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Father (WW2) and Son (Vietnam) Groupings


bryang
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Saw an awesome camouflage beret and salty OG107 floppy hat at an antique shop today. Was quoted a great price ... then the vendor remembered that he had some other items related to the headgear.

 

Looks like I ended up with a father (WW2) and son (Vietnam) groupings.

 

Father first:

Frank Lee Bowers was born in Knoxville, TN in 1922, and was drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1942. He was a mechanic in the 279th Ordnance Maintenance Company, and earned the ETO ribbon with five campaign stars - Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rheinland, and Central Europe campaigns.  Prior to his service, he and his wife, Margie, were employed in Knoxville by the Standard Knitting Mills.  Frank passed away in December 1998.   A relative related that Frank held the rank of T/4 (Technician 4th Grade) and served from 1942 to 1945 as a mechanic and Armored Vehicle/Half-track Driver with the 279th Ordinance Maintenance Company in Patton's 3rd Army during W.W.II.  When he wasn't "mechanicking," he drove a half-track. He claimed to have lost some of his hearing due to a 50 cal. machine gun mounted over his head.

 

The large patches are pretty damned cool - A fellow forum member indicated that these would have been post-war made.  The backwards swastika on the large patch is different. His wartime items include his dog tags, some assorted marksmanship pins, a nice 'yard-long' of Frank's training platoon at the Quartermaster school, as well as his discharge papers.

 

 


 

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The son:

Jack E. Bowers was born in 1941, and I found his obituary which stated that he served 20 years in the U.S. Army, that he had been a Vietnam Vet and had earned both the Bronze and Silver Star Medals.  After retiring from the Army, he worked on Fort Campbell, KY in the post's weapons shop. He passed away in 2018.

 

I love the camouflaged beret - as I don't have one. Is this a Vietnam example? The green floppy hat appears to be salty, and with what looks like a porcupine quill tucked into it. Service ribbons, Senior Parachute Wings - which would make sense if he was in the 101st Airborne Division - back when it was still an actual Airborne division. A couple nice lighters.

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  • 6 months later...

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