Bring back Samurai Sword from the Philippines

[Timberwolf]

3 hours ago, KurtA said:

I theorize the largest  % of  war souvenirs were acquired in the months after the war ended and mailed home while the soldier was serving occupation duty/waiting to be discharged/sent home. 

I think you have to look at the context of when, where, what unit as well. 

[P-59A]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:30 PM, Deuce said:

 

My family member that served in the war was the same way. He was a combat medic in the 13th infantry regiment, 8th infantry division. I was very young when I met him but I did get to meet with him a few times before he passed away. I tried to record an interview speaking about his experiences the time I saw him before he passed. He opened up a little about the war but it was still pretty generic. He was a combat medic, the Hurtgen Forest was traumatic, they saw the remains of the Malmedy Masacre, they didn’t take SS prisoners after that, etc. He never went into great detail on it, he just covered the wave tops. At the time I was frustrated about not knowing more of his first hand accounts. I’ve honestly learned more about him after he passed by piecing together bits of information that I’ve collected on him. 
 

When I joined the Army, went oversees, saw the horrors of what humans can do to each other, and lost two of my close friends, I began to understand why people don’t like to talk about it. There is nothing glorious about war. 

 

I still have the recording of that interview with him. One day I’ll transcribe it and post it on the forum. There’s still a lot that can be learned from them. 

The only way I was able to figure out his Navy service was after he passed away. I was given his medals and the papers he saved spanning 20 years service in the Navy and 10 years Fleet Reserve. He had paper that stated every ship he served on along with the dates he was on them along with his citations for the BS, PH, Presidential Unit and Navy Unit citations. By looking at ships logs or the historial record of those ships I know were in the Pacific he was and what they were doing. His timeline is that of a very busy guy during the war.