OMG General!  It was the same here in the States!  You would hear about a scrap yard 3 hours away and drive just to pull parts that you would need to restore a Jeep.  There were no reproduction parts!  I remember getting up with my brother and Dad at 5 AM to drive that distance just to grab a set of "top bows" and pull a set of "F" marked side handles.  You had to go remove them yourself!  Plenty of WD-40 and busted knuckles.  There weren't "Jeep part dealers" back then.  Heck, my Dad bought a medium weight sewing machine to make to the seat cushions out of WWII shelter halves.  I find your 4th picture absolutely fascinating to me.  Obviously, they were working on stabilizing the steering column.  This is another example I have seen, and they are few and far between.  My current '42 Ford also has a similar period done modification.     I love this thread!     OD   PS.  Everyone knows Hayes, we discovered his WWI tank at Viking Scrapyard.  

Thank you for the insight.  After seeing your pics of 100% original stamps, it certainly looks like I have a reproduction.  If the knife is original and in as good condition as it shows, what would an accurate value be for original knife and repro scabbard? 

Patch itself WWII, the Tab, 1960s, is my view, Tab is hand sewn to Patch we see, which in the scheme of things isn't that much of a concern, the older patch may have simply been in a supply inventory, and finally got issued out or acquired, with the newer made Tab being  issued out or acquired, this is if the two were originally together, this could very well been done decades after the 50s by someone,    Nevertheless, two nice items from different periods that are GI. 

1 - I found the Murphy MoH pic in the Scottish Rite Museum. It is either a replacement or has had a new ribbon. My guess is it is a replacement ribbon or a display medal. 2 - Looks like a Type VI ribbon, which Murphy did wear. Murphy was awarded a Type III on an 'S' hook-style ribbon. 3 - At some point, Murphy made up a display for a museum.Same style of Type VI ribbon.  4 - In 2004, I photographed this display at the Audie Murphy Museum. 5 & 6 - I remember one time talking to Walt Ehlers about what he called 'the old-style medal' and he wanted to get the neck ribbon instead of hooking the WWI style arrangement on another blue ribbon. He stated he was told to swap it out and he regretted it ever since. In the presentation pic in front of the map, you can see the case, rosette, two ribbons and what appears to be an extra Type III drape.   Does anyone know if the medal on display is actually Murphy's awarded piece or if there is a picture of the back somewhere?

Just looking for suggestions. A local military museum was gifted an M38A1, but the engine is blown. The guys working on it have had it for sometime with no results and there maybe good reasons for it. Anyway can anyone suggest where to try to source a F134 engine? I really don't know the extent of the damage to the original so I'm just looking around for an entire engine.  Thanks

. Jeep collecting 1970's   Myself and friends who were Jeep owners had to drive around trying to find abandoned Jeeps in farms and breakers yards to acquire parts, the best part about this in hindsight,  is that we weren't buying any reproduction pieces there were none. !!!.  as we spread, met other people and gathered information during the 70's we learnt of just one dealer in wartime spares a London based company Metamet Jeeps, they had stocks of surplus wartime parts.  Sadly during the early 1970's there weren't garages, or even collectors around with the knowledge, skills or inclination for restoring Jeeps, and at that time a running Jeep on the road was worth 50 to 100 pounds so rotten ones were not worth repairing especially ones that were too far gone, today now that is a different game, anything and everything is repairable.    These are a few photographs from 1970's showing what we were finding in the way of wrecked or abandoned Jeeps.   ( It's almost 1am now in the morning so these four shots are it for this evening,  and I will add more tomorrow. )             Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 24 May  2O26.   ..  

I recently obtain these wings and have not been able to identify which country these wings are from. Obviously, these wings are naval aviator related due to the anchor that is incorporated within the badge. Any information from members would be appreciated. Thanks!

The Rooster is correct...normal sleeves rolled up...we did the same in the Air Force; unlike the old OD fatigues where you were allowed to cut the sleeves off and have them hemmed as long as you kept three long sleeve shirts, altering the BDU sleeves in such a manner was never allowed...     Mark sends

Additional early campaign ribbon bars.

I dont know the answer to the value. But you could get in touch with I think its 5 US WW2 destroyers that are museums here in the states around the country? And see what they say about them.   The surviving U.S. destroyers and their exact locations include: USS Kidd (DD-661): Located at the USS Kidd Veterans Museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is the only surviving U.S. destroyer maintained in its authentic World War II configuration. USS The Sullivans (DD-537): Located at the Buffalo Naval Park in Buffalo, New York. USS Cassin Young (DD-793): Berthed near the USS Constitution at the Boston National Historical Park in Massachusetts. USS Laffey (DD-724): Docked at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Known as "The Ship That Would Not Die," she is the most highly decorated surviving World War II destroyer. USS Orleck (DD-886): Docked on the St. Johns River as a museum ship for the Jacksonville Naval Museum in Florida. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]