Best Finds of 2021

[Brig]

With only two days left, it's probably pretty safe to say that most of us have found our final finds of the year. As another crappy year passes by, a digital showcase of the best of 2021 seems to be in order. Share your best US militaria find here in this thread. This is a place to post your BEST find, not to post every find you had all year.

 

I'll start...for me, it was a pretty lousy collecting year, but I'd have to say my best acquisition was this turn-of-the-century USMC tintype I posted last week. Nothing fancy or overly exciting...hell, it's not even that clear. But finding a Marine tintype can be a very tough thing to do!

 

[Flightpath]

Great find Brig, he´s sitting in the front seat of a very early automobile, that makes it special too! 

[Flightpath]

Here´s mine, I´ve been wanting one of these for many years and didn´t know that the USN used them. A Swiss made Longines-Wittnauer aircraft chronograph that was ordered by the Navy in a small batch in 1939. Still a lot of research to do.

 

[CavalryCombatant]

This one’s pretty hard for me, but I’ll have to go with the H-4 Flight helmet (and accessories). That I got completely out of the woodwork from the veterans estate. 

[AustinO]

Hard to pick one thing, Brig! I've picked up some remarkable stuff this year, up to and including today (bought something nice this afternoon)!

 

If I had to pick though, It'd be the DSC grouping I'm now caretaker of. 

 

[kfields]

Some nice acquisitions!

Probably my best pickup this year is the Ithaca 1911a1 I received from CMP through the lottery in August.

Kim

 

[John4022]

Great finds everyone. Brig that tintype is really amazing, it got me excited! And it's in stunning condition...

 

This patch is my best pickup. Its a German made cuff patch for the 126th Anti Aircraft Battalion. They specialized in shooting down German V-1 Buzz Bombs off the coast of England and Antwerp. It's my new favorite patch!

[Thrifter_01]

Some very awesome stuff in this thread! 

Best pick-up for me will have to be the leather Blood Chit, found from the woodwork by my cousin in Corpus Christi. I still get giddy every time I look at it.

[Brig]

Great stuff so far, keep it coming

[Thor996]

Not one of my best years collecting but never complain when I land some good WW2 Disney related insignia for a good price!  A very nice decal of the 3035th Bombardment School, Victorville Army Air Field, Victorville, California featuring Donald Duck.

[Eric Queen]

Brig, that is a super nice and incredibly rare USMC image. Congrats on landing that one. 

 

Probably one of my favorites from 2021 is a large paper (documents, letters, unfortunately no photos) from US Marine Clarence E. Sutton who was awarded the MoH for heroism at the battle of Tientsin, China July 13, 1900 (Boxer Rebellion). Sutton an 1st Lt. Henry Leonard rescued a badly wounded Smedley Butler and brought him back to safety. Leonard lost an arm in the process and was later awarded the Marine Brevet Medal. I am showing just a small part of it. Some are original duplicates. The original would go in his official file (service record) and he would be given the duplicate. One of my favorites is the transmittal adding the Tientsin action to Sutton's Descriptive List  (I think this was basically the Citation of the period) 

 

From the USS Solace

 

Letter from Smedley Butler

 

There are a number of letters to his wife. In one he describes in great detail what happened at Tientsin. In this one he talks about having professional photos taken in Manila of him wearing the medal of honor. Wish I had one of those photos............

[Dirk]

Oh Eric it does not get much better then that Sutton group!!!

[warguy]

Wow Eric what a grouping. Congrats!

[Ray42]

I’ve had a pretty good year and was lucky enough to find a lot of cool items, but my favorite is probably my grouping named to a medical Captain with the 158th RCT.

[Ray42]

Just now, Ray42 said:

I’ve had a pretty good year and was lucky 

… Actually I might take that back and say my painted M41 decorated to a 14th AF mechanic who was from a town only 20 min away from my hometown.

 

…With an honorable mention to the uniform of an Army medic who appears to have served attached to both the 442nd RCT and the 1stSSF.

[Scarecrow]

One of my best finds of 2021.  A patched B-17 flight jacket, named to a flight nurse with the 501st Medical Evac Squadron.

[Brig]

2 hours ago, Eric Queen said:

Brig, that is a super nice and incredibly rare USMC image. Congrats on landing that one. 

 

Probably one of my favorites from 2021 is a large paper (documents, letters, unfortunately no photos) from US Marine Clarence E. Sutton who was awarded the MoH for heroism at the battle of Tientsin, China July 13, 1900 (Boxer Rebellion). Sutton an 1st Lt. Henry Leonard rescued a badly wounded Smedley Butler and brought him back to safety. Leonard lost an arm in the process and was later awarded the Marine Brevet Medal. I am showing just a small part of it. Some are original duplicates. The original would go in his official file (service record) and he would be given the duplicate. One of my favorites is the transmittal adding the Tientsin action to Sutton's Descriptive List  (I think this was basically the Citation of the period) 

Wow Eric! While many would say this is just boring paper, this is the real historical treasure trove! What a great group, and I would love to see these portraits one day, even if they only turn up in the archives! And you know I love anything with a Butler connection!

[uniformcollector]

There are some really incredible pieces of history on here! I'd have to say my favorite group from this year is the Distinguished Service Cross awarded to USAF Captain John Najarian for bravely landing his SA-16 plane in a North Korean river to rescue a downed pilot--at night, under fire, without his landing lights, and without knowing the depth. As someone that collects the very specific niche of Armenian American veterans, this is definitely the centerpiece. 

 

 

Najarian 5.pdf

[manayunkman]

The third Black American to graduate from the Naval Academy and the first to command his own carrier squadron over Vietnam.

[Dogsbody]

The best? I dont know.........but it's certainly the most evocative (to me at least). Who put it there I unfortunately dont know.

 

 

 

[ASMIC2971]

A draftee who ended up a 9th Division combat Grunt. Stayed in the National Guard for a number of years after Vietnam, long enough to have a 34th Division patch and not the flying jock strap. This came directly from the family, a long time friend from elementary school.  I met Rusty a few times, once over beers he mentioned he had been in Vietnam with the 9th ID.  After I acknowledged he was down in the delta, he perked up a bit and was impressed I knew where the 9th operated. The conversation never went back to Vietnam after that  

[manayunkman]

The first 2 Black Americans graduated from Annapolis in 1951.

 

He graduated in 1952.

 

His son graduated in 1972.

[USMCR79]

I have been trying to focus on Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals in 2021 - Here are a few of them from 2021

 

Bill

[MasonK]

Some amazing items. Mine would have to be the grouping on Col. Clair L. Hess, WWII and Korean War vet. Twice wounded during WWII with the 501st PIR, and an intelligence officer during Korea.

 

 

[Bruce Linz]

Here is of my best finds of 2021 and perhaps of all time.

 

Lloyd D. Ganzel enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 04 October 1913 and retired as a Sergeant Major sometime after June 1944 after nearly 31 years of service.  He served in the Mexican Campaign as part of the USS SOUTH CAROLINA's Marine detachment that landed, captured, and occupied Vera Curz, Mexico on 22 April 1914.  During World War I he served with the 97th Company, 6th Marine Regiment, American Expeditionary Force.  He was wounded 12 September 1918.  He then recruited for many years in the Boston Area.  Semper Fi Marine.

 

.