MARNE's Collection...

[moose]

Heres a couple of pics of just a taste of the beginning my collection...

 

This is the U.S. 91st Engineering Battalion's original 1933 battalion flag...

 

This battalion was sent to Australia in mid-1942 I believe and, was busy building roads and airfields for the U.S. Army Air Corps. to use in Australia. The U.S. 96th Engineers were dissolved into the 91st which retained its original designation as the U.S. 91st Engineering Battalion. Of all the engineering battalion's in Australia, only eight were colored and with the 96th being dissolved into the 91st this left only seven. This flag belongs to one of only seven colored engineering battalions that were in the PTO.

 

The 91st went on to do further construction in and around Port Moresby and in the Philippines shortly after the invasion there in 1944.

 

I found it hanging on a wall by a piece of rope in an antique shop and, I bought it for $55.00...

 

 

 

This is a guidon I saved from a vendor at a flea market here in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia who had it tacked up on a wall...yes, you heard right... it was wrongfully tacked up on a wall.

 

I was told by the guy I bought it from(who is reputable dealer) that he bought it in Eastman, Georgia U.S.A. from an elderly lady who owned an antique shop in Eastman and her late husband who had served in WWI had brought it home with him.

 

So, with that being stated it could be as early as WWI or it could just be WWII. It is made of Dark Blue Wool Bunting(one piece) and it has the letters and the numbers embroidered into it, on both sides.

 

It belonged to a Georgia National Guard unit from Georgia up around the Macon area which would confirm the WWI history to this guidon.

 

The unit:

 

1st Battalion, Charlie Company

U.S. 121st Infantry Regiment

(WWI): U.S. 31st Infantry Division(Old Dixie Division)

(WWII): U.S. 8th Infantry Division(Golden Arrow Division)

 

I bought this guidon for $50.00...

 

 

I hope you enjoy this small taste of my WWII collection...

 

Kind Regards,

MARNE

[Walt's Daughter]

Oh most certainly MARNE. Any history that can be brought to light, is just great in my book. Can you imagine how many "articles" from the war are stuffed in someone's closet, cardboard box, etc., and unidentified? It's great that you had the opportunity to "liberate" these items from obscurity or sure death.

 

Thanks so much for posting them on our forum. I look forward to all of your future finds and posts here on VI Corps.

 

 

Oh speaking of black battalions, I received the following letter from my dear friend and head historian, Mike Broadhead, of the Office of History, Army Corps Engineers, just this evening:

 

"...We just got a nice donation pertaining to the 1321st Engineer General Service Regiment, a black unit. It includes scads of photographs, a 30+-page regimental history written by regimental commander Colonel Aldo H. Bagnulo, his diary, and other documents. It is unusual to have this many items for a black unit, so we are quite happy that the colonel's son, daughter-in-law, and another son were kind enough to place this great material with us..."

 

[MARNE]

Hey Marion,

 

Thanks. I'm lucky it was me who realized what they were before they could have been lost to us forever. Plus I have tons of stuff in my collection to post and all of it VI Corps. related... If you think this something wait till my post tomorrow...

 

I've got something thats going to make Joe bounce off the walls... even at his age.. LOL...

 

Just wait till tomorrow..

 

Thanks again...

MARNE

[MARNE]

Hey everyone...heres the greatest piece in my collection and CLEARLY my favorite.. LOL...Hey Joe, what do you think?

 

Heres a few pics of my 1943 Willys MB...

 

WILLYS MB

Serial No. 200861

Contract No. US W303 ORD 2532

Registration: 20239129

Date of Delivery: January 7th, 1943

 

The history behind this particular Willy's MB is that it was used locally, at either a U.S. Army or U.S. Army Air Corps. Base near New Orleans. It is one of 170 taken from around the New Orleans area in 1944 and refurbished and upgraded by the Higgins Corporation of New Orleans in December 1944.

 

Hope you guys enjoy the photos...

 

Here ya go...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I probably got the best compliment a Military vehicle owner can get..it came from a veteran of World War II on Veterans Day 2006 here in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia....

 

"Don't touch it, it looks just the way they looked in the field...

 

A guy can't help but be proud.. LOL..

 

Regards,

MARNE

[Walt's Daughter]

I only have one thing to say to you, I am green with envy!

[Custermen]

Hope you guys enjoy the photos...

NO. I want a closeup photo of the Radio equipment in the Peep. I'm trying to learn about the types of radios and especially how they were mounted in the vehicles.

Love the photos. I might want to use one on my website.

 

 

This is the U.S. 91st Engineering Battalion's original 1933 battalion flag...

Very cool. It is amazing that it survived. I made contact with someone whose father brought home the regimental flags of my Dad's unit. If he had not done that, then it would have been destroyed or thrown in some large storage warehouse in Colorado----did you see the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? That warehouse at the end of the movie is a real place.

 

Anyway, the family has decided to donate the flag to a museum. I'm trying to find a museum that will display it.

 

BTW, flags and tanks and artillery, etc. are considered property of the US Gov't. Only personal equipment and weapons could be kept by the soldier. So, if a museum receives a flag, it has to notify the Gov't and they can claim it if they want. Just thought you might want to know.

