A piece of my own military history
 

Just found this recently at my parents house. It's my old M16 cleaning kit I was issued when I got to Okinawa in 1982. Perfect because I wanted the chamber brush for my AR. Opened up the top compartment and in there was the receipt for the kit and my M16 for that tour. Now where did I put that rifle?

Personal military items (now emerging antiques) are the most precious. Thanks for sharing. I sure wish I could recover some of mine.

I wish I had some of the shrimp fried rice I used to get in Kin Ville on Okinawa back in 1971. It came in a flat wood box with a fried egg on top. Delicious! :D

egg on top of a hamburger is good too (Pyeongtaek / Camp Humphries S. Korea) 1987/88

I like foreign culture and their food.

I have a few uniforms, some MP gear but of course no weapons...

I had traded even up with a ROK marine for his uni shirt but it got lost in a basement flood. Seoul was very interesting and Pusan was an industrial mess. We didn't get out of the field much so we had to rely on mamasan for ramen, moon pies and Coke Cola. We used to trade empty wooden ammo crates for Slo Ju at night when papasan came around. Korean people were fantastic. Managed to save this.

You should try stolen Red Cross Spam and egg, fried on a griddle that hadn't been cleaned in years (Gorazde, Bosnia 1995). The medicinal properties are amazing, it cures constipation in as little as 30 minutes. And once your'e cured, you will only find a "hole in the floor" style bathroom to do your business. There won't be any paper either. It's an interesting experience. :D

We were mostly in Pohang and Inchon areas. Flew in and out of Osan Air base.

I never had that delicacy when I was there 1970/71 :) I was S-3 of 4/44 which was NIKE Hercules back then.

Did I see a post on a Uniform trade?

In 1987 I was driving at a fast rate of speed in a military pickup truck on the Autostrada (Italian version of the Autobahn) that connected Vicenza (my HQ) to Venezia, which was near my remote location (also a Nike Hercules site Ron!)... When in the rear view mirror appears the flashing blue lights of Polizia Stradale...(highway patrol). My passenger and I were running late to get the battalion staff meeting and I was "probably" over the limit when this happened. And he pulled us over :(

Now we were both going to be in trouble for not only being late, but for getting a speeding ticket in a military vehicle... So the driver of the police car comes up to my window and starts speaking in a dialect that I was not that familiar with... and he was talking very fast... Although I am conversational in Italian, there were many words I was not catching as he spoke... finally giving up on trying to tell me what he wanted, he reached into the cab and grabbed the fatigue hat off my head and told me he wanted it, rank pins and all... I tried to explain that I couldn't be caught out of uniform and that I wouldn't be able to let him have it when he snatched the police dress hat off of his own head and handed me his uniform hat... My hat probably cost all of $7.00 including the rank pin... His was a custom leather brimmed Class A style of hat with all kinds of bright buttons and the Polizia Stradale hat device attached. It must have been worth 10- times the value of my hat... and He wanted to swap even!

I figured if I showed up at the staff meeting without my own hat, but carrying this one I would be able to get away with giving my hat away... We traded. Even my Battalion Commander was impressed that I not only didn't get a ticket, but had the policeman's hat as a souvenir. It sat at the top of one of my closets for a couple of decades and was a great prop when telling the story... but about 10 years ago I gave it to grandson to be part of his Halloween costume... I let him keep it rather than letting it continue to be a dust magnet.

The only S-4 items I brought home with me were my helmet camo cover and band.

I also brought home a Bundeswehr utility knife that I traded a German soldier two packs of cigarettes for while at Grafenwoehr.

And your P-38!

Sold it to buy a twenty-double.