Great thread - really like the personal touch with the above correspondence.   Here's another variation on a V-5 sweetheart pin: a modified pin-brooch with the smaller V-5 Program pin attached.

This is a Jungle Operations Branch from "A'" Company Marine Barracks Subic Bay. My dad was stationed there in the late 80s. They would patrol as far as 10 miles outside of the limits of the Naval base into the jungle around the nearby Mt. Santa Rita radio tower. They would go in villages and look for intruders and suspected NPA (New People's Army) Terrorists. They would ride on USAF helicopters supplied by Clark Air Base and fast rope down into the jungle. They were very small 3-4 man patrol teams and worked with the Filipino Navy and Marines. Many low level engagements in "peacetime" that killed and wounded some service-members that has ultimately been forgotten about by our country. I've got tons of pictures of this unit if you're interested in the history of this unit!

Transfers from a HQ unit to a field unit 

This just came up. https://www.ebay.com/itm/364850700706   Interesting set of pictures in an Internet Archive file. https://archive.org/details/001xPFCSpecialist1stClass/005x PFC-Specialist 4th Class.jpg   Unauthorized specialist ranks.   

even then you don't know what your going to get. the days of finding named untouched front seams was a long time ago (sadly)  and everything has to be looked at with such scrutiny even if it's found in the wild. I would be willing to take a chance on this one, but like rooster said that's whatever I'm willing to or whoever is willing to buy it for. but nowadays everyone is just trying to squeeze as much money out of these as they can, to the point where they will ruin a perfectly untouched M1 and add some crappy paint job and try to pass it off as something special. And then someone gullible armed with little knowledge gets scammed and the cycle repeats. not saying that with this helmet as I like it, but it's become to regular that it's hard for anyone here to make a legitimate assessment without seeing it in hand since we're all pretty wary of helmets like these.   Gear Fan  

Hello   I forgot to post this one when I got it. The insignia has certainly seen better days, but this is the first time I’ve seen the “E” for excellence on a uniform. Is there any reference online for this thpe of chevron?  I know this is like a pre-WWII version of specialist insignia, but I haven’t been able to find anything concrete.    Thanks for looking!  

Not to discourage you at all, but that impression needs A LOT of work. your Garand belt is flat, fill it up with some wooden blocks, or foam. The shovel needs a cover, you nearly never see it out of the cover except for 2nd armored guys hanging it in there web straps in Normandy. 82nd  also did not  have 1/2 inch net's in market garden, they had nearly exclusively 1/4 inch nets. and I saw you mentioned the helmet needs paint, is it at least a front seam? your helmet could also use chinstraps lol. and you obviously know a para liner is ideal, but occasionally you see regular infantry ones held in with a really tight net or friction tape. For your belt, you will probably want to get a 10 in. bayonet, some wire cutters maybe, or other stuff depending on the job you want to portray. also, you will want to get a unit patch which I already saw you mentioned, and 82nd had invasion flags sewn on as well. another nice touch would be a waterproof m7 gas mask mask bag which you see being carried over from the D-day invasion, and para first aid kits which were more common by market garden. Something else that would be good is a GP bag, and a bandoleer or 2, don't get the ones with the printing on them, those ones are incorrect and honestly pretty farb.  also, not sure if you already have them, but M43  pants with the retrofitted rigger pockets are needed. and m43 boots would be most accurate, but you can still use jump boost if you want to do other para impressions. You have a long way to go, but your off to an ok start. hope this maybe helps.

grabbed this officers badge find. large H&H hallmark shallow wave. this site is tops for info!!!!!! 

Been looking at the M1 helmet listings on ebay and none of it looks good. Virtually every WW2 helmet liner chinstrap is a euroclone. I think hunting for this stuff in the wild is the way to go.

Yea and there are a lot of fakers out there selling humped up M1 lids. Has been for a while now. Some of them were even found out here in the helmet section and kicked off this forum. Much like whats happened to German lids... If someone wants to spend 360 or above thats their business. Just depends on what someone wants and is willing to pay. All thats being offered is a WW2 era piece of steel. Fixed bail w what appear to be original straps and majors rank soldered on. And a follow me stripe. Is it worth 360- 400 ? Il pass. If it had a name and serial number starting with an O,.... that would be a different thing altogether. Was common practice to paint name and serial on the inside of the lid. Especially an officer.