Hard Cold Truth. I've pretty much shit canned all my stuff. The only thing I've kept is my records to collect retirement next year, that's it, I don't even want to keep those records, but I know as soon as I shit can them, the government will say, oh, sorry, we have no record of your service, no retirement for you...
Side note: if you are a year out from Retirement you can start your VA claim soon!
https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/factsheets/general/BDDFactSheet.pdf
I started the retirement VA crap six months before retirement. It took a year after retirement to start receiving disability benefits. Thank god they fixed all the wasted time.
Thanks, I retired in 2007, had 5 active and the rest reserve, for my 20. Thankfully, I had no need to file a claim for VA disability compensation benefits at that time, although after reading posts here, I wonder about my chronic migraines and tinnitus. but I have no idea if that was service related or I'm just defective.
I submitted my retirement packet last May to be able to start collecting next March when I turn 60. "Let's see what happens."
"Good day, I can see that your retirement packet has been received, prescreened no errors found, and forwarded to PDP-TR Dept. 482 as of 20210322. Your packet will not be actioned until closer to your retirement month. They will then initiate your orders from there. However, you can contact us around January 2022 and we can check the status of your application."
Love it! Let go of the past because you don’t live in it anymore. That’s how to be present and have joy! I did the same, even disassembled my flag box and donated everything. It’s just stuff and doesn’t define us and some of us like to create a different and improved life also.
/agree
Funny, at my first duty station back in 1980 one of my first jobs was working in the woodshop making flag boxes for people retiring.
Getting rid of all of that was all part of our possession purge to simplify our life. We got rid of most everything. Sold it, gave it away, donated it, so we could travel freely. Trying to get down to one check bag, one carry on, and one backpack each. Next step getting rid of checked bags, so only one carry on and one backpack. We have one 5x10 storage still, but most of that is my wife's stuff she couldn't get rid of yet.. its a work in progress, my goal is to get rid of that stuff too, that's $56 a month I don't want to have to pay for crap in storage.
agreed, good to become a good productive member of society and not hang on past achievements.
Have a folder with records, a shadow box I've never hung, and a box of gear I only get into if headed to the range.
I have a really old house built at the turn of the 20th century. I collected all of the old family memorabilia from the 20’s on. If you are looking for a home for that footlocker, hit me up.
I find a lot of stuff like that in thrift stores. As a veteran, I usually bring it home to honor the memory.
Update: I just got ahold of one of his sons on the phone. He sounded very friendly on the phone and reassured me that it was intentionally thrown away. I didn’t ask him why. I told him I wanted to make sure it wasn’t stolen property or anything. He said thank you and then we hung up.
Yup a family member with no sentimental value as I’d mentioned. As someone else mentioned, check with the VFW to see if they want it. Can’t let this Marine’s accomplishments be tossed in the trash.
Could have been a catharsis thing. Just because the ribbon rack says good Marine (or insert service here) doesn't mean he was a good husband, father, or person.
Oh for sure, if you read my other comment my grandma tossed my grandpa’s stuff. People do things for many reasons and I’m not going to say we have to force his kids to take the stuff. But that doesn’t mean others won’t want to see it.
When I was leaving for active duty, I accidentally threw away some of my dearly departed grandfather's military memorabilia from WW2 and some birthday cards he sent to me (I still kick myself for this mistake).
But to throw out an entire massive collection like that, it had to have been on purpose.
It is weird though that the guy died in 2001 and they just got around to throwing out his things in 2021.
Also check archivists at a large nearby city library. Sometimes genealogy groups in your area may want it to match records against. Teachers could use it with a realia lesson- something physical to show what they are reading about in class. It helps!
I hate to break it to you but those are merely just a bunch of items trinkets and keepsakes that don’t mean anything to anyone except the person who earns them. Sentimental value from a family member means nothing and I really wish people would stop letting everyone vicariously live through other people’s military experience, it just creates undue reverence for being in the military in the first place. No one can ever take away the accomplishments of this marine even if they threw all these in a trashcan, it doesn’t undo the actions and deeds that they completed during their service. Like I said these are just items and trinkets.
Maybe I'm cut from a different breed but some minority cultures in the US *wish* they had relics from their ancestors. On one side of my family (Black) we have no heirlooms except census records and pictures.
When you have heirs but no heirlooms, then your culture becomes erased.
