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Named Navy aviator and other Veterans Day surplus store finds


Ray42
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Since I did not have school today I decided it would be a good day to check out a military surplus store I had heard of in my area, and to my surprise it had very large amounts of WW2 and Korean war items, and even some uniforms from the Spanish-American War. I ended up coming away with some very nice uniforms, possibly my favorite of which is a Named and IDed Navy aviator uniform with a nice set of bullion wings. Thanks to Ancestory.com having free military searches for veterans day I was able to identify it to Burdett H Moeller who states that in his WW2 Bonus paperwork that he served in the VB 97 and 153rd Bombing Squadron. I have not been able to learn anything about these units but hopefully my research yields more information about his service.

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The Jacket also included the pants and vest that are navy issue as well which means that once I have more room I think this grouping could display very well. Also does anyone know what B-39 could mean?

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Another uniform that I found was a Korean era overcoat that is dual patched to the 196th and 8th army with the support command tab. I find this uniform interesting because the 196th was deactivated in 1946 and to my knowledge never saw combat, yet is being worn as a combat patch. Since this uniform is dated 1952 I believe it probably belonged to a ww2 vet with the 196th who later served in the 8th army in the Korean War era.

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Finally, I found this great 1949 dated Air Force uniform with a very nice 5th air force bullion patch. There is a laundry number in the pants that came with it but I have not been able to identify the owner yet and doubt I will, never the less it is a nice early air force uniform.

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This coat will be for a Vietnam Vet of the 196th Infantry Brigade, probably when it was still a separate Brigade in late 1966-late 1967, before it became a part of the Americal Divsion. This type coat was Theee standard coat from around 1946 till around 1967 when it was replaced by those two new ones, the Green Overcoat and the Green Raincoat, naturally this OD coat would of seen some wear after the new ones came out, not sure on the Cut Off Date that the OD one could no longer be worn, maybe sometime in 1969 or 1970????.

 

So the guess here is the coat you bought was worn in 1968.

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Great finds!

Thanks, there is a chance that the navy pilot's flight helmet may be one of the 4 or 5 that are in the shop. However, the best find in my mind is the shop itself because it is probably the closest I will ever come to finding a surplus store that is like the ones that I have heard existed in the "good days" of collecting decades ago. Plus there are around a hundred ike jackets hanging from the ceiling which is quite a sight.

 

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This coat will be for a Vietnam Vet of the 196th Infantry Brigade, probably when it was still a separate Brigade in late 1966-late 1967, before it became a part of the Americal Divsion. This type coat was Theee standard coat from around 1946 till around 1967 when it was replaced by those two new ones, the Green Overcoat and the Green Raincoat, naturally this OD coat would of seen some wear after the new ones came out, not sure on the Cut Off Date that the OD one could no longer be worn, maybe sometime in 1969 or 1970????.

 

So the guess here is the coat you bought was worn in 1968.

Thanks for the opinion, that could make more sense of why it would be a combat patch and possibly makes it cooler for my collection since I do not have as much Vietnam era uniforms. I made my guess because 1946 seemed closer to 1952 when the jacket was made then Vietnam when the brigade was reactivated. I also thought that the support command tab was found in the 50's era and didn't know that the type of overcoat was still worn that late. It seems in pretty good shape for still being in the supply system that long.

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Thanks, there is a chance that the navy pilot's flight helmet may be one of the 4 or 5 that are in the shop. However, the best find in my mind is the shop itself because it is probably the closest I will ever come to finding a surplus store that is like the ones that I have heard existed in the "good days" of collecting decades ago. Plus there are around a hundred ike jackets hanging from the ceiling which is quite a sight.

 

Thanks for the opinion, that could make more sense of why it would be a combat patch and possibly makes it cooler for my collection since I do not have as much Vietnam era uniforms. I made my guess because 1946 seemed closer to 1952 when the jacket was made then Vietnam when the brigade was reactivated. I also thought that the support command tab was found in the 50's era and didn't know that the type of overcoat was still worn that late. It seems in pretty good shape for still being in the supply system that long.

