I knew I had at least another.  This example I lean towards immediate post WWI manufactured in the CONUS and before the WD abolished all Shoulder Insignia usage with the exceptions of six in the interior.  Ross Ford cover those (6) in his excellent reference book on authorized and approved Shoulder Insignia.  The 59th CA Regt was not one of them but regardless, they came up with their own, had them made and worn them.  They they fortunate enough to be so far away from the flag pole they were able to get away with local made insignia of WW1 vintage in the Philippines.  But this die cut white triangle sewn upon and triangular O.D. Wool backing exhibits tight machine stitching along the leading triangle edges that oozes good ole' USA made of the era.  

Recently, I acquired a named WWII Bronze Star Medal from a vintage clothing store's eBay store. After careful research and piecing together multiple sources, I was able to confidently attribute this medal to Corporal Howard Baker of the 101st Airborne Division, a veteran who fought in some of the most pivotal campaigns of the Second World War. I would like to share my findings here to help keep this veteran's memory alive.   According to information found in HQ 101st Airborne Division GO 119 (June 25, 1945), Howard Baker was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service from June 6, 1944, to January 15, 1945. This period covers some of the most famous operations of the war: The D-Day landings in Normandy (June 6, 1944) Operation Market Garden in Holland (September 1944) The defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 to January 1945) Newspaper articles from the time confirm that Baker served with the 101st Airborne Division, and they published a detailed citation for the Bronze Star, highlighting his participation in these key battles. Additionally, GO 61 (June 1, 1945) indicates that Baker also received a Purple Heart for wounds sustained during the fighting in Belgium at Bastogne on January 3rd.   The attribution was confirmed through several key pieces of evidence: WWII Army Enlistment Records from the National Archives showed only one Howard Baker from Alabama. The eBay listing came from a vintage clothing store based in Alexander City, Alabama, the same location listed as Baker’s birthplace on his draft card. The BIRLS Death File provided a birth date matching the draft card and an enlistment date matching the NARA enlistment record. The same eBay store also sold an unnamed Purple Heart medal on the same day, suggesting that the medals may have originally been grouped together. Family tree research on Ancestry revealed a match between the father’s name listed for Howard Baker and the name mentioned in the wartime newspaper articles. Unless there are lots of coincidences, I feel each of these independent pieces fits together to confirm the attribution of the medal to Corporal Howard Baker of the 101st Airborne Division.  

Another interesting detail to note is that helmets belonging to other regiments of the 82nd and 101st, are often repaired by brazing the original D loop back on or using replacement wire shaped to match the original D loop. Because the repairs still used a protruding D shape they were still known to break after repair.    Repairs on 507th M2 helmets appear to  be an attempt at improving the D loop problem. By using squared loops brazed on that sit higher inside of the helmet or replacement loops that allow flexibility (grenade rings, mess kit loops and even hardware from slings!), the repairs seem to have been done with a focus on improvement.    Interestingly enough all Normandy recovered 507th M2 helmets that I’ve seen, have been repaired. If anyone has come across an identified 507th M2 helmet with non repaired D loops I would be very interested in seeing it! It is also worth mentioning that to a lesser extent similar repairs are found on 508th helmets too.    This is only observational from my research and examination of original 507th helmets from the Normandy campaign. I only used helmets that had solid provenance and Identification with them and I excluded any examples with no provenance or questionable authenticity.  

This helps very much. Thanks man.

Thank you John, I was not aware of when the berries got added. Small but pretty in my opinion, I can see myself hunting for more USN wings. I’ve mis understood the sizing too, so it looks like I’ll have to see if I can find the 1.5” sized wing to complete a set.    Sadly USN stuff is not as common as the USAAF wings here though. 

During WWII the USN fleece lined leather flight boot was the M380B.  "Similar" in style to the USAAF A-6 flight boot. I have seen many photos showing a variety of footwear worn by Naval Aviators including, boondockers, sneakers, penny loafers and even (believe it or not) moccasins.  Hope this helps.    

Wow! That is a lot of information! I am not sure now if it were indeed made in Germany, by Samuel Hoppe. I thought sure the information about the beehive marking and Hoppe's son introducing the mark, placed it as the place it was made. This is like trying to follow ancestry strings! Which, I might add, are just as complicated! Thanks for all your efforts! I really appreciate it. 

*Never mind not never-ending

Oh never-ending you answered the last part I just overlooked it, again thanks

Thank you so much, that's a nice mask! Is it a safe bet for a a14 with a late 1944 early 1945 corsair pilot inpression? It's interesting with the navy strap. Could they have had the snaps as well?