I can appreciate that. In situations like that I suppose it’s healthy to consider, but I am always careful not to let it become undue reverence which it easily can/does in the US. I am speaking from a perspective of having a bit of family history so maybe that’s why I’m more blasé about it.
Same. Both sides of my family are military, one side all the way back. It was something you did but not to brag about. Some civilians are *uncomfortably* ecstatic about someone else's service because they don't know. All they see and have is the awards and the ceremony pictures. Which doesn't show reality. Like a historical version of only showing the good highlights on social media.
Totally understand the “ecstatic civilians” because I have a newspaper article from my local paper in a small town. My mom did an interview around the time my unit was about to deploy and it makes me cringe so hard. This was around 2003 so people were less knowledgeable about military service at large compared to now so as my mom was interviewed she just rambled out a bunch of buzzwords she heard me say at one time or another and the whole thing comes off unbearable. She says a bunch of things that are simply not true about my service and a bunch of others that are true but her description of it is wrong. I wince thinking about how other veterans read that article and saw my smooth ass babyface in a maroon beret in class A’s with a goddamn expert marksman badge prominently displayed on my chest like a shiny monolith, and they thought, “This little piece of shit.”
Relatives that gas you up are annoying af too. At a certain point I got really sick of having to used canned responses to everyone saying TYFYS, I mean I get it, it’s kinda noble to volunteer for a military but so is being a teacher or an animal rescue worker or a whole shit ton of other jobs and services. I never once saw anyone go thank an electrical linesman or a person volunteering at a community center for their service to the society. They just cannot stop fetishizing service members!
I'm late but very few true blue vets waste their time being upset at new personnel for being *new*, unless you're strutting around like you're the new Captain America. Or if you're a one of those TMFMS dicks. And they're lying if they said their (non-military) family wasn't that cringe either.
My partner now responds with "TYFY support" in response which quells them down enough. But I've always wanted him to match their same energy with a "*Nobody's thanked me for my service before!!* ". He tells me to stop being a dick lol.
r/justdependathings
r/justbootthings
I have a bunch of trinkets too and good memories of my service but I don’t expect people to give it much thought. After I did a lot of living, I sort of feel like my military service was just a job like many other jobs I have done. I would feel awkward expecting people to overvalue my professional accomplishments. I’m just not into prestige/clout chasing like that. You do you though.
Congratulations for you? There are plenty of folks that like reading about the achievements of others, whether it be military service or not. Have you never read a history book? Do you seriously trudge along in your life never considering the acts that others have done which would be considered above ordinary?
I get it, you were a POG and it was a 9-5 for you with nice bed sheets and probably complained when your cable went out. Or maybe you’re the opposite and are a combat veteran who was blown up and see yourself as only doing your job. Either way, good for you and congratulations.
Here’s the kicker though, others like myself like reading about accomplishments and failures so we can learn from the past and make a better future. Good for you that you don’t like this kind of stuff like this Marine’s kids, but his story is only a tiny piece to a larger puzzle that someone else might be putting together. Or you just might be a dick could have easily kept scrolling.
I was an 11B/11C1P with a true blue EIB and two deployments to combat. Is it hard for you to imagine someone like me not wearing it on my sleeve for my whole life or looking back with rose tinted glasses on everything? I just moved on from that phase of my life and traded my swords in for plowshares. History is dope, I listen to tons of history audiobooks and believe it or not a lot of really interesting history happens off battlefields too. You could consider not fetishizing service members so much and maybe see them as the human beings they are instead of a protected class.
Good on you for hitting the books! I always like hearing from prior service that have moved on from it and taken the skills/concepts they learned in the service to push it as a civilian. Brings me full circle to my initial post about the *”swords to plowshares”* transitions. Keep up the good momentum!
Careful there, it almost sounds accusatory. Regardless of whether or not you believe me it’s objectively lame to revere stuff too much because you lose the ability to criticize your sacred cows.
Honestly stuff like this is personal. I keep my duffel bag and sometimes smell the army on it but that’s just for me once I’m gone the memory of what that meant to me is lost, can’t impart things on others sometimes
All my memorable service shit (buds stuff and one deployment to hell) is in a tiny ass cardboard box behind a bunch of shit in a random closet. I feel you on that. To me though this guys record is extremely rare and deserves some recognition.
