The evidence you cite of several hundred buttons surviving wasn’t actually published when I wrote my initial article and remains unpublished until you write your post going through the actual examples. What was available was quite sketchy indeed until Bazelon’s book cited above. He had published the Spies’ card in the 70’s but the photo was quite bad at the time. That card to my mind solves the problem and it was a great contribution that new full-color photos came out after I wrote the article, and he has not fortunately asked the site to remove my clips of them. Like I said above, I wouldn’t have written this article at all if the new book had come out earlier, but such accidents are constantly occurring in history, so why not here? Thanks for contributing your knowledge of surviving examples. Often experienced collectors know things that haven’t been published and sometimes the knowledge dies with them.

If anybody is intrested in this, it is for pick up only and here is where it it is on Goodwill It is under Medals !!NEW PICKUP AREA !! Important Information Regarding Your Item Pickup **Item Pickup Location:** Goodwill DE & Delaware County HQ - 300 E Lea Blvd - Wilmington, DE 19802 !!NEW PICKUP AREA !! 8-7-2025 PICK UP AREA HAS BEEN MOVED TO BEHIND GOODWILL RETAIL LOCATION. PLEASE FOLLOW POSTED SIGNAGE AND INSTUCTIONS ON THE SIGNS TO ACCESS YOUR ORDER. **Pickup Deadline & Storage Policy:** Kindly note that all items must be collected within **14 days** from the date of payment. Due to limited storage space, items that remain uncollected after this period will be considered a donation. We do not provide advance notifications for items approaching or exceeding the 14-day collection timeframe. **Scheduling Your Pickup:** Item collection is strictly by appointment only. Our designated pickup hours are **Monday through Friday, from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM**. To arrange your pickup, please utilize our **online scheduler** to book a specific time slot. **Missed Appointments Policy:** Should you miss your scheduled appointment, it will be automatically removed from our calendar. **On the Day of Your Pickup:** To collect your item, you **must present a valid form of identification**. You will be required to sign for your order. Our team will retrieve and deliver your items to you as promptly as possible. Thank you for choosing Goodwill! Read More When:By Appointment, Weekdays, 10:00am till 3:30pm. Address:300 E Lea Blvd,Wilmington,DE 19802-2354

Will do, Mike. I should’ve studied this further before I signed in I guess. all my extra $ get spent on my 5 decade firearms habit!!😎😄 Recreational gunfire has always been my primary interest, even above American history. Thanks for the heads up.!😀 BTW, how do you go about embedding a YouTube video into the post?  embedded videos avoid the dad gum commercials, which is only getting worse.😡 PTRN

They used them to power lights radios etc... They would dig a hole several feet deep and run them down in the hole. Its a little harder to pinpoint where the noise is coming from that way and protects them from Shrapnel. Ground bursts.

Hi Folks:  Saw this jacket in an American thrift store in Germany and took pictures.  German civilian "US patched" armor jacket.  just wanted to share FYI

People could have anything engraved on a buckle, for a price. Just pay the guy and pick it up later. Get to the Big P.I., order your buckle, grab a couple of beers, a steak, maybe a rub and a tug and pick up your buckle. I've seen a lot of buckles that weren't military themed. Check postings in this thread. Examples; Boy Scouts, Hollywood Stunt Men, other masonic, sailing, monograms, etc., just to name a few. That's the beauty of these buckles.

While this site is primarily about militaria collecting, there is a section dedicated to Historical Discussions.  Scroll down the main page until you find it and try posting there.  That section doesn’t get as much traffic as it should. Try kicking up some dust there and maybe you can get something rolling. Without knowing the history, these relics we collect would be meaningless bits of metal, cloth, or wood.  I for one have been a history buff at least since my early teens, way over 50 years ago (eeeks! that long? I feel old now). I came onto collecting for the thrill, to me, of having small slices of history in hand. So I learn something history related first, then I get a bug to have something that was there.  The artifacts are themselves history in solid form. Unfortunately, lately I’ve been forgetting a little of what was in the old noggin.  I have been to Gettysburg twice. Once with the family that created me, about 1975, and again about 15 years ago with the family I created. Personally, I found all the monuments visually interesting, but they kept getting in the way of my mental picture of what went on there. I much preferred the Antietam battlefield for getting a feel for the history of the place.  I for one am glad you found us here and hope you conclude that joining wasn’t a mistake. You aren’t alone in your interest in the history side of things here.  mikie

Just asking. But why is there a freemason symbol on the beltbuckle? -BC

CDR Craig Dean Powell graduated BUD/S Class 123 on 1 July 1983.