Sold buckles: First up, Larry Durham, Naval Aircrew wings, Flight Engineer   Not a good carving of the ship on this buckle: USS Hayler DD-997, XO, but it went REALLY cheap.     I've seen this buckle before, but couldn't find it in the post, Classic Wizard POGG      

Nestor, that is better made than most obvious fakes. Unfortunately, I’m “on the fence” about it. If it was me, I would pass on it.

The Paladin has already received grey base coat, black pre-shading and a first layer of Tamiya "light sand" color.            

Sweet, thank you so much! I did a whole term paper on U.S. Submarine actions between December 8th, 1942-early 1943 and when I was reading their reports it really just struck home of how confused and chaotic the situation was in the Philipinnes. Very much contradicts a lot of what I heard as a kid about the fighting retreat of MacArthur. Hopefully some requests can clear uo questions.   I will for sure reach out and request that file. I have to do a whole bunch of FOIA requests for like 15 Marines so my next few off days will be spent typing up paperwork 😂.

As you alluded to, it seems that the records are unclear:   From the NARA POW files:   His headstone card:   Also this:   I would suggest requesting his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF), which I think are available for personnel from all services at NARA St Louis; however, I’ve only ever requested those of US Army personnel and, unfortunately, there is no guarantee the IDPF, if it exists, will be complete.   email for IDPF request: stl.archives@nara.gov   The IDPFs are typically provided as a PDF.   Dan

Sold buckles: First up, Larry Durham, Naval Aircrew wings, Flight Engineer   Not a good carving of the ship on this buckle: USS Hayler DD-997, XO, but it went REALLY cheap.   I've seen this buckle before, but couldn't find it in the post, Classic Wizard POGG   Not sure IF this one is Philipp made or not, looks more SW style, but I'll include it for S-N-G's anyway. USMC cut out interestingly .. SPREAD EAGLE EGA.

The Minnesota image is excellent, and the first Manila image with Krag, nice locally procured shirt and 'salvaged' cartridge box. Of course interesting with the wristwatch. Thanks for sharing!

While some of the crew of the Quail made it back to Australia on a motor launch, the shop itself was very much beached and later recovered by the Japanese. However, the majority of the crew remained in the Philippines.   If my timeline is correct he would've been on the Quail when it was sunk and transfered over to the Finch for its final month of fighting. His name shows up attached to both ships so I have quite a bit of research to do. Unfortunately this early in the war and with the situation so unstable in the Philippines, some of the records are off. I had an issue with a Marine Wake Island marine piece I previously posted where his muster rolls showed him on another Island months later when in fact he was firmly in Japanese hands. Having reviewed the Submarine records of the Asiatic fleet I can also attest that they were a shinola show. 

What a beautiful grouping and congratulations on your efforts to get it back together.   OD

We visited LBH Battlefield in August of 2017. i had parked under a treee at the visitors center and we attended the ranger talk on the porch. we went out to get in the car to drive to Reno Hill. I kid you not, the temperature was 112*F!😄 Needless to say, we didn’t spend near as I had hoped!😡 Living in central PA, I got my fingers crossed for another visit. I got an acquaintance with a fellow who lives near Bozeman who has studied this for a long time. If I get out there again I have a tour guide on tap!😎   If you get anywhere near Mt  Rushmore, do yourself a big favor and set aside some time for Custer State Park. That’s the Black Hills section of South Dakota. Wifey and I fell in love with the place. I said to her, “it’s no wonder they considered this sacred. If I were God, this is where I’d live”!😎 PTRN