Wow!! That is an awesome display!! Great work!!!

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I flew C-130E Hercules aircraft in the USAF (MAC & AMC).  Fast-forward to three weeks ago, and I became caretaker of a decommissioned C-130E/H Hamiliton-Sundstrand 54H60 propeller blade.   It was in pretty bad shape when I picked it up. But with a little elbow grease, black spray paint, fresh Hamiliton-Sundstrand sticker, and a custom anodized steel base from a local metal fabricator, it now stands proudly in my office. It's a beast: 77" tall and approximately 100lbs; props to my wife for her assistance in helping me move this thing from car to sawhorses in the garage, then into the car again for the trip to the metal fabricator, then from the car indoors to the office.    Hard to believe I flew all over the planet with 16 of these things spinning just outside my cockpit windows (!).

Here are matching vases dad sent to my mom when he was in Japan before going to Korea. Don't know what size shell they are. I suppose the Japanese were making things out of surplus to sell to the G.I.s for income at that time. 1951. The artwork is pretty and they match very nicely. And judging by the crustiness inside I'd say mom used them for flowers over the years. Mark

OK this one has me stumped. It's on a USMC helicopter G-1 but I can't find anything on the Flying Fish or the Indian Ocean Protective Assoc. Any clues topoint me in the right direction?

I used to work at a prominent GPS company. We had a project developing self-driving farm equipment. It all worked pretty well. But one time one of our engineers was moving a big harvesting combine from one field to another along a farming road. He didn’t realize he had one of the booms extended until he knocked down three utility poles. He was far from being a young inexperienced kid. Fortunately nobody was injured.  Always keep a sharp eye out while driving, folks.  mikie

Thanks for posting all of those badges. I especially like the Fort Dodge one. Been there, done that … still have nightmares (just kidding). But from Fort (now “Camp”) Dodge, Iowa to Fort Bliss, Texas that style of badge seems to be used by the Corps of Engineers:  

Korea

I keep forgetting to add some of my badges to this thread.    

"The equipment of the Lady has made its way all over the world. Many small pieces of equipment were stripped off by members of the search parties and kept as souvenirs. Many items of clothing and equipment, including two government-issue watches that would still run, were found with the remains of the crew. These items are on display at the Quartermaster Museum, Fort Lee, Virginia. There is also some Lady equipment in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, one of the major items being a propeller. All the small arms went to the Libyan police, and all the rafts were eventually thrown away because over the years they had been ruined by the heat. The first Air Force party at the crash site found flight suits hanging undisturbed in the bent fuselage, and in odd corners they found cigarettes, gum, and bits of flight rations. The butts in one ashtray had been smoked down to the last puff, probably slowly and almost confidently, the way a young flyer might drag on a weed during his first mission. In another tray they had been crushed out by nervous hands, the way a man smashes a cigarette when he is out of time. The radio set from the Lady was removed and installed in the recovery C-47, where it worked perfectly in place of a radio that had failed on the flight from Wheelus. The story has it, though, that this aircraft some time later went down with all aboard lost. Thus began the “jinx” stories. Several servomotors that had once driven some of the instruments on the Lady were installed in a C-54 assigned to Wheelus. On a Thanksgiving Day flight to Bengazi, carrying mail and Thanksgiving turkeys, one of the plane’s engines feathered, and even with maximum power on the other three engines the crew had to dump all cargo in order to make Bengazi safely. But the most tragic of the “jinx” incidents involving parts from the ghost bomber happened with an Army Otter observation aircraft. Only the armrests had been removed from the Lady and installed in the Otter. Shortly thereafter, the Otter crashed into the Gulf of Sidra. No trace of its ten-man complement was ever discovered. Amongst the scattered debris washed up on the Libyan coast by the waves was an armrest. These incidents have added an air of mystery to the old “ghost bomber.” In fact, it is said that native caravans skirt the site of the crash because they believe it is haunted. And as the years pass, the haunted aspects of the Lady Be Good will grow more fixed with each repetition of her anguished saga. "   https://www.ladybegood.net/index.htm

Just obtained a wheel from what I believe to be from a Grumman S-2 Tracker. It was listed as a C-2 Greyhound wheel but I’m not sure that was correct.    This one is pretty complete, missing some screws but otherwise good. Very pleased it has the Grumman decal and the decal from the rework done in 1970 by NARF Quonset Point.