US WWII Iceland Marine Souvenir Blanket, Veteran Guadalcanal, Tarawa & Iwo Jima
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $1495.00

Originalperiod manufacture. Terri and I have had many items pass through our hands over the years, I think a conservative guess would be around 100,000 plus artifacts by now. That is certainly a bunch, but in 45 years of doing this, things do add up before you realize it. Sometimes it seems like the same medal,patch, or bayonet keeps showing up on our doorstep, to be processed once again, and sent off to a new home somewhere on the planet. Once in a while we purchase items that have such a story attached to them, or are so historically interesting that proper time has to be taken to do justice to the artifact. ThisMarine grouping is one of those.A good friend of ours purchased this lot from the widow of the Marine, a man he personally knew,shared drinks with, joked with and overpaid for at the time to help his friend's widow get a new roof on her house. The Marine's bring-back souvenirs were sold off many years ago by our friend to fund other collecting purchases, but this lot was kept close in memory of his friend.The lot includes a large, Marine-Green wool blanket with period full color embroidery as shown. A nice selection of period USMC shoulder sleeve insignia, including a matched pair, left and right, of the famed Polar Bear insignia worn by the Marines sent to Iceland in 1941.Many period photographs of his time in Iceland, with good detail ofeveryday life, a large assortment of period publications, Christmas Cards, newspapers, pamphlets, and more, most from his time in Iceland. Several copies of his wartime USMC documents are included, with one original.Including a copy of the citation for his leadership during the battle of Tarawa. In addition, a copy of a BW photo taken on Guadalcanal of his platoon. On the reverse each man is identified, with some including their nicknames, Hard-Tom (platoon sgt), Chiefand Short Arm. However, the real story, lies in the potentially least valuable artifact of the lot, a newspaper article regarding our Marine published in 1981. The reporter spent a gooddeal of ink and copy space telling ofJimmy's service during WWII, both in Iceland, and the Hell of the Pacific campaigns he participated in.Our friend said that Jimmy seldom would speak of his service duringthe war, but dedicated a special room in his house for a replica of a tropical NCO club, withhis uniforms, service souvenirs and framed photographs on the wall. One frame was purposely left empty, to honor friends who never returned.Our Sergeant served in combat on Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Iwo Jima. Woundedby shrapnel in the back on Tarawa, he stayed with his comrades, taking command when his officers were incapacitated or killed. On Iwo he was in command of a 37 mm gun section, until another shrapnel wound took him out of the war. It is truly an honor to be able to offer thisgrouping on our site, and hope I may be pardoned for using a phrase held in high regard by our Marines...Semper Fi. *Please Note, the items in the large frame are not glued down, and will be removed for ease in mailing.