....and the headgear and a ditty bag of some sort....   Mark sends

Every Memorial Day weekend we hold a Military History Muster, but this year the reenactor and weather Gods made it impossible so we had to cancel. We normally get a number of things from people coming to the event, but still received some nice items brought to the Museum. One of our reenactor friends has been helping close down a nearby Red Cross facility, and they were planning on just tossing things in the garbage, so he's ben making sure that doesn't happen, and sharing some of the things he finds with us. So, this year he brought a Red Cross flag still in it's box...several pieces of headgear (which helped complete a couple of our ARC uniforms), as well as a very cool souvenir ashtray from a Clubmobile Unit ("Donut Dollies") in South Korea. Based on the bayonet grip being on the right side, I believe it's a Vietnam- era piece. If any one is an expert on the 7th ID Bayonet logo, let me know!   Mark sends  

My old friend of almost 50 years, Peter Helm, passed on May 21st. You will all know him as the kid on Omaha Beach in The Longest Day that drops his rifle. He dives behind cover next to Robert Mitchum and is told to go back and get his rifle. Peter was in numerous tv shows and movies in the 60’s and 70’s, including Combat, Bonanza, The Andromeda Strain, Inside Daisy Clover and many, many others. Peter was also a pilot and huge aviation enthusiast. He crewed for us on ExecutiveSweet for many years and travelled to countless airshows with us. All the while, filming and taking photos as Peter never ceased doing. He always caught my worst landingson film, lol. Peter was a truly great guy that would do anything for a friend and was always full oflife. He will be greatly missed!  

Great find and awesome research. Congratulations ! 

To be fair to Blitz and his statement that some families just dont care about the items.... Thats 100 percent true. Just yesterday I saw a framed grouping of.... some Mans WW2 medals.... for sale on Goodwill. Online... the bidding was at 14 bucks! Its true that some families dont care about their loved ones service.  There are as many reasons for that as there are people. Some vets may have had no family, never married etc etc .. I once found a medium sized cardboard box with someones family pictures and mementos etc spanning the 1930's thru the  1950's. I found it in the garbage. I have some of my old uniforms certificates etc etc.. I still have it because to me, it means something.... When my time is up, I dont know that my children will want or hang onto any of it? Some collectors have told me in the past that you paid for it. Its your item and you are free to do what you want with it. Its an individuals choice.  

Recently I got a pair of spiral puttees as part of an estate group (not the veteran's/family estate) and I noticed they're wildly different from another pair of puttees I have, purchased from a dealer. I will attach comparison photos of both sets. Both are just short of 9 feet long. For army contract puttees, surely there is a specification number out there which describes how they should be made, correct? Perhaps one is foreign or post war? I've read that the Marines wore a different color puttee than did the army. I'd love to know which of these, if any, are more appropriate for my WWI enlisted man's display. we first see that the color an weave/thickness are quite different from each other  one tape is wider than the other, 3/4" vs 1". The method of attaching the tape is also different, with a box stitch on the lighter one. Both tapes are an HBT pattern  lastly, the width differs with the light pair being 3.5" and the dark one being nearly 4"   I would love to see examples of your puttees, perhaps ones that are named to a WWI vet/part of a confirmed grouping or ones with surviving contract stamps for comparison!

Hi, I have a very similar saddle to the one listed above and would appreciate thoughts on its origin and what "flavor" it is. Thanks much :) Beth

I would say it is the real deal the ones I have are on Velcro as they came from the squadron

a garage sale of all places. Dude just had it sitting in his basement for the past few decades and was glad to sell it to me for $100