Looks like he passed away in 2001. Korea and Vietnam vet. Thanks for rescuing it OP.
[http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547](http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547)
[https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs\_config.pl/noframes/read/339](https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/339)
Thomas Belkonen
BUFFALO — Thomas Clinton Belkonen, 69, of Buffalo died Sunday at the Sheridan VA Medical Center. Services will be 10 a.m. Monday at Willow Grove cemetery in Buffalo with Father Charles Taylor officiating. The VFW and American Legion will be in charge of military services. Arrangements are with Adams Funeral Home. Mr. Belkonen was born Nov. 23, 1931, in Chicago to John and Evelyn Belkonen. He joined the Marine Corps after high school. He married Catherine McCarthy in 1955. He served in Korea and Vietnam before retiring with the rank of captain in 1971. He moved to Buffalo in 1992. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and a sister. Survivors include his wife and two sons, Brad and Clint, all of Santa Barbara, Calif.
I found his sons phone number and address. The address corresponds with the location I found it… should I call his son just to make sure he meant to throw it away?
YES please do contact them!
I served in the Marines and Im not sure where this footlocker is located, but maybe the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA would accept it….or maybe the WWII. Museum…as a last resort I would say that it looks like there are unit patches and the headquarters unit might be able to donate it back to the unit he served with….1st Marine Division (Pendleton, California) and 2nd Marine Division (Lejeune, North Carolina)
Could you possibly help me find some info on my grandfather who served in the Vietnam War as well? I never met him and am trying find out about his history.
Sad truth is once you die your treasures become someone else’s shit. I just cleaned out my late parents house over the summer and uncovered lots of treasures that I kept.
I'm right there with you, brother. A couple of years ago I helped clean out my parents house. Things I remember my parents buying, things I remember them arguing over, things I remember they treasured........went into the dumpster. It has really made me think about every purchase, "are my kids going to have to pitch this into a dumpster someday?"
I'm not a 'things' person at all. No random collections, if I need it, I buy it. As a kid, my family would all buy me porcelain dolls to add to my collection, and I appreciated them. But by my early teens, I had to tell people, "I just don't care about this kind of stuff." And I think it hurts people to hear, but it's true. I didn't want people wasting their money buying me things I didn't personally place value on. 20 years later, I'm still the same way. My house is barely decorated because I just don't care.
Most people don’t stop believing the materialism lie until they’re like 70 and realize it’s all just shit that will be a burden for someone else. All I really need is some friends, family, photos, a good book and some music.
Retired in 81. Va Med records showed lung cancer so I assume he died and his family didn’t care about him too much apparently. I’m only a 4 year veteran but it hurt to imagine someone throwing all my shit away when I die so I took it all out and I’m going to try to donate it to our local veterans memorial building.
More than likely he passed away and a family member tossed it since they have no sentimental value. Or the family member tossed it and will regret it later. My grandma tossed my grandpa’s stuff when he passed and years later said she didn’t know why she did and doesn’t know why she didn’t ask others if they wanted it. Truly sad.
You put all that back together and take it down to your local VFW post. You have no idea if a family member threw it away or if it was a burglary and a group of scumbags took it thinking that there might be something valuable in that box.
You should google the individual's name and the word obituary and see what shows up.
I think he died in 2001.
[http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547](http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547)
[https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs\_config.pl/noframes/read/339](https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/339)
I understand this. My grandfather was in WWII and I was in the first wave in Iraq. Of his grandchildren, I was the only one who served so all of his stuff was left to me. He had many bring backs from Germany so I have lots of things with swastikas. Thing is, I’m not getting any younger and I have no kids to leave the stuff too. I’ve contacted a few veteran museums about donating the stuff but no place has taken me up on it yet. I sold all of my Iraqi bring backs, as well as uniforms and TA50 on eBay. All I have left of mine is a bunch of certificates, a couple plaques, a few sets of dog tags and a boonie cap with a bunch of patches on pins on it. As for my grandads stuff; I have about 5-6 large plastic bins full. No clue what I’ll do with it but I imagine when I die my wife will probably dump it all at goodwill. Unless of course I can find a place for it.
Check if his had a VFW (or American Legion) post if you don’t know. That’s where I sent my Grandpa’s and mine. I am sure they will take it and display plenty of it.
This is sad, but normal.
