I nearly completed the construction of the Paladin aside from some clear parts and antennas. Attached some pictures of the M109 in driving mode and in gun position.      

So this is a post VN era US made patch to be worn on the right shoulder as a combat patch - right ? 

Many more, the US Army fielded 20 divisions in the PTO versus 6 USMC divisions.

Super looking jacket you have there.  The ribbons are really nice too.

The POD nomenclature was Winter Blues and Winter Working Blues.   As an Admin Department Head, I had to verify which version the XO really wanted as he would use the  term interchangeably and then get upset when what he meant was not what he got.    Morning quarters was sometimes a uniform circus.  Some with ties and ribbons, some with ties and no ribbons, some with ribbons and no ties, and the occasional no ties or ribbons.  It got to the point where we specifically stated "Winter Blues - Ties and ribbons" or Winter Working Blues - No ties or ribbons."  And then there was the unofficial "Working Blues - Ties, no ribbons".   Winter Blues included ribbons and tie.  Winter working blues were no ribbons and no tie.  Water wings were worn with either version if you had qualified for them.    Winter Blues were considered a tweener uniform - between khakis and service dress blues.  As an officer, I definitely preferred wearing Winter Blues over Service Dress Blues.  If I had the choice between a tie or a tie w/ dress blues coat, I'd ditch the coat every time.  Winter Blues also beat the hell out of khakis if you were ever working in a computer server environment.  60ºF to keep all the servers cool.

Double Knits and Corfam shoes.

I would make a guess that those are US Army Troops. No covers on the helmets. Wake Island was by passed and did not surrender until wars end or there after. There was no battle on Wake Island after the initial Battle and Japanese occupation. I read somewhere that there were many more US Army units, Infantry Artillery etc in the Pacific Theater than the USMC fielded. It could be any where in the Pacific around / before June of 1944. ?

just wanna say hi, lol.

I can't say for sure, there were a lot of configurations for these keys. Possibly the Turret Officer's booth if anywhere, however the firing keys I have seen & found references to for local control in the mounts were a variety, I saw at least one configuration where the key was corded. I just sold off a corded key that from the best info I could source was used on the automatic 3 in 50 mounts. There were a lot of configurations out there, when I first opened the box on this one after I received it, I found a note saying "From missile fire control". That was a long time ago, and I have no way of knowing the provenance of the note - and of course the box is long gone. I've never seen pictures of the firing key setup from the Mississippi, the Boston, or the Canberra for example....   so I guess the best answer is.... no telling! 

Thanks...I'll grant you the photo has been perplexing for sure.  I too like to learn from items and love a real challenge as you do, so yes that answers my question.  Indeed, many a mystery has been solved on this forum for sure.  I appreciate your response.   Now, regarding Robert Capa, see below.  Of note is the fact that nowhere in the obituary below does it indicate Robert Capa ever took photographs in the Pacific theater of war.  It states that he traveled with units from the United States Army (not Marines), documenting Allied victories in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, the Allied landing at Normandy, and the Allied capture of Leipzig, Nuremberg, and Berlin.