Artifacts

US Small Arms
Older arms, along with there more modern counterparts, were pressed into service as war production ramped up. Firearms and accessories listed from top to bottom

• M. 1897 Winchester Shotgun
• 12 Ga. M1903 Springfeld Rifle
• M 1 'Garand' Rifle
• M-1 Carbine
• 1903 Bayonet
• Shotgun Pouch

B-17F Flying Fortress Equipment fron The All American
This collage contains photos of and equipment from the B-17F Flying Fortress plane named All American, which was famous for nearly being cut in half during a collision with a German fighter plane. They were gathered by left gunner Paul Schmelzer.

Flight Sergeant Albert Branch Medals and Logbook
1941-1943 Branch served in the RAF as part of the 83rd Squadron Pathfinders. On October 20th, 1943, he took off from Warboys, England in a Lancaster JB154, on a bombing mission over Leipzig, Germany. Flying at a lower altitude due to fears of icing, they were probably attacked from below on their return, and crashed near Assen, Holland, with no survivors.

• Barbara Erlichman's Spars Mascot Uniform, Dog Tags, and Identification Card
  1943
• Buy a Stamp Fly your Flag Poster
• Ration Books
  1944
  Both children and adults were issued ration books
• Allied Fabric Scrap
  1943-1945
  This remnant is all that is left over from a piece of tweed fabric given to an Italian woman by Allied troops after they liberated Italy. She made a cap with the material for her young son, who forty years later gave the scrap to President Reagan.
• Treasury Department Certificate of Appreciation
  1944
  This award was presented to John Lehne for his work in Boy Scout scrap drives

Pacific Coconut Souvenir
November 1943
Gladys Thomas was serving as a WAC when she received this coconut from a friend stationed in New Guinea.

Cigarette Holder
1940-1945
This glass cigarette holder would have been used on a US Navy ship.

Medic Helmet
1940-1945

Type A-2 Leather Flight Jacket
1940-1945
A-2 jackets were presented to US Army Air Forces pilots after they completed their basic flight training. At first exclusively to commissioned officers, and later to enlisted aircrews.

Dog Tag and Induction Card for POW SSG Fred Suden
1944
US Army Air Forces SSG Fred Suden was shot down by the Germans near Rotterdam on February 22, 1944 and held in the Luftwaffe POW camps Stalag Luft 3, 4, and 6. Suden had served as a gunner on a B-26 bomber. After the war, he returned to his home state of Kansas.

Postcard to POW SSG Fred Suden
1944
When he was at Stalag Luft 6 in German-occupied Lithuania, SSG Suden received this postcard from Dan and Inez McCash, friends from his hometown of Abilene, KS.

Compensation Binnacle

Chelsea Cigarette Pack
During the war servicemen received a mini pack of cigarettes and waterproof matches in their rations. Supposedly, they preferred Lucky Strike or Chesterfield cigarettes to Chelsea cigarettes. When they air dropped cases of cigarettes on Iwo Jima, Cheslea's were just left on the beaches until they disintegrated, or were saved a souvenirs.

Steel War Penny
1943
In 1943, some US mints produced pennies made of zinc coated steel due to shortages of copper, which was needed for ammunition. However, they often rusted or were mistaken for dimes. The next year the mint made pennies out of metal from spent brass shell casings mixed with copper.

John Eisenhower's United States Military Academy Dress Jacket
1944
GA Eisenhower's son John graduated from West Point on June 6, 1944. His mother Mamie was in attendance, but his father was busy overseeing the D-Day invasion.

Col James Roosevelt Winter Service Coat
1940-1945
This was the Winter Service uniform coat worn by James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after he joined the USMC in November 1940. He served with Carlson's Raiders when they raided Makin Atoll. He received the Navy Cross and the Silver Star, and later rose to the rank of brigadier general.

• (FS) Fighting Knife
  1941-1945
  The Fairbairn-Sykes (FS) Fighting Knife, commonly known as the British Commando knife, is a perfectly balanced double edged knife that was designed for surprise attacks and fighting.
• US Navy Mark 1 Knofe
  1941-1942
  The US Navy needed to arm all its soldiers during the war with knives that could be used for routine shipboard functions but also for combat; rescue, and survival situations. The Mark 1 was based on a hunting knife and had a 5.24" blade.
• Marine Corps Ka-Bar Knife
  1942-1945
  The Ka-Bar, or 1219C2 combat knife, was first issued by the USMC in November 1942. It typically has a 7" carbon steel blade, and can be used both as a utility knife and for fighting in hand-to-hand combat.

Rivet Picture Frame
1940-1945
This picture frame is made from production scraps from the North american Aviation (NAA) plant.

Salt and Pepper Shakers

Left Wing Segment from a B24-E Plane
July 4, 1943
B24-E 42-7011 plane crashed in the hills near Santa Barbara after running out of fuel. While all crew members were able to bail out, two men, bombardier 2d Lt Robert Prosser and navigator 2d Lt Peter Dannhardt, died. The eight serving crew members named their new B2 the "Bob 'N Pete."

B-29 Autopilot Control Panel and Pedestal