I have decided to write a book, an owners manual actually.  There are owners manuals for jeeps, weapon systems, computers, coffee machines, etc., but not the human body.  By golly, how much healthier would we all be now, if when we came out of the womb, we’d have been handed an owners manual that we’d have been required to carry around like school books, from elementary school through university, wherein we’d be required to continuously annotate our level of manual compliance for the sake of applying for and receiving old age pensions, such that if you only achieved 75-percent lifetime compliance, then you’d only collect 75 percent of your eligible old-person pension (social security in the U.S.). Now, as I anticipate making millions on this literary endeavor, I figured I’d run this preliminary list by the smartest folks I know (i.e. members of this forum…I really don’t know that many smart people) therefore, inasmuch as this is a work in progress, please feel free to add any essential life factoids you wish you’d have known in your youth to avoid problems as we age.  Here are my first six additions to the “Human Body Owners Manual For Military Collectors”.   1.  Do not fail to brush your teeth after every meal, beer, Snickers Bar, fish and chips, youthful indiscretion, etc., because only alternate sex others with equally bad chewers will associate with you in old age, at the pub in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, if you don’t (giving this international application).   2.  Pay attention in school and apply yourself throughout your educational endeavors, otherwise, out of a lack of any other applicable skill, you’ll accept the King’s Shilling and end up in military service (definite first hand experience here).   3.  If you fail to comply with No. 2 above and find yourself in uniform in some distant land performing meaningless group exercise (push-ups, sit-ups, endless running, etc.) then when (if) you leave military service, never, ever perform those idiotic exercises again during life’s duration, because some very uninformed sociopath designed those exercises specifically to ruin your health in your later collecting years.   4.  Your sex life has an ever decreasing shelf life, the length of which may be determined by items 1-3 above, plus your level of alcohol consumption during brain development years, if applicable.  Therefore, put as much on the shelf as you can while you can, which will significantly extend your potential collecting years.   5.  You will be tempted during life to collect things, i.e., stamps, butterflies, G.I. joes, motor vehicles, military items, girlfriends, etc.  Be aware, those collecting activities may result in spousal neglect, attorneys fees, loss of housing, income, etc.  Therefore, consider terminating or at least moderating such collecting activities subsequent to the adolescent phase, when the stamp and butterfly collecting obsession ends following puberty.     6.  During the post-puberty collecting phase, become an academic nerd, wear glasses, learn calculus, a foreign language, pay attention during reproductive biology class, and do not touch anything having potential reproductive implications.  Failure to do so will greatly reduce budget necessary for future collecting activities.   So, this is my first effort at the aforementioned owners manual.  Those of you still capable of recalling any meaningful life activity worth avoiding, may contribute further.  Or, you are also free to relive your youthful indiscretions and collecting activities, in the next 1198 pages of this wonderful forum.  Cheers!    Note:  Wife is currently out of town and adult supervision is sadly absent.            

Picked this set up for a fair price! Sadly though, no info/id on the name. So possibly a put together but still looks good on display!   Enjoy!

Thanks for all the good information. I do have a question about the mention of Rock Island in regard to the medal. Is that where most medals were made or is there a makers mark that indicates they were the manufacturer. Learning a lot from you guys!

I did find a reference for this insignia. Looks like it could be nursing from Columbia or other Spanish speaking nation.

Though I guess it's all originally based on the hotchkiss gun from the 1870s, But EVERYONE started using 37mm late 1800-early 1900s. Hence why its called the "common" type

I can't speak to the authenticity but that's a swanky set of wings!

100% leave as is 

Yes, exactly.  There is a lot of documents here, all dated and signed. Google's Gemini was able to identify all these medals.  I still have no idea what any of this is worth, except maybe the heart shield bible.

Great haul! Nice complete sets for the jungle aid pouches too. Some of those contents are getting harder and harder to source. And love all those Carlisle variants. 

When I left the Navy in 1999, after 26 years, I left everything in Chiefs berthing, for my fellow Chiefs. When I made Chief, I gave or sold everything I had to other PO1s.   All I kept, was a set of old melton wool blues, my SMCS Dress Blues, a set of CNT khakis and my Dinner Dress Blues