If these items could speak...

*Just a quick disclaimer before reading this post: There are images below of items taken from Nazi Germany, many of which are adorned with swastikas. These photos have been posted here to chronicle my grandfather's time in the U.S. Army during WWII and do not in any way, shape or form serve to celebrate or condone National Socialism or anti-Semitism. 


For years I'd been hearing about the box that held my grandfather's war loot. The description of what was in that white breadbox first came when I expressed interest in his service during WWII, a time in his life that seems to hold many clues to his personality and what was really lurking beneath the surface of his silence. The box, my father said, was filled with knives, coins, pictures and a massive Nazi banner. When he died in 1983, contents of the box were distributed among his children and my father was given his Purple Heart. To help with my research, my uncles Terry and Ted were kind enough to send me photos of the items.

Glen G. Earley
B Company, 745th Tank Battalion

To call Glen Earley's wartime experience painful would perhaps be the greatest understatement in history. That pain - both physical and emotional - included the loss of two older brothers and a combat injury that nearly took his life and caused him problems until his death at age 59. And while it doesn't sound possible to neatly cache all of those memories in a box and close the lid, it is something that my grandfather certainly tried to accomplish.

Glen G. Earley's breadbox, where he kept his war loot, including Nazi bayonets, belt buckles and decorations. 

It wasn't as if grandpa never took the box out. My father told me that after being pestered - mostly by the boys - Glen would reluctantly let them see inside. "The first thing in there was this huge Nazi banner," my father recalled. "It was folded on top there, so we always looked at that first."

Measuring about 4 feet wide and 9 feet long , it was the type of rectangular banner seen so often in war movies hanging from buildings. As the story goes, my grandpa pulled it down from the driver's seat of his Sherman tank.

My grandfather pulled this Nazi banner down from a building from the driver's seat of his Sherman tank.

My father recalls seeing several knives in the box. When I scanned through the photos of the loot in my inbox, one of the very first things to jump out at me was a German K98 bayonet for a Mauser rifle, the exact same kind of knife I'd purchased just four months prior in a small antique shop in West Monroe, Louisiana. I remember seeing several bayonets in a glass case, and when I asked the owner to show them to me, I somehow gravitated toward the K98, ignoring other German and Japanese knives. Perhaps grandpa was speaking to me in some strange way. 

German K98 bayonet, meant to fit on a Mauser rifle.

Below are many of the other items from the box. I've done some research on most of them, and have provided a description of each as best as I could.

German Luftwaffe cap (enlisted). The Luftwaffe was the German Air Force, commanded by Herman Goering.

Hitler Youth knife (grip is missing a swastika).

I believe this is what is called a "tinnie", or a small tin badge commemorating Kreistag Day in 1939...I think that was a party rally, or something similar.

I'm not sure what this coin or medallion symbolizes. It says Aachen on it, which is a German town where the 745th Tank Battalion (grandpa's outfit) was engaged in heavy fighting in the fall of 1944.

German War Merit Cross, a decoration that - when adorned with swords like this one - is awarded to soldiers for bravery in combat and is just below an Iron Cross.

Souvenir wooden shoes from Belgium.

Belt buckle...but I'm not sure of the origin yet.

This medallion appears to have Pope Leo XIII on it, but not sure of the origin. Catholic perhaps?

I believe this is a souvenir from Paris.

This is a Hitler Youth belt buckle (which got switched upside down when I posted it here)  and reads "Blood and Honor".

(another upside down issue here) I did some research, and this belt buckle appears to have belonged to an SS officer.

I'm still looking to find out what those ribbons are on this swastika.

I'm also unsure of the origin of this coin, but it appears to be dated 1937.

This German Army officer's shoulderboard belonged to an Oberleutnant (US equivalent of 1st LT) in the artillery. 

There is no way to tell, but I'm assuming this is a picture of grandpa's tank crew. That's a Sherman behind them.

Another unknown tanker, likely from the 745th.

We believe these are photos my grandpa picked up.

This appears to be a handmade knife of some kind.

Some photos of destroyed German tanks and armored vehicles.

A folding saw.

If these items could speak, I'll bet they could tell some stories.