 

Steve

Flag of the 328 Field Artillery Battalion, 85th Division

[MARNE]

NO. I want a closeup photo of the Radio equipment in the Peep. I'm trying to learn about the types of radios and especially how they were mounted in the vehicles.

Love the photos. I might want to use one on my website.

 

Hey Steve,

 

Here ya go...these photos were taken during the previous photo shoot of my Jeep.

 

 

 

The radios set was bought by a friend of mine for me, for Christmas 2005 its cost roughly $1200 he told me it was my Christmas present for the next three years... LOL... It doesn't work right now but, a couple of parts and it'll be back up and running. Its only got a range of five miles and thats it. It has everything(other than those internal parts to make it work) to go with it. Its a 1943 U.S. Army Signal Corps. BC-659 Radio with a Receiver and Transmitter, PE-120-A Power Supply Unit, FT-250-C Radio Mounting Bracket(Serial No. 14161) made by Galvin Mfg. Co., Chicago, IL. and canvas cover, MP-50 Antenna Mounting Bracket, Antenna Base by Ohio Brass, Mast Sections 51-53 with canvas sheath, and the BC-659 Operator's Manual dated 1943.

 

The only thing externally its missing are the two radio mounting legs to support it sticking out over the edge of the wheel well on the driver side they are the FT-422 and FT-423 they mount to the bottom of the FT-250-C and mount into the floorboard to support the FT-250-C base and the entire radio itself. The FT-250-C actually has a suspension system within it to give the radio a smoother ride rather than a rough potentially damaging ride.

 

Very cool. It is amazing that it survived. I made contact with someone whose father brought home the regimental flags of my Dad's unit. If he had not done that, then it would have been destroyed or thrown in some large storage warehouse in Colorado----did you see the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? That warehouse at the end of the movie is a real place.

 

Anyway, the family has decided to donate the flag to a museum. I'm trying to find a museum that will display it.

 

BTW, flags and tanks and artillery, etc. are considered property of the US Gov't. Only personal equipment and weapons could be kept by the soldier. So, if a museum receives a flag, it has to notify the Gov't and they can claim it if they want. Just thought you might want to know.

 

Steve

 

I happen to know guys who own tanks and they are not property of the U.S. Government once they are put into surplus rotation and are privately owned. Once that is the case they are no longer property of the U.S. Government but the property of the individual owner. The same is true for my little Jeep. However, the U.S. Government was trying to make that the case with a bill recently, although it was shot down by both the Senate and the House of Representatives but, that doesn't mean they won't try it again.

 

As for the US Government on the US Flags I know about that rule. I don't think they really care if they are owned by a private citizen just so long as they themselves can see the piece is being cared for. The US Army Corps. of Engineers knows I have the flag and they've told me.. "take care of it..."..LOL...I was like you bet!..LOL...I've got both of them protected right now as per-historic preservation regulations that the U.S. National Park Service uses.

 

I was lucky when I found the battalion colors. It was just a luck of the draw chance that I happened to walk in the day he was putting up and I saw it. Thats cool about your dad's unit flag and good luck to finding a museum that'll place it on display for everyone to enjoy.

 

Kind Regards,

Jim

[MARNE]

Heres a couple of pics of my original 1943 dated second pattern plywood style footlocker...

 

A friend happened to find this footlocker in a Goodwill store here locally for $25.00 and I bought it from him for $20.00 since he had no need for it and at the time it had no tray to go inside of it. He told me... "I saw it and thought you'd like it, so I picked it up." Its dated on the inside of the lid...

 

Abel & Bach Inc.

Tent Spec. C.Q.D. No. 61B

1943

 

Heres a few photos of what it looks like today!

 

Enjoy....

 

 

 

 

 

All of the contents in the bottom section of the footlocker are original U.S. GI Field Uniforms. In the tray roughly 90-95% of the contents are all original WWII US GI personal items and yes that is an original unopened pack of Chesterfield Cigarettes.....LOL...

 

Hope you all enjoy....

 

Kind Regards,

MARNE

[Walt's Daughter]

Superb Jim! You already have a great collection. Can't imagine what you will have in another 10 years. The foot locker was a very nice addition. Love the pinup girl too. Classic!

[MARNE]

Hey Marion,

 

Thanks! LOL...Yep..every GI has to have his Vargas Girl ...its iconic...LOL...

 

Alright, On to tonights addition this is truly a rare piece belonging to one of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Divsion's regiments? Can you guess which one it is?...Nope not the U.S. 7th Infantry...Nope not the U.S. 15th Infantry...Give Up?

 

This is a rare original copy if the U.S. 30th Infantry Regiment's Christmas Dinner Menu from 1941 at the Presidio of San Francisco...

 

Yep...this is an original piece. I found it on ebay, I won it for a mere $12...

 

Here it is....I hope you enjoy this rare piece of history from the U.S. 30th Infantry Regiment!

 

Front Cover...

 

Inside Front Cover & Page #1

 

Page #2 & #3

 

Page #4 & #5

 

Page #6 & #7

 

Page #10 & #11