Joefriday22

Thank you very much Sirs. What does Showa mean? I am almost affraid to ask but what's the approximate value please? Rob

Thank you very much for any information that you may be able to provide. Rob

More pictures to follow

Hi folks, brand new guy here and I would greatly appreciate any info on this sword. About a month ago I was at my favorite local militaria shop and a gentleman walked in with a WW2 Japanese sword (I'd been looking to add one to my collection). I struck up a conversation with him to find out that his father had brought back the sword along with several flags and various other items. He wanted to sell it all as his kids were not interested in the items and he knew that they would only sell them some day themselves. As much as I wanted to negotiate a deal with the man I did not want to step on the toes of the shop owner (he's always been fair to me). So anyway, I left and returned a week or so later to discover that the guy had left the items there to be auctioned off. This shop has an auction about once per month. Long story short, they split the items up into several lots and of course I wanted to win all of them to keep the collection together...and I did win them all but they weren't cheap. The toughest fight was for the personal paperwork (there is more than is shown in the pics below) but I wanted it all to tie everything together. The items are from US Army Sgt Edwin Reed of Co. A. 182 Infantry, Americal Division. Sgt Reed served in the Pacific and the items I bought include Americal patches, rank insignia, CIB & ribbon bars, service records, group photo, record of service, maps, greeting cards, USO memorabilia, address book, handbooks & manuals, photos of the him and his wife, pay records, IDs, discharge and other paper goods. A prized possession was his pocket Bible - complete with a GI Condom inside! There is also the Purple Heart and notice of Reed being wounded on Cebu Island March 29, 1945 after a Japanese ammo dump exploded. Reed's unit was digging foxholes on a mountain and the ammo was burried in tunnels below. The Japanese detonated the ammo dump which took out practically everyone on the mountain. Co. A. existed on paper only for some time until replacements could be gathered to re-form the company. He was discharged from the Camp Pickett, Va. Convalescant Hospital September 11, 1945. The shop owner actaully tried to talk him into keeping the items but he was determined to sell them. Here is the sword and some of the other items that I received: Thank you for looking, Rob