Monthly Archives: January 2013

Lee Marvin WW2 USMC Photo in the 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division 1943 Yearbook

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Lee Marvin 3 watermarkHere is Lee Marvin in his USMC uniform, pictured in the 1943 produced yearbook for the members of the 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.  Most people know Lee Marvin as an actor famous for his roles in movies like The Dirty Dozen and The Big Red One.   Before he became an actor, he enlisted in the US Marines in 1942 and served with the 4th Marine Division until he was severely wounded on Saipan on June 18, 1944.

He spent the next 13 months in hospital recuperating from this wound which damaged a sciatic nerve before being discharged in 1945.  His wound was severe enough for him to receive disability payments from the military after discharge.

The entry in the year book lists him in Headquarters and Service Company, 24th Marine Regiment.  He was later transferred, and at the time he was wounded on Saipan, he was in Company I, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.

I have the complete set of all of these 4th Marine Division yearbooks from 1943.  There are separate books for the three infantry regiments (23rd Marines, 24th Marines, 25th Marines), the artillery regiment (14th Marines), the engineer regiment (20th Marines), and also books that have special troops like the tank battalion, etc.  They are great research tools and they do turn up occasionally on eBay.

Unfortunately, they never did updated volumes of the yearbook later or at the end of the war, so if a Marine was a replacement to the 4th Marine Division after these were printed in 1943, he will not be pictured in a yearbook.

WW2 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagle British Made Patch – Two Different Types From The Same Veteran

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World War Two 101st Airborne Division Patch British Theater Made Front

World War Two 101st Airborne Division British Made Patch Front

These original World War Two 101st Airborne Division British made patches were purchased last week directly from a WWII 101st Veteran.

I got a call last week from my one of my good friends who is a picker, and he told me that he had just met with a WW2 veteran of the 101st Airborne Division.  He had been a clerk and was a member of the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters.  He was with Division Headquarters through all of the 101st campaigns and was glider qualified.

He had contacted my friend because he was looking for a couple of medals he was awarded, but never issued, for a shadow box display he was doing.  My friend was able to provide him with those medals.  The veteran brought both of these patches with them to the meeting and sold them to my picker, because he had enough patches for his display.  He had obtained them during WWII while he was stationed in England.

I was very happy to purchase them a couple of days ago from my picker.  I love to get items directly from the Veteran because you get all of the history to go along with the item.  As an added bonus, this 101st veteran also gave my friend a photocopy of his discharge to go along with the patches.  Also, like most collectors, I like different variations of items.

The first two photos are of a British made 101st screaming eagle patch with a British made Airborne tab.  Both the tab and patch have a black back.  The second two photos are of a second British made 101st screaming eagle patch with a white back.  The Airborne tab is not British made, but it is the tab the Veteran had with this patch when my picker purchased it from him.

WWII US 101st Airborne Division Patch Type 8 Sewn on a Paratrooper 506th PIR Uniform

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WWII US 101st Airborne Division Patch Type 8

WWII US 101st Airborne Division Patch Type 8

This WW2 101st Airborne Division Patch is a style that is sometimes referred to as a Type 8 by collectors today.  It is one of the most desirable and hardest to find variations of the WWII 101st Airborne Division screaming eagle patch.

The first photo is this type of patch that was sewn on a uniform I own, that belonged to a paratrooper officer in C Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.  That uniform is part of a larger group that belonged to that 506th PIR veteran.  The second and third photos are of a different original Type 8 patch that is not sewn on a uniform.

WWII USMC M1 Fixed Bale Helmet with Marine Camouflage Cover

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WWII USMC Helmet with Camouflage Cover front view

WWII USMC Helmet with Camouflage Cover front view

This WW2 US M1 helmet is a fixed bale, front seam helmet, as was issued to both US Army and USMC troops throughout most of the war.  It has a nice original, WWII USMC camouflage helmet cover on it.  These camo covers were reversible, they had a side that was more green and a side that was more brown. They are made out of the same camouflage pattern and same US army style hbt material, as the WWII P42 and P44 USMC camouflage uniforms.

Even after the Marines generally abandoned wearing camouflage uniforms in favor of the plain green hbt P41 uniforms later in World War Two, they continued to wear these camouflage helmet covers.  It became, in my opinion, one of the iconic symbols of the WW2 Marine.