Ugly/beautiful in equal measure! It’s a hard camo pattern to love, but I certainly appreciate the rarity and significance.

While out walkies with the boys just now, we noticed several houses with piles of junk on their curbs.  The city of Santa Clara hosts a free junk cleanup day twice a year. And it’s that time again. We don’t live in Santa Clara but the city line meanders all around our neighborhood. I always dream of finding a box full of militaria but so far after 20 years, nothing much. I did once spot the corner of an 81mm mortar ammo box at the very bottom of a 5 foot pile of junk. It was wedged in pretty good so I left it for fear of having the whole thing fall on me. Maybe this year will be lucky! mikie

Julian was born in 1923 to a Jewish family. He lived on 1880th East Fourth Street, Brooklyn. Growing up, he attended Lincoln High School. He was attending Brooklyn College when he entered service on January 19th, 1942. He was then trained as a navigator stateside before being sent over on the Queen Elizabeth to the United Kingdom. Shortly after arriving, he was assigned to the Lady Lorraine in the 447th Bomb Group, 710th Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force. He was then sent on his first mission. His first journal entry has him bombing Friedrichshafen on April 24th. He notes the flak hitting all around the planes and the excitement he feels. 3 days later, he bombed an airfield outside of Liege, Belgium. He notes the flak was extremely heavy, and a plane on his left went down. Next was Berlin. 2 days after Belgium, he took to the skies of Germany and bombed its capital city. They were swarmed and attacked by 150 German fighters. His tail gunner got one, but it wasn’t enough, 5 out of 13 planes went down that day. On May 4th, he was flying into Belgium and was recalled; a sense of relief washed over him as he flew back. 4 days later, he hit Berlin again on an easy mission. The day is May 9th, 1944. It was a usual mission, this time over Laon, France. All of a sudden, flak rings out all around the Lady Lorraine. First, flak knocked off the nose, then the ball turret fell off. The aircraft then “disintegrated” mid-air and crashed two miles north of Laon, France. Julian Matin would never make it back to finish his May 9th journal entry, which he started earlier that morning. Out of the 10 crew on board, 8 would perish, including Matin. 2 would be taken as POWs. He was interned in France before his remains were flown back to the United States in 1948. He is currently interned at Wellwood Cemetery. Julian Matin left behind a grieving family. His mother and father fought tirelessly to bring him back to the US after his death.   Findagrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177324929/julian-matin   American Archive profile: https://americanarchive.iwm.org.uk/archive/person/julian-matin

Wow! That's an obscure piece on 10th Mountain history! Thanks for sharing!

Good afternoon everyone,   I’d like to share another piece. While it is a single item, it is pretty interesting. This is a front seam, fixed loop (or bail) M1 helmet manufactured by McCord, with a heat stamp of 167A. Both the shell and liner are marked with the original owner’s name and service number. Of particular note, the last name and service number are also written on the chinstraps in what appears to be period-applied ink, which is a unique detail.   The liner is an example produced by International Molded Plastics and remains complete with the exception of the leather chinstrap. Based on preliminary research, I believe the original owner may have served as a chaplain; however, I have not yet been able to relocate the source confirming this. Records I have found indicate he was stationed in England during 1944.   If anyone has additional information or research leads, I would greatly appreciate your input.   Thank you, Hayden

Yeah. Sadly, you guys generally have the best ‘stuff’ in the world. The one exception - your  food. God, it’s bad.

And you wonder why we hate you….lol.

Can’t say I’ve tried it. Not a brand we get down here.

Ahhhh, Cadbury USED to be good. Then they messed with the recipe. It just tastes like pure sugar now.