. hi Kat,   I too live vicariously again through my days, weeks, years, making posts here on the forum . . . . . . . . pleased that you come onboard and read them.   Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 03 June  2O26.   ..    

. hi earlymb,   yes eighty year old originals wouldn't now survive the constant or regular movement of the gear stick and the transfer levers, if I had fitted them back when I bought them they weren't so old then, as wasn't the jeep OR ME . . . . . . . . . . . .  !!!!!  as I was telling Johan yesterday I have a bunch of original pressed steel Pal nuts that I never fitted to the chassis bolts as I thought the constant off-roading in mud would have rotted them, I would imagine that nearly 95% of Jeeps wouldn't still have them now after age or rebuilds.  A comment below about Pal nuts from another website     I am not sure why you would use them, as the service publications for aircraft engines no longer recommend that you use them. They recommend that you throw them away. I have rebuilt many aircraft engines, and the only time we used them was for an engine on a C-47 for the external bolts and studs. The judges at the airshows are known to look for them and the internal ones we left off anyway.      Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 03 June  2O26.   ..

SSI

Many thanks for your replies, much apreaciated. Could this be worn on a deck jacket on the shoulder or was this just for the particular clothing pictured and what was this glow patch thing I have seen when these are up for sale?

This also is pretty interesting for the MBU-12 time line as the first official contract (in 1974 for Wright Patterson) is 27 months after production of this face piece.  The face forms used for the MBU-12/P were sculpted by Ned Ostendorf based on a 1967 USAF survey. It is entirely possible those same face forms, or near-identical ones, were issued to Carleton for the HGU-35/P mask at an earlier date, and that the 1974 (Wright Patterson) contract to Sierra was for the production-configured system, and not the first fabrication from those forms. So not only a lucky find, but also a very interesting historical piece. 

Thank you for your service and this extensive answer! It is a very interesting read indeed. :) Why did you call them "cabbage patch kids"?   Jules

Americal Division ghosting???

Be advised that morning reports at the NARA site, where most of the information below was found, are not available for after Dec 44 at this time. Also, I was unable to find very much about him on ancestry, FOLD3 or Newspapersdotcom; maybe some other folks on here can find more at these sites or others. Right now, unfortunately, it only provides a partial answer to your question   He left the Anti-Tank Co 358th IR in TX on 4 Sep 43 (en route to the Air Corps [AC] via a temp attachment to a field artillery battalion): He may have previously applied to the Air Corps/Army Air Forces/taken a test(s)?   On 7 Sep 43, he arrived at Sheppard Field, TX for basic Army Air Forces (AAF) training after arriving from the AAF Induction Station, Dallas, TX:   He was assigned to a pre-flight class on 29 Sep 43 at Wichita, KS. He was considered an aviation student and not an aviation cadet.     On , he was 28 jan 44, he was sent to Santa Ana Army Air Base, CA for further training:   Mar 44, still at Santa Ana AAB, CA for further training:     Continued training during Apr 44 at SAAAB:   On 17 Jun 44, as a bombardier student, he was transferred from SAAB, CA to the AAF Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman Army Air Field, AZ for additional training:   On 5 Aug 44, having completed the Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman, AZ, he was transferred to Carlsbad Army Air Field, NM for additional training:   During Sep 44, he takes an extended period of leave (returning to CAAF after 25 days) from his training; leading me to wonder if there was an issue at home he had to deal with? No additional documents were found at NARA for him (by me, at least) during my search.    I'm wondering if, in the photos(s) you have of him with his wings, he is wearing officer rank (that may indicate he was commissioned as a bombardier)? I did not find any documents showing him as an officer (with a new service number). To the best of my knowledge, there were no enlisted AAF bombardiers after 1942.   I hope this helps. Dan  

Snagged this screen shot from FB. Candy stripe Green Beret LT.