Found these 4 postcards & stamps while cleaning up my parent's stuff.

From my Uncle's post-graduation backpacking tour across Europe in 1944-1945.

My dad was fortunate enough to go on an all expenses paid, 3 year ocean cruise when he graduated in May 1942.

They both brought back a bunch of interesting items, knives, pistols, binoculars, currency but this was the first time I saw these postcards.

Hilarious way to describe your family's military service in WWII.

Animal Eight 84 said:

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They both brought back a bunch of interesting items, knives, pistols, binoculars, currency but this was the first time I saw these postcards.

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My dad fought in the Pacific and brought back more pictures than I would have thought, some Japanese money, Japanese battle flags, and a Japanese sword.

I friend's dad fought in Europe, was an officer, shipped back and brought back all sorts of German stuff: sword, pistol, sniper's rifle, tank sight, three huge (like 20 by 30 or so) flags, and a tail section off an Me 109.

Or Johnny Cash's "One Piece at a Time"......

My Grandaddy brought home a Mauser and a Luger. He traded them for a set of living room furniture.

But I guess he needed it worse than the guns.

I think I've mentioned this before but my grandpa fought in the pacific. I swear when I was a kid, my grandmother showed us a box with stuff from the war and my brother and I swear there was an envelope that had a hand written note that said Japanese teeth on it and we both remember her opening it and seeing teeth. I got that box back in 2017 but never found an envelope with teeth in it. This would have been sometime early 90s and he would have been dead for over 30 years so now way to double check

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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one safe place said:

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Animal Eight 84 said:

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They both brought back a bunch of interesting items, knives, pistols, binoculars, currency but this was the first time I saw these postcards.

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My dad fought in the Pacific and brought back more pictures than I would have thought, some Japanese money, Japanese battle flags, and a Japanese sword.

I friend's dad fought in Europe, was an officer, shipped back and brought back all sorts of German stuff: sword, pistol, sniper's rifle, tank sight, three huge (like 20 by 30 or so) flags, and a tail section off an Me 109.

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That doesn't sound like an insignificant thing to ship. I wonder how he got that through any kind of inspection, or if there even was an inspection, of what was being shipped?

And are you talking about the entire tail with the stabilizers, or just the rudder portion presumably with a swastika and maybe some kill markings painted on?

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I left a message with his son and will ask him if he knows the details of how his Dad got it home. The tail of an Me 109 is not as massive as some other planes. The flags were huge, a single one of them would fill a medium sized trunk. I always figured as an officer he pulled some strings, and those guys were not opposed to taking a risk. I have a pocket notebook that my dad had with him as a Marine platoon sergeant when he was on Tinian about to come home. He had 7 or 8 things on his list to go over with his guys the night before they boarded ship and #2 was "Jap souvenirs." I suppose to tell them what they could and could not bring home. Will post up what his son tells me.

JABQ04 said:

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I think I've mentioned this before but my grandpa fought in the pacific. I swear when I was a kid, my grandmother showed us a box with stuff from the war and my brother and I swear there was an envelope that had a hand written note that said Japanese teeth on it and we both remember her opening it and seeing teeth. I got that box back in 2017 but never found an envelope with teeth in it. This would have been sometime early 90s and he would have been dead for over 30 years so now way to double check

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Very well could have been teeth. My dad was a BAR man on Tarawa and was severely wounded and exacuated back to the beach area. Dead Marines and dead Japanese everywhere. He said he would come in and out of consciousness and at some point heard this crunching sound. He got it in his mind it was Japanese soldiers bayonetting the wounded. He said he moved his hand ever so slowly to locate his BAR but, of course, it was back where he was wounded. Eventually he barely opened an eye and saw it was a Marine knocking out gold teeth of the dead. After my dad died, I was able to get in touch with several Marines and his company commander and I happened to tell that story to one of the guys who was in his platoon. He told me that guy survived the war and had a couple of socks partially filled with gold teeth, wound up a cab driver in NYC, lol.

Update from my friend (a bit relieved that my memory isn't completely shot, it has been at least 53 or 54 years since I saw his dad's souvenirs):

Yes, he sent back the tail (vertical stabilizer) of Me 109. Mom was real pissed off when she opened that package. Ted has it hanging in his airplane hangar. A real conversation piece for his aviator friends. Since he was on officer, he could send things back to the USA. I have the field phones, pictures, and his dog tags. Ted has the P38 pistol and helmet.

A lot of other stuff was stolen over the years. He said he had a duffle bag of rifles stolen on the troop ship on the way back to the USA. He didn't get back until January 1946. They messed up his paperwork and he should have come back sooner since he had the combat points.

Also, his dad was an Aggie.

