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    • robinb
      That's so cool. He was a doctor in the CBI. I automatically associate the CBI with pilots.
    • VK WW1
      Adding a picture I found that might be a Model 1872 Mounted Artillery Officer's Saber. Actually, I don't know if there were any other sabers with this German-looking design in the US at that time.
    • aznation
    • robinb
    • otter42
      Awesome Matt! You're like Quick Draw McGraw! Now I'm dating myself!
    • Equi
      During WWII and the Korean War, Corps of Engineers troops were equipped with quite radioactive lensatic compasses. I usually see them with a black paint, but sometimes I see golden and dark green paints. The radium lume inside is most of the time yellow (ZnS:Mn), but can be green. The reason these compasses are so much more radioactive than other radium painted models is because of the "backlight" in the bezel. On the back of the bezel, there is a large strip of hot radium paint. This strip basically illuminated the whole dial, allowing troops to easily read the numbers inside. That giant strip is usually on average ~20 microcuries (around 20 micrograms) of Radium-226, which is a really decent amount of radium to put in a compass. Most aircraft gauges didn't even use that much radium. They are safe to handle for a bit, but don't keep them in your pocket or sleep with them. The other big hazard with these compasses is they have exposed radium paint on them. On the azimuth, the two dots have a tiny splotch of exposed radium lume. After 70-80 years, the binder in the radium lume has degraded severely and it can easily flake off. Radium-226 poses severe internal hazards as it is primarily an alpha emitting isotope. Every time I get one of these compasses, I carefully apply a small amount of clearcoat on the azimuth to prevent radium contamination. The green M1950 compasses also feature these very radioactive backlight bezels. I have a few coming in the mail that I'll make a post on when they arrive.
    • aznation
      Morning Reports - Jean Jones.pdf
    • otter42
    • DR. toboggan
      This one and the one in the link from IMA look very similar except for I noticed the one I'm inquiring about has what looks like a brass outer part and the inside is probably silver unless the outer part was clad with brass... Unlike the one from ima that looks all silver... thanks 
    • Gear Fanatic
      Recently saw this patch on a uniform on eBay, has anyone been able to ID it? Or is the consensus still that it’s a novelty patch?
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