Jump wings - Army & USN / USMC

[MWalsh]

Just picked these up today. The vet said that he was USMC from 1962 to 1966, and that he went to jump school and got his standard Army type jump wings at the Army jump school, and that he later did a number of additional jumps, while stationed in the Philippines, to get his USMC jump wings.

 

I am not a wings collector per se, so I don't know the finer points of wings.

 

However, the USN / USMC jump wings are nicely made, nicely detailed, etc. What I noticed about the back is that the back, while slightly dished in, is for the most part solid and not all hollowed out and thin. They are also completely unmarked on the rear.

 

With the Army jump wings, I see that these actually have the maker name in them, the maker in this case being METAL ARTS CO. The rear of the wings doesn't jump have G-21 or some such thing on it, like brand new made wings do.

 

So my question is this - are these wings possibly the vets from the early to mid 1960's - or is he feeding me a line?

I own them, and the price was right, but I would like to know.

 

Thanks!

MW

 

 

[MWalsh]

 

[MWalsh]

 

[MWalsh]

 

[none]

The USMC wing being unmarked could have been from that era, before markings were required. I have some from the early 60's that are unmarked. The basic paratrooper is also same era because of the "silver filled" which was used for a short time during that time frame. Silver filled means that a thin layer of silver was pressed onto a brass plate and then die struck. The amount of silver is usually about 1/20 of the weight of the item. This was done as an alternative to silver plating as a little more durable.