Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[gwsiii]

I set up for the local armed forces day celebration. I set up a corner wall section, in an L-Shape:
A Tribute - Veterans and their Souvenirs display, the major pieces were named to a specific veteran. The knick-knacks were all trench art related. Veteran's items included items related to S/Sgt Anthony Sazera, Cpl R.L. Howell, B.W. Strickland, Cpl R. Gonzalez, E.J. Lawlor. Also included was a modern Products for Good - Shadow Box, honoring my Grandad for his service in the Army in WWII....

A Tribute - Veteran's and their Souvenirs display.





A quick U.S. Military Display my Dad put together, he had a pressing engagement and couldn't attend, a couple of the items have history. If I remember right, the Veteran's included C. Jones, I. Pope.

The U.S. Military Display




Japanese Military display contained general items the Japanese used during WWII. Veteran's items included J.C. McKnight, R. Nagashima, Pak, Kim.

Japanese Military Display






German Display was a bit lacking, thanks to the quick loan of a ersatz sawback bayonet from Vietnam Veteran D. Martin on a 'trench arted' bringback rifle from WWI attributed to M.L. It was a quite a bit better received than it displayed.

German Display






In all a long and tiring day, but pleasant.
I helped a gentleman with his brother's bringback rifle, and spent a lot of time with children letting them look and handle and ask questions. One particular little boy was enamored with everything. He learned to sit back and quietly ask (by name) for what he wanted to hold. Several teenagers took pictures, handled, and learned about the weapons they had only seen on video games. Present Armed Forces members got to handle the weapons their predecessors had used (the weight seemed to be the biggest surprise.) I listened to Veteran's tell their friends about different experiences they had with weapons, U.S. and Japanese. One particular Veteran showed off his 'drill' skills, 60 years after the fact with the 03-Springfield, he was still pretty sharp. Another expressed his dislike for the gov't issue .45 (finicky), while praising the Luger (balance, precision) as a combat weapon. Another was a radar operator for un-manned recon aircraft (Vietnam era) they called themselves part of TWA-Teenie Weenie Airlines. One gentleman was able to fire a 6.5 round in his Type 99 and when he saw the case all blown out, went to a gunsmith 'who measured' and told him it was 7.7 Japanese caliber shells that he needed. I feel like I accomplished a great deal in educating the public and planting the seeds for learning about history through collecting, now if just a couple will take root and flower I'll consider it a job well done. I'm planning to do it again next year.
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[oopy38]

Trey, This was a job well done! I know it was hard work, but you can take satisfaction that many people looked and enjoyed a historical trip back in time. I am proud of you!