Two Military Trunks with Vietnam War-era Contents

**hftiii** · 01-04-2019, 12:46 AM

Hello everyone,

I sharing some of my recent finds from an estate sale. Although I'm most interested in WWII militaria, I couldn't pass up this Vietnam War grouping. It consists of approximately 60 items that belonged to Captain Charles R. Ridgway, USAF in the mid 1960s. Although I don't have a lot of information about Mr. Ridgway, I believe that he retired as a colonel in 1980. The items were contained in two foot lockers (one of which is marked Holloman AFB and the other, Ubon RTAFB) and include pilot survival gear and flight paraphernalia, a tent, combat knives, .45 holsters, and sleeping bag covers, among other items. I was hoping that one of the knives would be a Randall fighting knife, but no such luck. If anyone has information on this officer, or comments about any of the items, it would be appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Tom

**reneblacky** · 01-04-2019, 01:03 AM

What a nice find! this lot will keep you occupied for awhile.

**Ubique** · 01-04-2019, 01:06 AM

What an amazing time capsule! Great score.

Oz.

**MAP** · 01-04-2019, 01:55 AM

Lots of goodies in there! Great stuff.

**RH1941** · 01-04-2019, 02:45 AM

Very nice your a lucky man to find that .

**hftiii** · 01-04-2019, 02:54 AM

Thanks everyone. Researching the items now and trying to clean/oil where possible. Unfortunately, the storage conditions were not the best for the knives so I'm trying to lightly clean these without overdoing it. Thanks again for your comments.

Tom

**gel65** · 01-09-2019, 02:40 AM

Very nice I had no clue Rock Island Arsenal was still in business in the 1950s

**rra227** · 01-09-2019, 05:38 PM

Nice pile. Rich A. in Pa.

**hftiii** · 01-09-2019, 11:17 PM

Thanks guys. Of course, RIA had a long history but kind of neat how things changed in the post war period. I was surprised at the late production as well.

Tom