1970-Dated U.S. Army Blouse w/ a Odd Surprise in the Pocket

[ItemCo16527]

I recently added another Vietnam War Army blouse to my collection. Unfortunately, it isn't named, but it is loaded with all of its original insignia, minus the name tag. This is now my third uniform to a member of the Americal Division, and is interesting because it looks like he reclassed from Infantry to Artillery after his tour in Vietnam. Its very hard to see in the pictures, but the ARCOM ribbon has two small holes in it where a Valor "V" had been attached at some point. I had even held it up to the light to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and sure enough, it definitely has holes for the device. As I always do when I get a new uniform, I check the pockets to see if there are any interesting things. Typically, if I find anything, it's usually extra insignia or, in one case, candy wrappers. However, what I found in this one was pretty strange.

[ItemCo16527]

In one of the waist pockets, I found a folded piece of an ace bandage held together by safety pins. I thought this was weird, and then double checked the pocket. I reached into one of the corners and felt a small, hard object. I pulled it out of the pocket and at first I thought it was a bead. Then I looked closer. It is a tooth. Yes, you read that right. A tooth.

 

I ended up showing it to my mother who is a retired biology and Earth science teacher, and she confirmed it is a tooth. A baby tooth to be specific. I couldn't tell you why he was carrying his child's tooth in his pocket, but it sure is a very intimate look into the life of this soldier. Perhaps he kept it because it was the first tooth his child lost, and just forgot about it being in there. Whatever the reason, it sure was a very unexpected thing to find in a uniform.

 

Edit: I should note there is no sign of blood. It seems he washed it off thoroughly before wrapping it up in the bandage. 

[oakleaf777]

Wow- a tooth. That definitely is a first. Any idea why he has both rifle sharpshooter and rifle marksman qualification badges on the uniform?

[ItemCo16527]

I have no idea. I imagine he wore them both for some reason known only to him, or the seller maybe found one of the badges in a pocket and put it on thinking it belonged there. The seller didn't specialize in militaria, just a variety of antiques and just happened to have this uniform. 

[huntssurplus]

That's... surprising. Don't know what I would think or how I would react if i reached into a pocket and pulled out a tooth...

[ItemCo16527]

It was a bit shocking to say the least. I suppose it could have been worse, though.