Luger Holster? - Antique Store find (pics)

[Navy]

Fellow SF Combat Infantrymen, Paratroopers and those who wish they could be both:

I can recall very clearly a trip to An Khe after leading parachute infantry in the bush for several months. We had almost nothing. Food, ammunition and explosives were a problem. Poncho liners (what we lived, slept and occasionally died in, were not available) canteens, second only to weapons in importance, were unavailable; and most of our weapons, especially the "hogs". the M-60 LMG, were almost worn out and in need of major maintenance.

I was in the rear to do some other business (I was company exec at the time) and when I went to the "not remembered designation" Sliding Sh** House patch, Supply and Service company, I could not believe what I saw. There were literally, not figuratively, acres of supplies that we in the jungle could only hope for, as we could never get them. Canteens, bug juice, jungle sweaters, boots, socks, the stuff that an Infantryman needs but can never seem to acquire,

I approached the Warrant Officer, who was apparently in charge of all of this materiel and asked what I needed to do to get some of this stuff to my Infantry company. His answer was short and sweet, " You can have anything you want; just take it away and sign the book on the desk."

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I quickly marked a pallet of 5 quart canteens and 2 quart canteens, a pallet of poncho liners, and several pallets of "jungle sweaters"-a nylon fleece piece of kit that made living in the jungle somehow less miserable than it really was.
I could write pages about how wonderful a combination of a good jungle sweater and a poncho liner were, but I will forbare.

Well, I identified by the pallet the stuff I thought my guys needed and set about closing the transaction. The Warrant Officer was very helpful,"You can have anthing here, you just have to haul it away."

There was no way to get this treasure -trove of vitally needed kit to my soldiers. I had no authority to ship anything in the military system.

Alternative courses of action were required and they worked.

Lesson learned: A bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label trumps almost any Goverment regulation.

Tom A

[Jim Keenan]

REMF means "Rear Echelon ....... ......" You can fill in the blanks.

Jim

[Edward Tinker]

Jim, I bet those former grunts knew what it meant, heh, heh but filling it in for joe smoh is always good, <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[lugerholsterrepair]

Tom, Along that same vein, whenever we would get to the rear, which was every thirty days give or take, we would wander down to the village and there was all of the gear we needed in the field, for sale at papasans outdoor stall. Some remf son of a gun was selling gear we needed to the locals! There always seemed to be two different types of troops, one you couldn't get out of the field and those you couldn't get into it. For every guy in the field there are 10 supporting him in the rear. Should be the other way around...Jerry Burney