few months ago and now they are displayed on a jeweler's necklace display in my room. Hope you guys like them as much as I do.

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Pretty neat story and goes to show how it's a small world sometimes. Thank you for sharing the story.

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