I dunno about all the other award, but those marksmenship ribbons at the very end . . . these were usually from time as a midshipman.  My father,  A RAdm with 2 Navy Crosses amongst other award never wore them from 1942 and forward.  He said proficiency with a rifle or pistol was to be expected.  The only time he fired a pistol in anger was at incoming Japanese dive bombers at Midway and a flight deck officer chased him away.    My father grew up in the old army and had been shooting the 1911A1 since he was about 10 years old.  In the mid-1960's when I was about the same age, I used to stop by with my friends at the indoor range at NOB Norfolk after alighting from the school bus and watch the shooters do their thing.  One evening a couple of CPOs stopped by the quarters and told my father I was interested and with his approval they would let me shoot.  He said a couple of sergeants in the 13th Infantry had made the same presentation to his father, then Colonel commanding the regiment,  and were told to go ahead.    So along bout 11 years old I started shooting the 1911A1. Flash forward to circa 1971 at VMI I could take down a 1911A1 without instruction and shoot same with reasonable expectation of accuracy,  They wanted me on the pistol team, but I had better thing to do, like fencing.

Over the past year or two I have managed to pick up high quality display cabinets from vape shops that are forever opening and closing stores, they often have good quality lighting already fitted in them too. More often or not, these things end up in a skip after a company has dissolved so its worth asking a store manager/owner about them.  

The dark bands on the map represent the course of the then-existing highways in Bayern, near Nuremberg.  If Lt. Sharkey was a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Silesia (Żagań, Poland), as shown on the attached identification card, it was quite far from Bayern, Nuremberg (about 480 km) from the location on the map.    Was the sketched map from Lt. Sharkey, maybe given to him in case of an escape and he somehow made it all the way to Bayern?  Unless the map was totally unrelated to his time at Sagan, it probably was not an escape map - but it is a good map of the Bayern region. 

I was there today getting set-up for the show. Some nice stuff. Go to the YCGG Facebook page to see all the M1 Garand Rifles one vendor has. 

Here’s a rare 1 I recently picked up. What do you think? 

Looks good.

I picked up an WW2 EK knife with correct sheath for just under $150 that was improperly identified and had only been listed for about 3 hours on eBay.  And then missed an original Smatchet for less than $50 because I wasn't paying attention. And I, too, have seen common knives advertised for way more than their normal going price (I wonder if the person selling the over-priced item ever bothered to see that there were dozens for sale on eBay for way cheaper prices, and nicer too), reproductions advertised as originals, modern productions sold as WW2, etc. This also goes for military shows and particularly gun shows. Some of it is from ignorance, some of it from arrogance, and some of it is a rip-off.  Just par for the course, and nobody is forcing you to buy the stuff. 

I recently picked up this USCG jungle jacket with US Coast Guard tabs— I had never seen one before like this and thought I would add it to this excellent thread!   Michael      

This store is in Kansas City. They have an amazing selection of retail store fixtures, shelving and other display options. There is a variety of prices and sizes to choose from.   https://www.kc-store-fixtures.com

Hey all.  Got this from an auction recently.