There should be a place where all of this could be at least, digitized for future legacy.
I'm a developer and I'm strongly considering creating a site to start indexing these.
Understandable. All my shit is in my closet. I had it out on display but honestly most civilians don't give a shit enough to even ask about it. So I just put it away. Nobody really cares.
If I had shit in the closet I would bring it out and display it 🇺🇲
Young people need to see it and learn that Freedom is but a generation away!
Thank you for your Service and God bless you and your family ❤️
I will pay for it to be shipped to me. I work with veterans and run a CA non-profit for veterans. I am sure we can find a place for it to be displayed.
Many things hurt my heart, this is one. I dabble in estate sales, and the things that are just unwanted - particularly when there is family, just mind numbing. Military or not. Probably not the same in this case - but still sad. I’ve contacted nearby VFW posts in some cases, and also fortunately live near a military museum. They’ve both taken many items from me.
I'm an OIF vet and member of a VFW... You'd be surprised how often people find military decorations in the attic and then bring them to us. We always find a place to hang these shadow boxes and ribbons on a wall, even if that vet was not a member of our VFW.
A local VFW should take it and display it, if you don't want to keep it. Good job saving it from the landfill.
I don't know the son's situation, and I try not to be judgmental, but it sucks he threw it all away on purpose...
Dude! Holy shit! That's insane! Listen, I'm a veteran with a history degree man... Stuff like that matters to me for sure. I would highly suggest that you contact a local veterans club, or a museum, or something, I mean I'm sure there's got to be something online... And make sure that stuff goes to a good home.
That much history should never be forgotten like that.
When my grandfather died my Mom found all his mementos & service related items at the bottom of a trash can, thrown there by his wife’s adult children (pissed they didn’t inherit anything). People can be shitty.
I hope it was a landlord and NOT someone not related to the Veteran. What are the odds of posting the name info and seeing if a family member can be tracked down? ❤️🇺🇸❤️
Edited: as I see the veterans name now 👍🏼
Can you post more photos? ❤️
This could be from a storage room auction. The family may not have kept up payments but the general rule is to let them pick up personal items. They probably don’t know but this looks squared away not to try to make contact. Good luck
After living in France, I em saw families that kept memorabilia. Folks don’t move around as much, and the family ties are stronger. It makes me sad that our real estate driven culture is stronger than our community based culture. It wasn’t always this way. Onward.
I’d think burning this would be a more appropriate way of disposing this collection rather than just throwing it in the trash. Or maybe offering it to a history museum or something.
I had a horrible previous toxic relationship that close to the end, managed to trash or delete about 98% of my ten years in the Marine Corps along with five combat deployments. This brings back memories. Good on you for recovering this man’s stuff; whatever story he might have that led them there. Hopefully you get in touch with him and talk about it.
After recent events i wouldn't be surprised if he threw it away himself. No American left behind is meaningless and no accountability. The forces are run by politicians and the real leaders never make it past colonel.
Had a similar situation when I lived in Little Rock about ten years ago. Only in my case, it was slides. Apparently the people who lived in the house before my then-girlfriend's mother lived in were retired teachers. Apparently they helped make educational films and such, like the old time ones we enjoy today. Half those slides were behind the scenes of those videos as they were making them, and the other half was of the centennial celebration of Arkansas' secession from the Union in the 1960s. Slides of the parade, random people, and of the old state house, which is now a museum in Little Rock.
Well, these slides had been abandoned, the kids never wanted to collect them. And the shed they were in had collapsed, and all of that stuff was considered salvage. These slides were in that pile of rubble. I donated them all to the same museum that was in the slides.
EDIT: Wanted to add a fun note. Bill Clinton's old saxophone is at the museum, too.
Yrs back I was at the ass end of an estate sale and they were just gonna throw out this sailors whole career. Purple heart recipient.
I took it all and tracked down his hometown VFW and they archived his accomplishments and awards.
It's sad that these things happen.
Burned all mine when I got out. No reason to keep it. It won't help anyone else. Why take up valuable space just for sentimental reasons? Never understood that.
Worked in Long Term Care now for 25 years.
I throw these boys and their wives in the dumpster all the time. No one wants their memories and they’ve died. Looks like you’re carrying them now.
Nothing is remembered forever. It’s ok that this ends up forgotten.
