WWII USMC Private 4th Marine Division Dress Blues Jacket

Here is a recent pick up for the Iwo Jima uniform collection. This pocketless WWII Dress Blues coat belong to Marine who was originally a guard at the then unpopular and now demolished Navy and Munitions Building in Washington DC. The difficulty of finding WWII Dress Blues is that they were a limited standard only issued to Guards and Ships Detachment Marines. Most Marines had to purchase their blues from out of their own pocket. Since this Marine was a guard in Washington DC he was issued this dress blues. Later in his career he would be transferred to the 14th Marines 4th Marine Division where he would participate in the Battle Of Iwo Jima. An incredible Dress Blues uniform coat to a Top Marine!

WWII USMC Trunk Seabag Pad Lock by Slaymaker

Part of the challenge of collecting and documenting USMC items is the difficultly of finding items that are Marine Corps specific. Where as Army and Navy items and even Air Corps items are relatively easier to locate, the Marines were truly "The Few, The Proud.." Recently I came across this little gem, a USMC ID Brass padlock at a local Militaria show earlier this year. Although I didn't purchase it, it was definitely worth the price the dealer was asking for it. Sigh....another item to look for but at least I know "It Exists!" Below is another style of USMC lock that is made by Slaymaker.

Finally found myself a USMC lock!

WWII USMC 1st Marine Division Hand tinted photograph

Incredible hand tinted photo of a WWII Marine Corporal in the 1st Marine Division!

WWII US Coast Guard DC1c Amphibious Assault Patch

One of my latest purchases is a uniform I thought I would never own for my collection. This is WWII US Coast Guard uniform set consisting of a patched Amphibious Assault Jumper and bell bottom pants. What made this purchase interesting is a piece of paper folding in the pocket stating this Coast Guardsman name and that he participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima on an LST. Looks like it was written by a family member fairly recently in terms of how old the jumper is. Although this isn't a lot to to go by ( "Buy the Item, not the story"), it is a start when I started to research this sailor. A little background on the Coast Guard at Iwo Jima, 20 ships were manned by the Coast Guard, two of them were Attack Transports, and the other 18 were LST making the Coast Guard presence at the Battle of Iwo Jima small in comparison of the Marine, Navy and Army. Sadly this Sailor died quite young in the 1950's, so there isn't much information on his life not to mention his service considering Coast Guard WWII information is very hard to come by. His records have been sent for so this thread will be updated when I get his service information. Whatever this information will be I am sure it will be eye opening for many of us who study the Battle of Iwo Jima.6/14 UPDATE: I received the records last year and haven't gotten around to update this post. I received the records and it it turned out he wasn't at Iwo Jima but at the Battle of Okinawa. This made a lot more sense as to the note that was left in the pocket of this uniform which explains that he survived a Kamikaze attack on his group of ships. Iwo didn't have any large scale Kamikaze attacks on US ships. This is a fantastic uniform belonging to a very brave Coast Guard sailor to survive so many attacks during the Battle of Okinawa.

WWII USMC Wool Shirt I. Unterberg & Co, Inc

This excellent example NOS WWII USMC Wool shirt appeared recently, manufactured by I. Unterberg & Co, Inc and dated 1945. Very rarely does one still see manufactures and contract tags still attached to USMC items as they were well used by Marines.

WWII USS Iowa (BB-61) Navy and Marine Uniform Pair

Last year I was fortunate to pick up a navy uniform belonging to a sailor EM3c who was on the USS Indiana and USS Iowa during WWII. Although it was out of the scope of my Iwo Jima collection, I thought is was great to have a jumper from a WWII ship that has recently been berthed in Southern California. The jumper also came with a few photos of the sailor and was quite happy when I received it in the mail. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to pick up an alpha forest green service coat belong to a Marine guard PFC who was also on the Iowa during the entire duration of the war. Incredible enough both this sailor and Marine served at the same time for a six month period. Locating WWII Marine battleships detachment coats are not easy, but also finding a sailor who also served aboard the same ship is incredible. The Marine served aboard the Iowa during her entire WWII career, his Asiatic ribbon bar perhaps might mirror the Iowa's nine battle stars she earned in the war. I don't need to tell you these two uniforms send off a great vibe when displayed together. The stories this Sailor and Marine could tell! Requests for both records have been sent and will update this post when I get more information.

Wolf and Brown Mania! WW1 & WW II USN or Marine Ribbon Rack

This stellar example of a Wolf and Brown ribbon rack of a two war Navy or USMC military veteran is one of the nicest I've seen offered up for sale. The rack includes many rarer W&B ribbons not often found on the loose.