That stretch of road has no places to stop, probably for the best as it gets clogged up quite bad as it is. Likewise I couldn't stop to get phone to take a picture.  Good job you didn't go digging for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they tend to frown on that sort of behaviour.

Bonjour. Read 123 ! Here are two possibilities. On the left, the 143 is missing the letter K. On the right, you need to find an infantry with the letter K.   Voici deux possibilités. Le 143 de gauche, il manque la lettre K. A droite il faut trouver un infanterie avec la lettre K.       

A friend sent this Picture to me and was wanting some info about it .   Thanks for your help !!  Dave

Anyone have any insight on the white paint? Original or not? 

Picked up this Hector Aguilar sweetheart / “V” for victory bombardier wing recently.   Large lightweight cliché style wing, 4 1/16 x 1 7/8 inches, 16.2 grams.   Multiple hallmarks, stamped with Nat. Silver Co. & Hector Aguilar Made in Mexico Sterling logo. Also, faint raised Made in Mexico Sterling marks.   Research indicates this wing was part of Aguliar’s “Wings for Victory” series.     Hector Aguilar was a prominent silversmith in Taxco Mexico. His firm was in business from 1939 - 1986.   With the National Silver Co. hallmark this wing appears to be part of their homefront jewelry offering.  Aguilar entered in a jewelry contract with Coro in 1943, but those items had a different hallmark. Found another thread referencing Aguilar wings in the way back machine.  

Wow, that is quite something. Sad about how Alzheimer’s slowly took him away. But, thank you for doing the research and posting this! Although I don’t collect military rifles this was definitely an interesting read, especially with the added family information. Again, thanks.

There is another thread, linked here, about this Com-Z patch, and the confusion out there about it, with many calling it the "ETO patch." Please find my entries and graphics on this thread about the Com-Z, ADSEC, and the various administrative patches worn in the ETO.    

I'm very late to the party here on this thread.  But Army Logistics in the ETO has been my area of study for well over a decade. The vast majority of patches in this thread ARE Com-Z patches - the Blue Star of the Army Service Forces inserted in the Lightning Bolt patch directly above. That is NOT, however, a supply-related patch.  When Eisenhower came to the ETO in late June 1942 this patch was created: ETO-HQ patch.  The SOS-ETO had been in-theater since May, but was wearing the SOS roundel worn everywhere by supply/administrative units - ETO, PTO, ZI. When Ike went to Gibraltar to command the TORCH invasion, he tried at first to maintain attention on the Bolero Buildup in Britain; this proved unsustainable.  The only war we were fighting in Britain at the time was air, so LTG Frank Andrews was brought in to command the ETO.  He took command on 4 Feb. 1943, but died in a plane crash in Iceland on 3 May 1943 (hence Andrews Air Force Base, Virginia).  LTG Jacob Devers, CG Armored Force, had just conducted an inspection tour of the ETO and MTO.  He replaced Andrews.  He was in that office when the infamous Ploiesti Raid of 1 August 1943 occurred - the most costly by percentage of any action by the USAAF in the war.  The only photo I have of a senior ETO commander wearing the patch above is seen here.  He is decorating COL Leon Johnson, CG 44th Bomb Group with the Medal of Honor in England in September 1943.  You can clearly see Devers wearing the ETO patch.