Hoyden R.

I saw this guy's work, so now I have to have a ring made from a coin from either Italy or Ireland. I'm trying to find a ring made of silver that is about 23mm. It's a challenge to find one with a nice design around the edge. My biggest finger is a rather loose size 6, so we can't use one of the bigger coins that I really like. Any idea how we can run down such a coin? https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtifactCoinRings I like the Gothic florins as well.

Paul and I were at a Militaria show and I saw a piece of your exquisite work. I recognized the craftmanship right off that bat as belonging to you. I forgot to take a picture of it, next time I see that vendor, I'll take a picture.

Those wrinkles are STILL making me twitch!! You should have let me steam them out!!

You know, there is an idea. I can display those "onsies" in a custom frame that I build. Red, yellow, pink, green, purple, orange and blue....... That's an idea. I need to file that away for future reference. Then again, I'll have to convince my husband that he should let me FRAME THEM and HANG THEM ON THE WALL instead of languishing away in a ruddy bin in his collection closet.

It is the U.S. Coast Guard enlisted (E1 - E6) hat device.

I don't know, ask my husband. I asked him the same thing and then looked at him blankly and when what he explained to me made absolutely NO sense. Then again, I am OCD so I like order in everything, "odd boys out" whether it is socks or insignia are annoying.

Your wife wants a M1913 Patton Saber for Christmas.

This is one of the reasons I look for MULTIPLE sources of information and when there is an extant example, I try to find detailed pictures and have paid people to go take pictures for me. I learned the hard way a long time ago what artistic license means.

I am beginning to appreciate books, paper records etc. more and understand why Rick likes them. I have a freakish memory. I can remember WHERE I saw something if I saw it in a book, a newspaper, a record book, a log, etc. if I held it in my hand and read it. I can almost always remember where to find that information later, at the very least he location of the source of information, but most times I can go right to the chapter in the book. (Never argue with me in person, I will be able to remember everything verbatim if you ever wear the same shirt or shirt and pants again. Even if it's 5 years later.) But online research? Unless there are some pretty graphics in that damn web header so my associative memory can pin the two together, forget it. I have to go hunting for it again unless I had the foresight to bookmark the link in a folder and hope to hell that my computer doesn't crash and loose my treasure trove of bookmarks.

And a bit of info that someone else pulled up to go along with the history of Chief Kuchta. Etamin - the battle that almost sunk her http://www.uscg.mil/...es/Caroline.asp The Coast Guard's Role in the Invasion of the Southwest Pacific and the Caroline Islands by Dr. Robert M. Browning. The Coast Guard manned Cargo ship Etamin (AK-93), steamed toward Aitape Harbor on the night of April 21, 1944. The Etamin sailed as part of a 161 vessel task force, including twenty other Coast Guard vessels, organized to make landings at Hollandia, Tanahmerah Bay, and Aitape. During the approach to the invasion beach, the ship's commanding officer, LCDR George Stedman USCGR, spoke to his men and told them of their mission and its hazards. On board were 6,000 tons of high explosives and gasoline in drums destined to be unloaded on the invasion beach. A mistake with this cargo would be fatal. At 0545 the cargo vessel entered the harbor with the rest of the Eastern Attack Group. With minesweepers ahead, Etamin had on each beam other amphibious ships approaching the beach in the dark. In the predawn mist a destroyer shattered the stillness with the opening shots of the preliminary bombardment. The Etamin's three-inch gun opened up shortly thereafter pummeling enemy targets that included enemy pillboxes and a Japanese barge. The bombardment ended at 0630 and the combat team from the ship landed at 0800. Forty minutes later the cargo hatches were off and the winches whined as the heavy LCMs, and the cargo began going over the side. Japanese aircraft attacked the beachhead on the second night. Bombs fell on the congested beach area and started a fire among gasoline storage and an ammunition dump. The fire lasted five days. On the night of 27 April, Japanese torpedo planes attacked the anchorage. At 2300 one swung in low off the starboard side of the Etamin and released a torpedo. It struck the starboard side about ten feet above the keel in the number five hold and ruptured the shell plating and the shaft alley. The blast sprayed gasoline over the after part of the ship, but the gas did not immediately catch fire. As the number five hold and the engine room flooded, gas fumes came in contact with the boilers and ignited. The engine room exploded in flames and severely burned three men. All hands fought the fire as the stern rapidly settled. LCDR Stedman decided to beach the ship but with no power he had to ask for assistance from an LCT. The LCT, however, could not budge the large cargo ship and Stedman gave the order to abandon ship. Only two of the ship's complement of 200 Coast Guard and 150 Army personnel died. Fortunately this was the only serious damage suffered by any of the Naval vessels during the Hollandia operation.

