WWII USMC Corporal 5th Marine Division

And for my 100th post, here is the other 5th Marine Coat that I picked up, all patches are original to the coat. Two sets were put up by the seller, I missed the first one but low and behold a second set was put up a week later which is the one I purchased. I have already received the records for this Marine, he was chosen for OCS at Notre Dame but was taken out due to low grades, he made it over to the 1st Raider CO, in time for its dissolution and was moved over to the 5th Marine Division. He was in the Hq Co, 1st Battalion 28th Marines when he made it over to Iwo Jima. An incredible coat from a top Marine!

WWII USMC PFC 5th Marine Division

A nice pick up this weekend is my fourth 5th Marine Division coat belonging to a private in I Co. 3rd Battalion 26th Marines 5th Marine Division, the Sgt. stripes were added on at a later date and not original to the jacket and a welcome addition to my USMC spare patch box. He doesn't look like he was in long maybe two years at the most, looking forward to bringing this one back.

6/2/13 update: I picked up a matched set of collar EGAs and a very nice original 5th Marine Division patch for this restoration. I already had a spare set of PFC patches in my spare patch box. I ordered his records last week so hopefully I will receive them later this month.9/9/13 update: I received the records for this Marine to quite possibly the shortest career in the USMC ever. He enlisted in April of 1944, after which he was attached to the 26th Marines in time for Iwo Jima. He was part of a light machine gun crew during the battle. By October 1945 he was honorable discharged from the Marines perhaps ending one of the shortest careers I have seen. His unusually sparse ribbon bar, even by USMC standards, reflects his short career in the service: Presidential Unit Citation with 1x Star, Asiatic Campaign with 1 Star and WWII Victory Medal. Well done Marine!

Woskamania! Harry S. Wosk WWII Military Supplier San Diego

Harry S. Wosk was the owner of a Military supply shop in San Diego California during WWII. He was one of the foremost suppliers of military sailors and soldiers that were based in San Diego area during the war. This weekend at the Fairplex Pomona, I was able to attend the annual Militaria Show there. I had a wonderful time and one of the most important stops I made there was visiting the daughters of Harry S Wosk, and purchasing many genuine NOS WWII items for my uniform restorations including the two items above. Why I like purchasing from them is the fact the items have sat untouched for decades and its all original. It is amazing we still have a time capsule of such items in 2013! I will be putting the Staff Sgt patches and Sharpshooter badge on a in process restoration soon.

Iwo Jima Survivors Banquet Camp Pendleton March 23rd 2013

Sorry about the long delay from my last post. Had a lot of events going on over the last few months including the Iwo Jima Survivors Banquet Camp Pendleton on March 23rd 2013 where I displayed some of my Iwo Jima items. This was a landmark event for me as I had only met one Iwo vet previously and there I was in a room full of these gentlemen. In was an incredible day for me to be able to talk about the battle first hand with so many vets, and to meet in person with so many people that I have read about. Here are a couple of photos from the event, one of the Iwo vets in their lineup and my small display.

WWII USMC Private 4th Marine Division

Here's an unusual one that was offered up to me recently. This is 4th Marine Div coat named to a Private with one four year service stripe. Upon looking at the rosters this is perfectly legit. Looks like this marine was a cook who bounced around from unit to unit until he ended up with the 4th and seems likely he was at Iwo Jima. And for all those concerned, it is good to know that he did indeed become a PFC by the end of the war. Looking forward to learning more about this marine.5/13 update received the records for the Marine, he enlisted in 1938 and his long steady list of court martial begin all the way up to his last year of service in 1946. He was a cook and Barber and only participated in one 4th Marine division campaign, Roi-Namur. The rest of his career just seemed to be him dealing with his troubles with the authority. I acquire uniforms like this from time to time and I realized that some people were not meant for the service. Regardless glad to remember his service.

WWII Parris Island Pennant Flag

First off I would kill for a Camp Pendleton Pennant flag but I would be more than happy to own this WWII Parris Island Pennant flag. This one was on our favorite auction site recently. A incredible and iconic artifact from WWII. Here is a Peleliu pennant that appeared on eBay recently:

Post WWII Air Force Technical Sgt. Transitional OD

While I generally collect only Iwo Jima related items, I also collect items from local vets, jackets that I find in local antique stores. This is one such jacket, this amazing transitional Army Air Corps to Air Force Ike jacket with Technical Sergeant ranks on both sleeves. I was able to trace this jacket to an amazing three war vet who served in WWII, Korea and the Viet Nam war retiring in 1966. In WWII he was an aerial gunner on a B-24 serving in the PTO and later became a ground crew chief. Unlike the USN/USMC records in St Louis, Most all the Air Corps records burned up in the records fire which makes it more difficult to locate the histories of these great airmen of WWII. I will update when I get more info. 5/13 update: I did get partial records back from this airmen and although I wasn't able to get everything, i did get the citation to his Soldiers Medal ( which was way unexpected!) Soldier's Medal Citation For distinguishing themselves by heroism on 30 September 1945 at *** India, when a C-87 type aircraft crashed into the Air Corp Supply Warehouse, 1330th AAF Base Unit, India China Division, Air Transport Command. With Complete disregard for their own safety and in spite of the possibility of fire and the explosion of gas fumes, they voluntarily assisted in the rescue of the entire crew of the aircraft who were physically unable to help themselves out of the wreckage due to the force of the impact. When all the survivors had been removed, they continued to probe the wreckage of both the plane and the warehouse for any other personal who might have been injured. Their heroic actions on this occasion were such as to reflect much credit on themselves and the Army Air Forces of the United States.