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My dad was a BAR man on Tarawa and was severely wounded and exacuated back to the beach area. Dead Marines and dead Japanese everywhere. He said he would come in and out of consciousness

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Guy in my hometown was an Iwo Jima Marine. Badly wounded, not expected to make it. Sort of like your dad, he was on a stretcher on the ground, no one aiding him. Corpsmen were loading a plane to take to a hospital, and had almost filled it with guys they thought could make it. They had one slot left, and one of the corpsman looked at him, told his buddy, "That one's not gonna make it, but we might as well take him, too."

Corpsman was wrong.

Amazing how life/death can turn on a offhand event.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Quote:

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My dad was a BAR man on Tarawa and was severely wounded and exacuated back to the beach area. Dead Marines and dead Japanese everywhere. He said he would come in and out of consciousness

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Guy in my hometown was an Iwo Jima Marine. Badly wounded, not expected to make it. Sort of like your dad, he was on a stretcher on the ground, no one aiding him. Corpsmen were loading a plane to take to a hospital, and had almost filled it with guys they thought could make it. They had one slot left, and one of the corpsman looked at him, told his buddy, "That one's not gonna make it, but we might as well take him, too."

Corpsman was wrong.

Amazing how life/death can turn on a offhand event.

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Wow, exactly right. One guy noticing him and doing what he did, many would not have made the effort if it looked for sure like he was going to die. I have no way of knowing of course, but I think what might have saved my dad was the thickness/lack of breathability of the uniforms back then. After Tarawa, he often fought barechested, but on Tarawa he had on his full gear. He had shrapnel wounds on his right side and I bet the blood was so restricted by the cloth that it coagulated and help seal the wounds and stop the blood flow.

Eddie Albert, of Green Acres fame, received a bronze star for rescuing something like 50 Marines. He made several trips in and out with his boat under machine gun fire.

The Marines in Higgins boats waded in, 500 to 800 yards depending on where the boat hit the reef. I made the wade on my first trip there, my guess would be from about 500 yards. I had no gear except a camera, my uniform was shorts and a fishing shirt and flip flops, so wasn't burdened by a uniform, helmet, combat boots, Kabar, grenades, trenching tool, canteens, bayonet, BAR, 10 magazines each holding 20 rounds of 30.06 ammo, rations, etc. I didn't think I was ever going to reach the beach and of course all I did was walk, wasn't getting shot at. How a single Marine did, I will never understand. So similar to your comment about offhand events, it was just such a random thing that the Japanese shot at and hit some, but not others. Just random luck I guess.

one safe place said:

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JABQ04 said:

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I think I've mentioned this before but my grandpa fought in the pacific. I swear when I was a kid, my grandmother showed us a box with stuff from the war and my brother and I swear there was an envelope that had a hand written note that said Japanese teeth on it and we both remember her opening it and seeing teeth. I got that box back in 2017 but never found an envelope with teeth in it. This would have been sometime early 90s and he would have been dead for over 30 years so now way to double check

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Very well could have been teeth. My dad was a BAR man on Tarawa and was severely wounded and exacuated back to the beach area. Dead Marines and dead Japanese everywhere. He said he would come in and out of consciousness and at some point heard this crunching sound. He got it in his mind it was Japanese soldiers bayonetting the wounded. He said he moved his hand ever so slowly to locate his BAR but, of course, it was back where he was wounded. Eventually he barely opened an eye and saw it was a Marine knocking out gold teeth of the dead. After my dad died, I was able to get in touch with several Marines and his company commander and I happened to tell that story to one of the guys who was in his platoon. He told me that guy survived the war and had a couple of socks partially filled with gold teeth, wound up a cab driver in NYC, lol.

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That was also depicted in The Pacific series.

Mark Felton is legit.

Dad had three samurai swords that he kept tied together, top and bottom, and carried them on his back. Don't know if he got them on Saipan or Tinian, or some from each. But if they came untied at the top, they would splay out and catch on things when he was fighting on Tinian. so, he buried the two nicer ones (prying eyes of officers) and wore only one. By the time the war ended, he went back to recover his two swords, but roads had been put in and he lost his reference points and could not locate them. I have the other one and have cut quite a lot of cattails and willows to brush duck blinds with that sword.

He also had a rifle he wanted to bring home. I am not sure what type of rifle it was, but certainly was not an Arisaka Type 99 because whatever it was caught the eye of someone higher up in rank than he was. Orders came down to turn in Japanese rifles and he did not. Another order was issued and before he turned it in, he bent the barrel so that it was of no use to whoever wanted it.

All the souvenir stuff, like in the great YouTube video posted above, we should consider that many of our guys were grown men at 16 or 17, and had had a rough life. Sometimes they did not walk the straight and narrow and did not worry much about the consequences, particularly toward the end of the war after having spent 1 to 4 years overseas and seeing so many of their fellow men killed.