WWII was brought up in a conversation involving myself and a few others on this site the other day and I got out some of my Grandfathers WWII items and wanted to share them. He served in the 10th Armored Division I also was curious as to what interesting items some of you may have and if you don’t mind sharing pictures of them as well.
Here goes
This is a key to one of the bunkers in the Maginot Line that runs across France that my Grandfather brought home from the war. I am not exactly sure where, but the key is numbered.
This is a piece of Alumnium from an ME 109 that he and his half track crew shot down on Jan 1, 1945. The plane was doing strafing runs on their armor column when they shot it down. It has the date engraved on it.
This piece of steel has the word BERGARD engraved on it and it feels like it might be a piece of Armor for a vehicle because it is very heavy for its size. Other than that, I don’t know much about it.
This is an Artillary Luger that was taken off of a mounted German Officer and brought home by my Grandfather. It has all matching serial numbers and I traced the manufacturer back to Switzerland during WWI.
This piece of cloth was torn from the inside of a green canvas utility bag, and he wrote Normandy NY France, D Day on it. That is about all I know, I still find it neat.
Here is his uniform Jacket, I don’t have any of his medals on it though.
I have some letters in storage that are messages from General George Patton congratulating different units on their performance at a battle, can’t remember which battle; but somehow my Grandpa was able to get them. They are not signed, but say on the bottom something like “Sincerely, Gen George S. Patton”
I will try to find them and post, it is pretty neat.
Basically no guns, no ammo, no fragments of exploded ordnance, etc. You can bring back knives, bayonets, swords, etc. I brought back three different AK bayonets from Iraq. They DO hand check everything coming back, including X-rays of foot lockers and packages.
My wife’s mother (since her dad died) has a Japanese flag with all kinds on Japanes writing on it take from a supply bunker by her dad in WWII. The flag is in very good condition, and me and my wife made a frame for it and have it behind glass at her moms house, as he had it folded up in a box. Somebody looked at it and I believe the words are the names of the officers in charge of the bunker it was taken from. Sorry, I don’t have any pictures.
My Father’s Honorable Discharge from the U.S.Navy in WWII.
Not a day goes by I don’t look at it or think of him…
I understand.
I think of my father almost every day for last 20 years.
He served in the Navy and I have his dog tags.
He went on after the war to aquire a PHD in physics, mainly acoustics, and while working for Philco helped design the guidence system for the sidewinder missle and also the submarine hunting sonar/radar used by aircraft, I think P3’s. He has done much for our defense of this nation.
Anyway, great stuff from your families who helped secure/defend this nation.
James K,
Thats why you hide your goodies in places like where the shovels and pick axe go under your hum-ve. Conex boxes. Deflated zodiacs folded up for off loading. Gotta be smarter then the MAN. Or at least make it to much of a pain to bother with.
It amazes me what these guys were able to accomplish after they came home. I really wished that our country was more like it was back in those days. I mean, think about the reaction of the general population of the US now if the government came out and said that they needed to ration rubber, copper, meat, grain…for the war effort in Iraq. There would probably be riots; not so back then. Everyone pulled together to get it done. Our fathers and Grandfathers were truely great men.
I don’t have any photos but I have a 4x7" swatch of red velour/velvet curtain I cut from the movie theater (the old fashioned big curtains in front of the screen) in Saddam’s palace in Tikrit. I also have a photo of me taking a mock dump on a golden potty, also in the palace. I brought home some AK deuce gear, which I gave to my brother. I had four AK mags still in the cosmoline which I labeled and turned into the armory guys. They were “confiscated” between Kuwait and the states.
My Dad is a USN vet and served in WWII and Korea. He told me a great story that illustrated the spirit of the country after WWII.
The war was over, he had mustered out and was on his way home. When he got off the bus there were still several mile to go so he started the hump home in full uniform with his sea bag and an outstretched thumb. After just a few minutes two vehicles stopped for him and the drivers almost came to blows over who got to give him a ride!
It seems at the time it was considered an honor to help a serviceman get home!
My apologies for the threadjack and I’ll post some pics when the battery is recharged.
