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Establishing Provenance (?)

RCrosby
I'm in the process of clearing up the estate of a retired Col., USAF. I have no military background myself. Two questions come to mind:
1. With no known relatives or close friends, what is the proper way to dispose of his dog tags?
2. There are boxes of old photos and piles of paperwork. I assume that establishing provenance (correct spelling and use of the word?) for the 1911A1 he left behind should be do-able, but have no idea what to look for; i.e. specific forms or any paperwork that includes his name and reference to the pistol??
I'm not in a position to keep and/or archive all of this stuff, but want to be respectful of his service and legacy
Make any sense?
Thanks,
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Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • MIKE WISKEY
    thanks for trying to do right by this vet. you might ask the local VFW/American Legion post(s) if they are interested.
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  • nmyers
    Dog tags? Put them out in the trash. Unless he is famous, they have no value.

    Most service pistols have no paperwork. This couldn't be his "issue" firearm, as he would not have been allowed to keep it, & I'm sure he wouldn't have stolen it. But, he may have bought it from the Director of Civilian Marksmanship; if you phone the Civilian Marksmanship Program, they will be able to tell you if he did, &, for a small fee, send a letter to that effect. ( www.odcmp.com ).

    If he lived in a state requiring registration, you will need to clear that up with them.

    Neal
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  • mrs102
    If it is a small community with a little local museum or historical society perhaps they would display his service material(s), patches, medals, dog tags,etc along with an appropriate photo. Maybe not the firearm, for security reasons, but the other memoribilia, especially if a long-time or well known resident. The suggestion for VFW or Am. Legion Hall also sounds viable.
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  • givette
    'Ya gotta dig. No way to get around it.

    You have a pile to sift through. Please do so. Tedious task, I'm sure.

    Consider it as a mission to keep this man 'alive' to future generations, so lower your head, and wade-in!!

    Get back to us with anything questionable, or that has caught your interest for whatever reason. Many people scanning this board. Very wide audience.

    I can't speak for/to the various organizations, and would wonder if it would not become a 'free-for-all' feeding frenzy when the box is open if you simply surrendered it to [a particular orginization].

    Biggest plus is if you are not acting under a time constraint as the executor, or other designee of the estate..and can take your time with this. Good luck! Joe
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  • kimi
    Consider selling the dog tags and his paperwork on ebay under titles such as genealogy, state, county, item description, surname, etc. Some of these items might well find their way to interested parties immediately or on down the road.
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  • RCrosby
    Thanks for all the suggestions. No time constraint; other than many demands on my time at the moment and this, of necessity, down near the bottom of the priority list.
    No need to act quickly, and no desire to profit from the results. Appreciate the many perspectives. I'll let y'all know as anything of interest develops, but don't hold your breath.
    I'll be around.
    Take care, All,
    Rob
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  • US Military Guy
    quote:Originally posted by mrs102
    If it is a small community with a little local museum or historical society perhaps they would display his service material(s), patches, medals, dog tags,etc along with an appropriate photo. Maybe not the firearm, for security reasons, but the other memoribilia, especially if a long-time or well known resident. The suggestion for VFW or Am. Legion Hall also sounds viable.


    As a guy working with one of those "local museums", I can tell you that any worth their salt will be interested in this Veteran's life. Do NOT throw out the dog tags - or anything else. They are not worthless (to any organization with a mission of preserving the past).
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  • wpage
    Agreed that keeping it all for a military museum piece would be best. Certainly somewhere there is a place for this mans legacy.
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  • gary wray
    Rob......congrats to you for taking on this mission. I agree completely with the suggestion that a museum (or even a state museum) would most likely be interested in keeping and maintaining the Col's materials. In Dover DE there is a wonderful museum at DAFB for the Air Mobility Command. I would contact them and perhaps they might be interested, certainly if he was in the AMC, or they could put you onto some other AF group that might be interested. Speaking as the prez of a rather large (300+) state military historical society, we are all the time taking materials from Army folks who are donating stuff....I have an WWII Army footlocker right now in the back of my truck heading out to our museum Fort Miles. So the interest is there, it is just a bit of an effort to find out who might be interested. I would not throw a thing of this vet away or sell any of it. His service to our country needs to be respected and having been a Col I'll bet there is an interesting story there to be told. Again, thanks to you for asking the question and taking on this job.
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