My dad’s second fleet cruise was in the A7E with VA-83.  Unfortunately they discontinued the 1/48 VA-83 decals so I decided to use the VA-86 decals that came with the kit. This was the squadron and ship used in “The Final Countdown.”

My grandfather was in the Sgts of Company B 814th Pioneer Infantry of Loyal Staff of “Black Devils”. It was all Black Soldiers and they were shipped out to France.

Hello everyone. I need help from specialists in WWII US dog tags. I am looking for information on these soldiers—specifically, whether relevant NARA records exist and how I can trace these men's histories by identifying their units. These dog tags come from France. Thanks for your help. Have a nice day. Laurent.

. Carentan 1944 - 2026   I made more use of my time in Carentan this afternoon,  Across the square from the cafe / bar is a comparison I had been planning for a while. The damaged building in the first photograph was demolished post war and an empty plot stood there for many years, about fifteen years or so ago the building was replaced with a new build about four floors high.  The gateway on the left in the first photograph remains as a modern build gateway today and due to the new high rise building in close proximity then the windows of the building at the rear of the gate were bricked up and rendered over.        Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 05 July   2O26.   ..

Group,   Below is a S&W Victory Model with 2" barrel that was 1 of the 300 that shipped to Fort Mason, California on December 1, 1942.  This one came with appropriate but not original grips.  Out of 1,000,000 +/- pre-victory and Victory Model revolvers, very few shipped originally with a 2" barrel.  The most well known grouping is the set that shipped with this one to Fort Mason, CA.  Some of the records are missing from this shipment, so few are factory documented.     Hopefully one of our resident experts can chime in on why the military ordered these and who most likely carried them along with how many known survivors are recorded.   Regards, Lyle  

Not sure if this one has been posted in this forum so I’ll give it another life. Picture posted by member “patches” he posted on another topic.   

IDK, but I just dont see a PS Navy Corpsman doing this. In my circles PS folks tend to leave other branch’s rank and insignia alone.

. Carentan today 05 July 2026.   Making use of my time in Carentan today I tried to find the cafe that existed in 1915, It was not easy as most balconies have disappeared over the years which would have been the main way of identifying the building as the complete facade was not in the photo, rarely do upper floors or roofs change.  It may be that the bar from 1915 was destroyed in German shelling in June 1944 after the Americans captured the town, if so it was rebuilt post war and certainly as with most stores and shops around town modernised since the rebuild.   So maybe this is the best that I can offer by way of comparisons.  a 1915 photo, a 1944 photo, a 2026 photo. Not a definitive identification but note the striped material of the sun blind in the first and second photo, by 1944 this might be a replacement of the 1915 sun blind !!!!!!!         Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 05 July   2O26.   ..

My mistake: 3 A&EMS patches, not 2.