ADSEC OISE Ike Jacket Grouping

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Earlier this month I had the pleasure to buy a really cool Ike jacket grouping. I'm not sure if anybody else has noticed this, but the market for such pieces has been sort of dry lately. This forced me to think out of the box and search areas I normally wouldn't. I found this grouping 'Out of all places' on Etsy. Yes, the place your wife or girlfriend most likely shops on! I bought all of these items from a woman who was close friends with the veteran. It appears when the vet passed, all of his WWII era belongings were left to her.

The veteran's name was David F Tassler, and his ASN is 37568202. He served with the 193rd General Hospital.

The Etsy listing included everything you see in the first photo. As it sat I thought it was a pretty impressive group, but shortly after buying it I was actually able to buy more items connected to Mr Tassler. The listing description mentioned a group of letters the he wrote to his mom while in the service. I quickly messaged the seller to see if the letters were also for sale. She told me due to her close friendship with the vet, she wanted to hold on to the letters. She felt they were too special to let go of. After a lengthy conversation with the seller, I was able to convince her to sell me the letters. She agreed with me that for history's sake the letters belong with the rest of the items she sold. I want to make note that this specific seller was EXTREMELY kind to me, and I'm currently still in contact with her.

As she was packing up my order the seller messaged me with some exciting news. She had found a photograph David took while he was in Europe, and she added it to my package at no extra cost. After further inspection it appears to be a photograph of the 'Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel' in Paris. I was told more photos exist, but they're buried somewhere in the sellers attic. When the photos are found, I will be contacted and given a chance to buy them.

After getting these items in the mail I made a couple interesting discoveries. Inside the left breast pocket of the uniform I found a folded document. The document is a memorial handout from a church in Springfield Minnesota. It's dated May 30th 1946, so this is an event Mr Tassler attended after he got back home from the war. The memorial was held in honor of men that lost their lives during the war, and I can only assume they were all from this town. I like to think Mr Tassler wore his Ike jacket to the memorial, and simply stuck the handout in his pocket after he left. It's probably been in that pocket since 1946!

I made another discovery shortly after finding the memorial handout. At the bottom of the duffel bag there was an old folded document. The document is an order for a 10 day furlough to England, and it's dated February 27th 1946.

As soon as I'm able to, I'll share the contents of some the letters here on this thread. I've read some already, and they're beyond fascinating. He mentions seeing things like fights on the streets of Paris, and severely shell shocked soldiers.

[gamw99]

Great lot there!

One of the fascinating things about militaria is that you can find it in the most peculiar places

[reneblacky]

Ahh Jarret! fantastic find Mate!

[MAP]

Another great score Jarret. A 1st Sargent no less!

[reneblacky]

Dumb question? have you the key to the padlock?

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Dumb question? have you the key to the padlock?

Not a dumb question at all my friend!

Unfortunately I don't have it. I guess it's lost to history. You never know, there's the slim chance the seller might uncover an old set of keys that belonged to the vet.

[reneblacky]

Cheers Jarret, maybe he had it on his dog tag chain?

[RustyRelics]

Funny you mention Etsy, I found so much cool stuff on there, I considering taking out a loan. That's an outstanding set.