Hi from France Keystone !! I 'am early gear web "addict" (among others ) , and have juste discovered your post, and ............haaaaaarg , gulp ,you are very lucky guy, congratulation . Have never seen before a real pre manufacture canteen cover . Impossible to fine to day . Mutch tanks for sharing .   Have nice day.

Yes

Now to the goodies,   It looks like his uniform was issued a few times to different soldiers before it got to him.  With the help of this forum, I now know that he was issued an earlier pattern of 10th mountain "barrel" path and must have added an Italian-made Mountain tab some time before shipping home.  Interesting to note that the tab is an "error" patch as the bottom half of the M and N are missing.     His WWII issue Bronze Star is included, but not engraved.  The others look to be replacements made in the 1970's:     And finally, his souvenirs.  the top half of the insignia are all uniform removed (possibly giving credence to the story above).  The second half are all unused, possibly taken after the Germans surrendered and the souvenir market opened up to GIs      

You're welcome.  I'm not sure what kind of box that is or what year it's from.  I've not seen one like it myself before.  Maybe someone else on the forum might know something about it.

Hi everyone,   As promised, here is a better post on the 10th mtn grouping I recently acquired.   Allow me to introduce you to James B o y d, a Texas boy who was assigned to 10th Mountain right as they were getting ready to ship out to Italy.  I don't claim to be a skilled, or even competent researcher, but here is what I found on him through the national archives:   James enlisted on June 6, 1944 at the age of 19 and was shipped to Camp Robinson for basic training until the end of October 1944.  He filtered through the 24th then 8th replacement depot before being assigned to 10th Mountain shortly before or after the division shipped out (I was not able to find a document or MR that specifically stated the date he was assigned).  Without additional documents, I can assume he was present for the 86th's assault on Riva Ridge - the defining battle for 10th Mtn during WWII.     I was able to pick up his trail again on a July 1945 General Order for the award of his first bronze star for meritorious service in combat between 16 April 1945 - 2 May 1945.  I can make an educated guess that this is the approximate time period when he picked up the Sardinia shield that the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division awarded to its own members.  According to the pawn shop I bought the grouping from, the top half of the insignia all came from the same German soldier (supposition at best).     Unfortunately, large sections of the available paperwork from 10th Mountain and the 86th mtn Regiment is illegible and I was unable to find any additional paperwork for his second Bronze Star, CIB or anything else.  I consider myself pretty lucky to have found what I did however.        

Thank you sir

I did find reference to that knife here =>  http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/knife_knotes_10.htm  

thank you.. what kind of box is this? and what year do you think? 

That's a really nice looking piece.  Really beautiful.  Congrats!

. A memory brought to life after seeing a tin of Brasso.   When I was a child asking family members who served in the forces during WWII about their experiences,  they said they recalled the times and hours of boredom in their barracks probably polishing uniform buttons and anything else brass.   They would often sing popular songs or compose silly or senseless ditties to while away the time.   Seeing this vintage tin of Brasso reminded me of one of the ditties they taught me.    Shine your buttons with Brasso You can buy it or steal it from Wooworths it's only three and a ha'penny a tin but I bet you there's bugger all in      Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 14 March  2O26.   …