Here are a few more pages from the USS Admiral W.L. Capps (AP-121) US Navy Cruise Book The entire Cruise Log is 122 pages long. There is an entire 20 page section that tells the "Saga" of the ship and where it went, as well as sections that describe what each division did. If there is a particular section you'd like to see, I can download the pages and post them.

18 SEPTEMBER 1944 - 8 MAY 1946 Chief Kuchta served aboard the USS Admiral W. L. Capps (AP-121). He arrived on it's commissioning date, 18 September 1944. There are no muster rolls, but here is the page from the USS Admiral W.L. Capps (AP-121) US Navy Cruise Book with him listed (This is on Ancestry.com, I am not sure if you can see the whole book without a membership) From 20 November 1944 until 12 July 1945, the USS Admiral W.L. Capps served in the Pacific Theater. They passed through the Panama Canal on 30 & 31 July 1945, steamed up to Norfolk and then departed for the Mediterranean on 1 September 1945. Upon returning from Europe (and one of my favorite places, Naples, Italy), on 3 November 1945, they made several trips back and forth across the pond. The USS Admiral W.L. Capps, once again, departed Norfolk for the Pacific Theater on 29 December 1945. The Cruise log concludes on 24 April 1946 in New York NY for a grand total of 112,000 miles.

27 APRIL - 29 APRIL 1944 : Just before midnight, three Japanese airplanes scored a lone torpedo hit on the USS Etamin (AK93) at Milne Bay, New Guinea. Crew from the USS Etamin was transferred to the USS Bootes (AK99) on 28 April 1944. When the USS Bootes left Aitape on 29 April, she had the USS Etamin in tow. 28 April 1944: USS Etamin crew aboard the USS Bootes 27 May 1944: Report of Change showing the crew of the USS Etamin transferring off.

Queen Research Gnome did some digging in Ancestry.com per Paul's request. Here's what I found. Make sure you click the links too, because I've either linked to more pictures or to sources of information. Joseph Francis Kuchta DOB: 7 August 1919 Class of 1938, New Kensington High School, New Kensington, PA Enlisted in the Coast Guard: 16 December 1938 Service Number: 220-057 25 MAY 1943: USS Etamin (AK93) is commissioned with Lieutenant Commander G. W. Stedman, Jr., USCGR, in command. Chief Pharmacist Mate Joseph F. Kuchta reports aboard for duty on the date of the USS Etamin's commissioning. Chief Kuchta is accounted for in the Muster Roll of the Crew 30 June 1943 30 September 1943 31 December 1943 2 February 1944 - 28 February 1944: Leave in Sydney, Australia Chief Kuchta is transported to and from Australia aboard the USS LCI(L)25 31 March 1944

Thank you. You hit the nail on the head, I am that dreaded "Stitch Nazi". Although I tend to be one of the "look, learn & listen" variety vs. the finger pointing, critiquing sort when it comes to reenactors. I also shared what I learned when asked instead of hoarding sources. I wasn't going to do the research for them, but I would tell them what they needed and were to find it. We won't discuss the historical accuracy of Pirates of the Caribbean. Let us just say that POC has made my Pirate reenactor friends very busy and they've made it a point to make it known that Jack Sparrow would not have stood a prevaricator's chance in hell during the Golden Age of Piracy. I have an old world set of skills and believe in the old world quality of craftsmanship. And it is also the reason that an old neighbor of mine used to call the cops. Only the obsessed would put a linen arming jack on a human dummy out in their yard and stab it repeatedly with various types of blades to ensure that she had the right combination of linen weight and weave density to arrest a wayward thrust.