Another give away is the Yellow on Army Green Chevrons, those coming out in 1958. As to the 196th Brigade, that unit was disbanded in like late 1941 a part of the old 98th (Iroquois) Division, the Army does away with the Quad Division of two brigades with two infantry regiments each, and Triangularize them to three infantry regiments with no more brigades it's the 98th Division that's inactivated in 1946. The date of 1952 will mean this coat either seen some reissuance or it sat unissued for years and years till it was finally issued......That's The Facts Jack :D

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Another give away is the Yellow on Army Green Chevrons, those coming out in 1958. As to the 196th Brigade, that unit was disbanded in like late 1941 a part of the old 98th (Iroquois) Division, the Army does away with the Quad Division of two brigades with two infantry regiments each, and Triangularize them to three infantry regiments with no more brigades it's the 98th Division that's inactivated in 1946. The date of 1952 will mean this coat either seen some reissuance or it sat unissued for years and years till it was finally issued......That's The Facts Jack :D

I just checked where I got my information and realized you are right, at some point it had stopped refering to it as the 196th and refered to it as the 98th division and I failed to catch that. I am still pretty happy with the coat as a vietnam era uniform because it wasnt that expensive so there isn't really any loss and I still think its a great piece. Thanks for correcting me and helping me get the history of the coat correct.

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I just checked where I got my information and realized you are right, at some point it had stopped refering to it as the 196th and refered to it as the 98th division and I failed to catch that. I am still pretty happy with the coat as a vietnam era uniform because it wasnt that expensive so there isn't really any loss and I still think its a great piece. Thanks for correcting me and helping me get the history of the coat correct.

Oh yeah it's a beautiful coat, don't see them like it much anymore, you got a good snag.

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That is a nice 196th patch on the overcoat. It looks to be hand-guided, machine sewn. Since he was in Korea he may have had it made at a sew shop there after not being able to find an issue patch or he brought it with him from Vietnam. It's a very nice patch.

 

Take a picture of the shop the next time your in there. It would be neat to see the Ike jacket ceiling tiles. Tucson Army Navy was a similar shop all the way into the early 2000s. It's gone now like most others but what a neat place it was.

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That is a nice 196th patch on the overcoat. It looks to be hand-guided, machine sewn. Since he was in Korea he may have had it made at a sew shop there after not being able to find an issue patch or he brought it with him from Vietnam. It's a very nice patch.

 

Take a picture of the shop the next time your in there. It would be neat to see the Ike jacket ceiling tiles. Tucson Army Navy was a similar shop all the way into the early 2000s. It's gone now like most others but what a neat place it was.

I think you could be right, the patch's construction is definitly different from the ones that I have been able to find on the internet to compare it to. It appears to be constrected of a field of threads that lay over the top of the patch rather then the closely embroidered patches I have seen.

And sure I will take pictures next time because it is pretty cool, I might turn this into a page for the uniforms I find at this shop because there are still a lot of attractive bullion navy and army uniforms and other great ww2 and Vietnam pieces to pick up.

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I bet that blue vest is much earlier, probably from the WWI Era and had belonged to a Chief Petty Officer.

 

Kurt

That is very intresting, many uniforms have pants and other articles on the same hanger with them so I assummed they belonged to the same guy. Here is the tag, if it is ww1 could it have been reissued or should I look for a WW1 era Chief Petty Officer jacket that may have had the hanger switched with this one? The pants seem to have been made of a similar material.

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That is very intresting, many uniforms have pants and other articles on the same hanger with them so I assummed they belonged to the same guy. Here is the tag, if it is ww1 could it have been reissued or should I look for a WW1 era Chief Petty Officer jacket that may have had the hanger switched with this one? The pants seem to have been made of a similar material.

 

Is that label in the blue vest? If so its post WWII. I have never seen a vest used that late.

Kurt

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Yes, that is the label in the vest. That is very interesting could it be very late war or is it definitely post war? According to the Iowa bonus claim that I have found the aviator left active service in October 1945 meaning that if it could be late war it could be original to the uniform.

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Is that label in the blue vest? If so its post WWII. I have never seen a vest used that late.

Kurt

. Blue vests were authorized well into the 1990s, for CPO/ officers. They just were not that common. I had considered getting one after I made Chief, always liked the look. But never knew anyone who had one. And, it was an expense for something I probably wouldnt really wear that much.

 

By the way, there is no, Re Issue. USN CPO and Officer uniforms are all private purchase. You get nothing issued. But quite often, when someone retires or gets out, they give their stuff away. I gave away all my uniforms when I retired.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Take a picture of the shop the next time your in there. It would be neat to see the Ike jacket ceiling tiles. Tucson Army Navy was a similar shop all the way into the early 2000s. It's gone now like most others but what a neat place it was.

Sadly it took me over a month to make it back due to the holiday and my final exams for school. I did snap some pictures for you, however I realized there were some neat displays that I forgot to take pictures of because I was too busy digging for stuff.

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Here you can see how large groups of the uniforms hang from the beams of the roof. Its neat to see but it makes it a pain to get to and they are all really dusty and cobwebby when they come down.

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More uniforms along the wall and what I think is some large practice bomb leaning against the wall. It has fins on the bottom so I assume its some ordinance.

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