WWII USMC Sergeant 3rd Division

A 3rd Marine Division coat attributed to a vetaran of Iwo Jima has actually been a bit difficult for me to locate. Considering that only two regiments fought in the battle and the 2nd Battle of Guam being a difficult battle for the Division made it difficult for me to locate one. One appeared recently that had already been researched. Apparently the Smithsonian interviewed him for their archives about this experiences in WWII which makes this a nice addition to this uniform. I applaud this Marine and the sacrifices he made in WWII!

WWII USN Corpsman PhM2c 5th Marine Division

While Amphibious/Mine Sweeper/CB's patched US Navy jumpers are relatively common it is the USMC Division patch Navy jumpers from Bluejackets that were attached to Marine Divisions that I believe the most difficult WWII Navy jumpers to locate. This is another jumper from the Anonymous Collection I posted a few weeks ago. This incredible jumper was from a Sailor who was attached to the 5th Marine Division and according to the collector who owns it participated in the Battle Of Iwo Jima. While legit 5th Marine Division coats are rare to begin with, a 5th Marine Division patched Jumper is exceptionally rare. This is "Thee"centerpeice of an Iwo Jima 5th Marine Division display.

WWII USNR GM1c USS Makin Island (CVE-93)

Here is a navy jumper I picked up a while back and haven't had a chance to post it here. This is a USN jumper that belong to a Gunners Mate 1st Class who was stationed on the USS Makin Island Escort Carrier (CVE-93). Having received his records, he was involved in some of the most intense fighting of the later half of the Pacific War including Leyte, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Makin Island was a hard fighting ship and this sailor participated in some of her hardest battles. What is most interesting about this jumper is that it has beautiful liberty cuffs sewn into the sleeve cuffs representing some of the stops this sailor made at the end of the war. Incredible jumper set from one of the hardest fighting ships of the war.

WWII USMC Anonymous Collection Part 1

In a certain way I'm a bit of a late starter with collecting WWII USMC items. I started collecting in 1990 and although WWII USMC was one of my focuses, I didn't seriously start focusing on patched alphas until a few years ago. A few months ago I met another long time USMC collector and when he sent me these random photos of his collection I nealy lost my mind. When he told me he was a long time collector he wasn't kidding.

Basically he stated he started collecting alpha coast when nobody really wanted them and weren't popular to collect. Accordingly in those early days he was able to amass a small collection of uniforms. Just incredible items and he states that they are all researched. Just finding one 5th Division jacket is hard enough yet there are seven sitting right there on the rack, not to mention dress blues! Don't even get me started on the 4th Marine Division items. Makes one wonder how many private collections like this exists! Thank you anonymous collector for letting me reproduce these photos of your collection!

WWII USMC 782 Combat Gear

Here is a photo of the WWII USMC 782 Gear laid out. Not a correct layout but just a quick shot of 782 gear laid out for a quick reference and for people such as myself who like such items. All the items in this photo are original WWII production.