July 10, 201214 yr #1 This group came to me the way most of my collection did. By asking . I would always drive down roads off the beaten path and the same road often. One day I went down a connecting street that I had passed many times but never made that turn. Well not 25 yards into it there is a little lady raking leaves. I got out introduced myself and started to talk. Her husband had been on Iwo Jima. Several weeks later the couple starts dragging stuff from the basement. Here is the tip of the ice burg.
July 10, 201214 yr #2 Looks like its fixing to be a great group! If this is the tip of the iceberg I cant wait to see what is ahead, nice items posted so far. Philip
July 10, 201214 yr Author #4 Mr Lowe was a bus driver for the Harrisburg transit before the war. He figured that it was only logical that he should pilot Amtraks. And that is what he did on Iwo Jima. But after 2 weeks his services were no longer needed but infantrymen were. So the next few weeks he fought. As the campaign wound down he volunteered to do body identification. US and Japanese. The things in the previous picture are just a few of what he found. Here he is on his Amtrak
July 10, 201214 yr Author #7 Home sweet home on Iwo Jima. Notice that his K BAR and 45 are not far away.
July 10, 201214 yr Author #8 He told me that this was issued to him when he did body reclamation so he could ID any Japanese bodies. ID'ing an officer would be the first step in going through his stuff to find any information of strategic importance. Thank you Pabst Blue Ribbon. I don't care who you are... this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen right here.
July 10, 201214 yr Author #9 Ok now here is a rare item. Mr Lowe told me that in their spare time they were sweating off the solder from cans and melting anything else they could find. They then sand casted a mold and poured 5 of these buckles. The Flag Raising on Mout Suribachi. This has got to be one of the rarest items from Iwo Jima. What do you think ???
July 10, 201214 yr Author #10 The back of buckle. I have to go back to work so I will post some more details later. bye bye for now.
July 10, 201214 yr #12 Nice stuff! I like the ribbon bars. Now, where is that patched alpha uniform? One question about the buckle? When was it made? Because I wonder how soon after the flag raising did it become an iconic symbol? I'm guessing these were made some time after the event after the film had been well circulated.
July 10, 201214 yr #13 Absolutely incredible find and a dream find for me if I found it! Looking forward to seeing more especially the pictures, that is very helpful to me. I'll have to agree above, I don't think anybody saw the photo until they went back to Saipan or Hawaii unless it was distributed in newspapers to the marines but i would believe it would have happened so late in the campaign I wonder if they would had time to make it. Regardless it is a fantastic piece and a great story from the vet himself and it should be cherished! Leonardo
July 10, 201214 yr #14 that's a wonderful group...I love the belt buckle and Japanese whiz-wheel...a small grouping like this would fit beautifully in a large, padded ryker on the wall!
July 10, 201214 yr Author #15 Nice stuff! I like the ribbon bars. Now, where is that patched alpha uniform? One question about the buckle? When was it made? Because I wonder how soon after the flag raising did it become an iconic symbol? I'm guessing these were made some time after the event after the film had been well circulated. You raise a very good point. But... Mr Lowe made it sound like they were doing this on Iwo Jima. He continued to serve until the wars end so it could have been done somewhere else. One thing he did make clear is that they were sweating the solder off of ration cans and melting gum wrappers ect. in the field to do this. This is what i was told.
July 10, 201214 yr #16 You raise a very good point. But... Mr Lowe made it sound like they were doing this on Iwo Jima. He continued to serve until the wars end so it could have been done somewhere else. One thing he did make clear is that they were sweating the solder off of ration cans and melting gum wrappers ect. in the field to do this. This is what i was told. My published writing is about music from the 1960's and there are times that I will interview the artist, the producer and the songwriter about the same incident and they will have three completely different stories about what happened. What do you do in a situation like that, especially when you know they are genuine top people, it screws with my historical writing training in college. This is one of those situations, I have no doubts about with what the vet says, sometimes i have to take a step back and just listen to the great story. This is a fantastic find and you did great job bringing it out of obscurity and I'm glad he made it home as so many didn't. Leonardo
July 10, 201214 yr #17 Absolutely incredible find and a dream find for me if I found it! Looking forward to seeing more especially the pictures, that is very helpful to me. I'll have to agree above, I don't think anybody saw the photo until they went back to Saipan or Hawaii unless it was distributed in newspapers to the marines but i would believe it would have happened so late in the campaign I wonder if they would had time to make it. Regardless it is a fantastic piece and a great story from the vet himself and it should be cherished! Leonardo anyone there saw the actual event, there are numerous accounts from Marines who witnessed it both on top and below the mountain...and to them it became immediately iconic...they could be working from memory, it's not an exact stance replica
July 10, 201214 yr #18 Of all the accounts I have read everybody remembers the first flag going up and nobody hardly noticed the second flag being changed out (It took less than 10 seconds to change out that flag as seen in the 16mm film), hence the confusion and debate about the two flag raising. Also the direction is the same direction and pose of the photograph, so it is obvious they took the belt design from the photo. Very cool folk design item, imagine it sat in a basement for so many years! Leonardo
July 10, 201214 yr #19 I can also imagine it being done elsewhere, but during the war. How long was he on Iwo? An occupier perhaps? Made on Iwo or not, it's obviously hand made, and I'm sure how it was made in the recollection is at least true, did he directly say Iwo? A fabulous piece of trenchart regardless of which island it was made on, or ship, or whatnot
July 10, 201214 yr Author #21 Unfortunately John ( not Tom ) passed a few years ago and we will not get to the bottom of it until another one surfaces. To me it is a war time made piece by a man who served on Iwo Jima. To me it is priceless. That is until the day I sell it then it will be a Buck three eighty. I'll be posting more of this group soon. By the way Tom was his son whose Air Force items from Vietnam were in my collection at one time. That in it's self is an odd story.
July 10, 201214 yr #25 Unfortunately John ( not Tom ) passed a few years ago and we will not get to the bottom of it until another one surfaces. To me it is a war time made piece by a man who served on Iwo Jima. To me it is priceless. That is until the day I sell it then it will be a Buck three eighty. :thumbsup:
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