March Field Air Museum, Riverside, CA

[sksvlad]

A old defunct strategic AFB near LA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Field_Air_Museum used by Air Force Reserves presently. Vincent Rogers Jr. exhibit has a story behind it. 16 dead American soldiers were found recently on Tarawa. He was known to die there. His family donated old war letters to investigators who extracted DNA from the saliva left behind the war time stamps Vincent licked before mailing them. DNA was matched with one of the dead and Vincent's body was returned to US for burial.

 

[HAZORD]

Kind of a weird AF Museum. More real Jap Ordnance than U.S, and no Air Force Ordnance at all, but a lot of Navy dummy stuff, and an Abram's practice projectile.

I am glad that Vincent Rogers was found.

 

[sksvlad]

I am adding more picrures above. The little snakes next to SR-71 Blackbird's cockpit are habu snakes, one for each sortie in Vietnam. Habu snake is nocturnal and is common on Okinawa. My wife was stationed on Okinawa during Nam (but with P3 Orion) and remembers these planes coming out of underground hangars only at night, hence the connection to the nocturnal snake.

 

[HAZORD]

The extra photos make it look much more like an AF Museum! A very good collection. I like the F-14 out in the middle. I had not heard the Habu snake story before. Good info!

 

[Slick]

I'm gonna start a GoFundMe to get Vlad a new camera. That 2.0 megapixel camera needs a rest. Or maybe just a couple of double As.
I've seen and held that camera. He really, really needs a new one.:xd:

 

[HAZORD]

Good Idea.

 

[sksvlad]

My camera is like an old Garand, still firing. But I will also take land donations in Arkansas.

 

[sksvlad]

Here is a bottle of real Japanese Habu sake. With the actual snake inside, my daugher brought from Okinawa.

 

[HAZORD]

That is creepy. Are you sure it says Habu Sake, and not "Snake flavored paint remover"?

 

[wichitaslumlord]

Here is something which is slightly on topic.....
This is a frame of SR-71 related cloth insignia (patches)
The 3 center patches on the top row are all 3 variations of the actual SR-71 crew patches which are locally made on Okinawa. I don't believe they wore insignia in flight, but these would have been worn on the ground. These are quite difficult to find.
The far right patch in the top row is beyond rare. It is Okinawan made and is for the G.B.T.T.F. (giant bear tanker task force). These were the KC-135 tankers which carried the special fuel for the SR-71's. They "supported" the HABU's (note the habu snake on the back of the bear) and were part of the 376th Strategic Wing (376 SW) which was only in existence from April 1970 - August 1973.
The other patches are neat, but not "been there, done that" like the first 4. I hope you enjoy them! Pat

 

[kiwieod]

they used to have open cockpit days at march airfield museum in the 2000s when I lived in LA.sat in the SR71,some of the gages had been removed but it was the coolest thing ever

 

[sksvlad]

Wow, I see bins upon bins of these patches at gun shows and nobody touching them. You are the 1st person I know who collects them. Very neat. I'll stick my nose into patches next time to see what's inside. Maybe I'll be lucky to find that bear patch.

 

[wichitaslumlord]

The patch collecting hobby is inundated with fakes, many of which are close enough to the original that one has to become a textile expert to tell the difference. Common ones are are even reproduced for sale at air shows etc. One dirt bag in Virginia actually goes to Vietnam with original examples and has them duplicated on the same hand operated embroidery machines that the original Vietnam era ones were made on, frequently by the daughters or grand daughters of the original makers. He then sell them as "genuine Vietnam hand embroidered patches".
If it's rare and there's a buck to be made, the fakers will be hard at work, even in ordnance collecting. Pat