SOS Find BCD 41 with ship home label

mdarnell19

Beavis Moderator
Staff member
Got this at the SOS this year. I thought @Hambone would like it since it has vet history with it.

All matching bcd41 in fantastic condition. Vet mailed it home to his wife using a label on the side. Looks like some type of medical tape. Ryan and I figured out the address and the house still exists.

513 Lyndon Ave
Ashtabula. OH 44004


Also you can see on the label that his last name is Arnold and he was in G Company 329 Infantry Regiment. Should be fun researching the guy. The 329th saw a lot. They landed at Normandy and were the closest American unit to Berlin at the end of the war.
 

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Found his obituary, and it looks like he died in May 1981 (no day listed). Born on June 6 (D Day) in 1914.

A library in Maine posted a digital copy of the official history of the regiment, published just after the war. The 329th landed in Normandy on 23 June 1944. It includes lists of soldiers who won medals (Bronze Star, etc.) and were wounded, but I do not see Arnold included on any of them.

On 28th June, the regiment actually relieved the 101st Airborne after they took Carentan. Pretty cool!

Here is the PDF copy of the book:
 
That's an awesome rifle and the veteran provenance is pretty sweet, doesn't get any better than that. Congrats on a fantastic rifle!
 
I realize times were VERY different back then, but it's still blows my mind that someone could mail a rifle halfway around the world with a piece of tape on the butt. Incredible and an amazing find IMHO.
 
Great rifle Matt. That medical tape shows up quite a bit on various things, particularly helmets for mail home labels.

 
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