ALL jeeps left the factory with blue drab numbers through the end of production in the Summer of 1945 The Feb 1945 Army Regulations were not adhered to until after the WW2 contracts were all done. The famous factory photo of the MB with hard top in the factory bearing white hood numbers was actuallyntaken in December 1945.   My 1942 Ford GPW as shown below sports the factory look of only blue drab US Army registration numbers. All other markings were painted in the unit or in theater.   Read more on markings on this page of my website: http://www.theliberator.be/liberator1.htm    

My vote for the 8th ID is WWII English made. You're in the right neck of the woods to find that one!

I got this patch when I was assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force Battalion PAC (MCSF Bn.).  It is for a Fleet Anti-Terriorist Security Team (F.A.S.T.). At the time the word was that the State Department had banned the patch due to the figure in a turbin in the cross hairs.  

Here the pee coat.same name on knife 

Iam not sure where he was stationed. Let me ask grandson he might know.he joined the navy in 1941 asked that .still cool knife even not government issued. Time period correct. Don't see alot of western knives around.or there to expensive to buy .this was local bought 10 minutes away 

Good afternoon,  I have been working on trying to piece together a display impression of my grandfather in the Pacific in 1943/44.   Today I stumbled across a great surplus store, the ones you unfortunately don’t see many of anymore and found a USN summer flight suit M-426A, Contract No. NXs-5138.  Any info on the suit and other equipment I would need to complete the display would be appreciated.   thank you     

Sorry about my mix up, got more focused on the knife.  It's not about were the G.I. was from, but where they were stationed.  Many of the Western knives like yours were bought by G.I.s from distributors near the based they were stationed at.  Western's market place was almost exclusively west of the Mississippi river during the war and earlier.  Some Western knives were bought by contractors that were supplying survival kits for air crews and life boats. Those kits arrived in the different theaters of operation.  A lot of Navy and Army pilots bought Western knives while in flight school in training bases out west.  

More than likely Thai or Viet Nam made.  I was in VMA (AW) 225 and we were part of Marine Air Group 11 (MAG 11).  H&MS 11 was the Headquarter & Maintenance Squadron for the Group.  They were an intermediate level of maintenance for the squadrons in the group.  We call H&MS 11 a HAMS unit and their people Hamsters.  All of us rotated back to the States in about May/June of 1971.

To add to this, while white numbers weren't factory-applied till February 1945 indeed, in the field these were often applied from quite early in the war. A wide variety of stencils and fonts were used, and the results would depend on the skills and motivation of the appointed volunteer and whatever tools he had available for the job. Sometimes the blue number was covered in OD first, sometimes the white number was just slapped over it.

I would call the first patch a "Fantasy Patch".  However, it sure was appropriate for that time frame.  Was back there about a year ago and it sure has changed!  I was in and out of  MCAS Cherry Point from 1970-1991, some deployments and some PCS moves.