Militaria and History

I kept my old interpreter’s soft vest and helmet from Afghanistan. When he was no longer of service to us I put these in my bag and took it from our forward operating base back to Bagram and then to the United States.

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@ThisOldGun
Taking a swag at it, I’ld say WW2. It is a printed design with no embroidery, rather cheaply made but kind of cool. I’ve had it for about 35 years.

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@58marine I bet you’re correct if it’s printed. Awesome find!

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@Grenz45 Your LIFE magazine airdrop story reminded me that I saved these from the shredder at Ft. Dix in NJ. We dropped these into Iraq before the invasion letting them know that hellfire was about to rain down on their heads and to surrender.

Between the majority of them actually being dropped and the few remaining ordered for destruction, I don’t know how many survived. I snagged what I could without anyone noticing.

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Imagine being the lucky SOB to find this:

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Any paper item from 1781 is just awesome!!!
My guess it is on a linen or animal skin type paper to survive this long.
Treasure for sure.

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My guess is the Service Flag was from WW1.
Many were printed out locally as there was no standardization till during WW2.
Many in WW1 were made in the local towns from which the members came from.

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When you say No Longer Of use to us?
Never-mind.:smirk_cat:

My son served two tours in Afgan Dirt.
FOB Wolverine both times.
But he did prefer it to Iraqs three.

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I tried to get some of the leaflets from my son when he was there.
But he didn’t find any.
PsyOps stuff is always kewl.

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@Grenz45. Thanks for the information. That makes alot of sense.

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@Grenz45 Your son has put in his time and then some! That stinks being sent to the same shitbox twice in a row.

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Apparently this was my grandfathers helmet liner. He fought in WW2 and Korea. One of my uncles dicked it up.


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Any idea how I can get the paint off?

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Acetone?

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Try laquer thinner in a small area. It’s easy on a pro paint job and takes off ‘layers’… not as easy as it sounds. I’m hesitant to restore things like that. You may want to invest in a fixed bale steel pot and insert the liner. No one will see the artwork that way.

Cool piece of family history!

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You never know where you will find history.
Here is an example of what you might find if you keep your eyes open and not limit your perspective.

History in a Pipe

At the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century it was common practice in Europe and other countries to award people pipes that were decorated with hand painted scenes and artwork. These awards were for public service, and retirements, and all types of occasions. These pipes became popular with the common populace as well and companies began producing them for the general market too. The Porcelain pipes were especially suited for this as the images could be fired on them and the pipes used. Although the use of porcelain as a pipe bowl material was not the ideal material because it transferred heat to the user and tended to crack when overheated it was none the less a popular fad for some time. There are some pretty fancy examples of these floating around even today.
This particular pipe is very rare.

Although not the fanciest; it contains the coat of arms of Bayern (Bavaria) which makes it an award for some type of government service.
However it is not the normal COA of Bayern.
This COA was designed by Otto Hupp.

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What makes it unique is that it was only used from 1923 to 1933.
Prior to 1923 the COA of the Wittelsbach family was used back to 1835.
After World War 1 and the collapse of the German Empire the region known as Bayern declared itself a free state.
The political party in power was the Social Democrats, and the Independent Social Democrats. The Communist party came to power in 1919 and declared the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
The German Government crushed the rebellion quickly and Bayern became again a state of the German Republic. That same year the National Socialist Party was created.
This party was a Fascist party and became a strong influence in Bayern. In 1923 the NSP dumped the COA of the Wittlesbach family and adopted Otto Hupps design.
The NSP staged a coup d’état in attempt to overthrow the Federal Republic. This was known as the “Beer Hall Putsch” led by Adolf Hitler. Although unsuccessful and the party being banned by the Federal Government the party lived on as the Bavarian People’s Party later to be known in 1928 as the National Socialist German Workers Party or NASDAP. Better known as the Nazi Party.
The party kept control over the state and kept the COA until 1933 when the NASDAP party took control over all of Germany; and all States were absorbed into the National Government.
The COA was replaced at that time by the well known swastika.

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Wow, nice piece! How did you come to own it?

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Just ran across it looking for a new pipe to add to my collection of them.
A ceramic I didn’t have and I thought they were rather interesting.
When I saw the COA I started researching it and discovered what it was.
It was one of many pipes I was looking at.
Jumped on this one when I figured out what it was.
The seller had no idea as to its origin.

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Another piece from my collection.
(I do tend to collect odd things)

Something from WW1 only the Other Side.
We see binoculars here and there from WW1 but the majority are from the Allied Side.
Here is a set from the “Other” side.

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And lets not forget the case.

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Awesome piece of history!

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