What to do w. war trophies?

[Darrell]

The neighbor bought an SS dagger on eBay some years ago, not sure they still allow such things to be sold on their site.

I had a landlord many years ago who collected Nazi memorabilia. Going inside his cabin to pay the rent was a scary experience--he had SS daggers, medals, you name it on display. He had a lot of Nazi portraits, oil paintings and such, hanging on the walls, too; they were evil/spooky to behold. It was like a Night Gallery episode when the rent came due. The guy was scary enough without all the props, that made him even moreso.

The landlord's name wasn't Skellinger by any chance? He was a First Shirt I was under one time who was fascinated by the German Army of WWII. Always wondered what happened to him.

Nah, his name was Cecil C. He was a scary dude, he drew down on me with his Mauser a couple of times. Those are stories I'll save for another time.

[Whirlibird]

Aglifter, I can see your point but I guess I look at the items differently.

My Grandparents served on both fronts, and all brought things back, some personal and others I don't want to know about. But these items are just that, items. They aren't evil themselves but are a reminder of the fight against evil and the triumph over that.

Handguns, daggers etc were prized possessions on both sides, both as a sign of loyalty and belonging and then as a sign of the destruction and defeat of the horror that occured. Today they have value for various reasons, history notwithstanding.

Other items such as a belt buckle with an Australian coin silver soldered on it has no true value to anyone but me. My Grandfather spent a good portion of WWII on the coast of Australia and the surrounding islands building seaplane bases. The buckle was a momento for him of his days there, and he often dreamed of going back. To me it's a momento that's literally priceless because of who he was and what he did both there and afterwards.
Turns out the handsome little guy with the smile, had stones on him bigger than church bells and he proved it several times. But to me even more importanty, he was always just grandpa.

You place your own value on items, some can be priceless, others just swag for a collector.

[FastRope71]

Where ever you decide to store them, make sure that you write at least a short note describing hte item and it's relevance to your family. Document as much history as you can about the item, so it does not end up in a garage sale 50 years for now, without the descendant at least knowing what it is they are relinquishing.

[308Mike]

Where ever you decide to store them, make sure that you write at least a short note describing hte item and it's relevance to your family. Document as much history as you can about the item, so it does not end up in a garage sale 50 years for now, without the descendant at least knowing what it is they are relinquishing.

ABSOLUTELY - if you can.

I would assume your grandfather is no longer with us (it's not clear from what you wrote)? Then I take it he left no instructions for the items for when he passes?

If you'd like to honor your grandfather's sacrifices and memories, you could always mount them in a shadow box along with a description so whoever sees it knows and understands how they came to be in that display box.

Depending on what documentation you could put together, you might be surprised at the value of the entire collection, and it might even impress his own great-grandkids even if they were uninterested when shown the items separately. You have to remember our attention spans were *much* shorter when we were young and had the whole world in front of us. Yet when you're close to or on the downhill slide, things change dramatically and it might be something THEY might wish to pass down the line as living family history.

The more and better you document the item's histories, the more likely they'll be valuable to either your own family, or monetarily to others.

My grandfather was on the USS Bunker Hill when it got hit by a kamikaze and he was trapped for a while, with little more than a huge hole in his ship and the ocean to stare at for hours, wondering if they were going to sink of if he was going to have to dive into the hole to save himself. Later , he got pictures of some of the damage and posted them outside his dark-room at home. Pictures nobody else has (that we know of), yet when inquiries were made of the Navy, nobody seemed to care - but we did, so we put them into photo albums.

My brother's kids have seen those photos and said, "COOL!" - yet we have not much else of his great-grandfather to show him, other than some of the pictures HE took (which of course he's not in the photos).

The amount of history in a single family can be HUGE. If not for your or your children, others may take GREAT interest in it.

I've found there's ALWAYS someone who cares about the family history. Please, don't let it die - I wish I had MUCH more to know about my own families.

[blackeagle603]

Mike, I for one would be stoked to see those Bunker Hill photos if you've got them. That story touches on primary fear of sailors in all eras. I worked on the roof but was always berthed right at or below the waterline. Spent many GQ's dogged into those spaces with images of the Forest Fire training film.

In WWII, it's easy to forget how many sailors died trapped below decks, dogged into their compartments. My dad says it was his greatest fear as a MM and member of the black gang. It's why he competed for spot on the Oerkilon (and won). He preferred to die or burn in the open -- was haunted the memory of the guys on the Arizona. Just talked with my 87 yr old Uncle, he was an EM who served on subchasers and tin cans in the Atlantic (and a briefly on a YMS that got sunk near Japan) -- the "trapped below" thing frequently comes up in his stories.

I remember reading that at one point something like 50% of the guys leaving Navy boot camp were dead within a year. Many from going down with their ships alive. All with memories of things like Pearl Harbor, the Wolfpacks, and the 1st Battle of Coral Sea fresh in their minds -- closer to them in time than 9/11 is to us now.

Sort of makes the point... You never know what bit of history/memorabilia will capture the interest, stir up a deeper remembrance of the service and sacrifice of those who went before us.

[Ben S]

Where ever you decide to store them, make sure that you write at least a short note describing hte item and it's relevance to your family. Document as much history as you can about the item, so it does not end up in a garage sale 50 years for now, without the descendant at least knowing what it is they are relinquishing.

Make it official. Get it notarized as well.

[Aglifter]

My grandfather died years ago -- unfortunately, he never discussed the box contents*. I'll work on compiling what we remember of his war stories, and put in a copy of his records.

*He may have w. others -- a few of his old navy buddies moved near his farm after the war -- two of them are still living -- I can ask them if they have any stories... Frankly, I've only ever heard the "funny" ones from any of them.

[308Mike]

Mike, I for one would be stoked to see those Bunker Hill photos if you've got them. That story touches on primary fear of sailors in all eras. I worked on the roof but was always berthed right at or below the waterline. Spent many GQ's dogged into those spaces with images of the Forest Fire training film.

I don't have the photos, he had some stuck up on the outside of his home-made dark-room. They might have been taken by Navy photographers since he was stuck inside (unless he took it AFTER he got out). The photos are old, curled, brittle, and B&W. Let me see if I can find the digital pics I took of them a while ago. Hopefully, they survived the hard-drive crash.

[1911Man]

Dwight and Mike +1

I have a Nazi-marked K98 from occupied Czechoslovakia. I don't like Nazis, but that rifle is a part of history. I want to preserve it as a memorial to those who fought the Nazis and won.