Yeah they also had "jungle rot" issues, ie humidity issues. Also sometimes would go wild in the air, kind of like a bottle rocket without a tail. I have fired 2 and one worked fine the other kind of went wild and seemed like it didn't fully burn, at least compared to the other one that looked to work as intended. 

I wanted to share this helmet set and liner I recently acquired with this thread. These are part of a grouping including two of Strieby’s 11th Airborne patched uniforms. 

Very sad news indeed. My condolences to his family!

Hey, thanks for the info. I heard from someone else that they were not very dependable so even if it was a convenient size i’d imagine you would want something that functions dependably in an emergency situation. 

No, and I apologize if my post was confusing, I can see where I could have been clearer. Yes I realize that nobody really wore one in great numbers until after the Armistice.......I guess what I want to know is:   A unit, such as a unit within the QMC like a Labor Battalion or perhaps Grave Registration- would those units been authorized to wear an SSI..? Maybe something at the corps level, or Sector of Supply..? A Labor Bn. isn't something that is within the construct of an Infantry Division, at least I don't think so.

Thanks!! Unfortunately I’ve never found any photographic evidence as of yet. Hoping I one day can. I feel a lot not might have been worn, as they were issued on a card.  Thanks! It’s definitely little known. 

Well, technically, no soldier of officer would be wearing any SSI during wartime with the exception of a few divisions later in the war...is this what you are referring to?

I like where 'atb' is going with this and agree with 99.999% of what he said. Also looks like the 28 over stamped something else and maybe the 78 is part of that prior marking? So maybe it was Company F and the 28 is the soldiers ID?

Yes these were included in Colts branded pen flare kits early on and availableseparately from penguin. I have seen them numerous times but they are not super common to see now a days unless you are into VN era survival equipment or in the flare/gun collector communities. These cartridges are like 2x larger than the flares and go over the pen flare launcher. They had issues with striking the primers as they didn't screw into the pen, they just were pressed over top. If it wasn't seated right it wouldn't fire or result in a light primer strike, which sometimes would result in a cartridge that would not fire if attempted to use it again. Neat little item from the VN era. 

I may be wrong but I think that Meyer mark was used in the 60s and 70s