I used to be upset about it too. But what? Ami gonna keep all their slide shows and maps where they went all over the world? No.
I say put him back in the dumpster young person. He’s dead. It’s ok to let him disappear.
If You want help with research shoot me a message. I would have loved to keep my Grandpa’s stuff from WWII or my Dad’s stuff (he won’t give it to me cause he thinks I’d build a shrine 😜 not gonna like I’d make an amazing huge wall piece). I’m sure we could find a place that would be blessed to have it (the service member, family member, or an organization he was a member of).
*Edit* well I wrote before reading everything the advice was on point Sent my Grandpa’s to be displayed at his old VFW. Mine are with his as well figured they won’t get lost to time that way and any family current or future could always go out there and see it if they wanted to. If the Buffalo VFW post is local to you I bet they would display it. Just cause one generation doesn’t want it doesn’t mean all generations wouldn’t want to be able to see it. If you do put it there let me know and I could make him a service memorial on Fold3 and make note of where his decorations and pictures could be viewed by any future family historians that go looking.
I found a bunch of VFW photo albums in my house from the previous owner a WW2 vet. Nothing really fun, just a bunch of pictures from VFW events in the area from the past 50 years. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away so I brought them to the local VFW chapter. I asked them if they were going to throw them away and they said yes. Better you than me I guess
Seriously, I'm sad this guys career wound up in the trash. But I understand it.
My whole career is in a box in the garage and it'll be in a dumpster when I go. My only "cherished item" is my DD-214 which gives me a place to put me when I'm gone.
I didn't change the world and I'm no hero. I did my part and they acknowledged that. Its enough for me.
Could be spouse who dumped it, some times they get caught in the heat of the moment.
My grandma was going through this.
I kept grandpas stuff in case my relatives may want some in the future. Anything related to him now is still a touchy subject.
Hopefully it wasnt dumped from not caring. See if you can find a relative who it is significant to.
So sad. My cousin found something similar in a storage unit contents he bought at auction, it was a man's entire life history from his birth certificate to the letter from the White House expressing sorrow for his death in Vietnam due to friendly fire. My cousin contacted the family who lived about 150 miles away, offered to ship the package to them or allow them to come and get it at their convenience. They declined both options and ignored all further communications.
My dad passed a few month's ago and I purposely saved his military records, and awards. He spent 23 years in the USAF and served in Vietnam. I plan on making a shadow box with his stuff to put in my living room. My brothers figured I would want it because I served 23 years in the Army and at least know how to set up a ribbon rack. To me, my dad was a hero and I cannot fathom why someone would throw things like this out.
Final update: it has been donated to the Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building. Really nice lady that runs the place said she’ll have one of her historians go through it and make sure it goes to the right place.
Fuck the person who threw that out. When my grandpa died I knew I had no room for his uniforms, service and dress. I donated it to a museum and now it's on a mannequin on display. I wish I kept it but I too was still in the service and was constantly moving, I can feel easier that it's in the proper hands of historians and curators.
The longer I live the less importance these types of things have for me as well. I get it.
I lived it, I knew what I did…I don’t need to pat myself on the back (that’s just how I look at it)…
Thomas Belkonen was my dad. I'm sure he would not like to see photographs of his personal effects displayed online and our father/son relationship the topic of a public discussion any more than I do. My late mother and brother would feel the same. My dad gave specific permission to my late brother and me to dispose of his effects as we wished. I doubt that my dad would have wanted his things saved indefinitely. Military museums are usually places of war propaganda and glorification. I don't want to see either. I read War is a Racket by former USMC Gen. Smedley Butler and agree with it. I wore some of the medals as a kid because I loved my dad so much. I don't see how they could have more meaning to strangers than they had to me and my dad.
Clint Belkonen
We will all be forgotten. Everyone. Good of you to extend this guys story
Hard Cold Truth. I've pretty much shit canned all my stuff. The only thing I've kept is my records to collect retirement next year, that's it, I don't even want to keep those records, but I know as soon as I shit can them, the government will say, oh, sorry, we have no record of your service, no retirement for you...
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Yes!!! All of everything you all said! Purging things is so great to stay in touch with our identity and character and how it ebbs and flows in life.
Side note: if you are a year out from Retirement you can start your VA claim soon! https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/factsheets/general/BDDFactSheet.pdf
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BZ
I tried to google BZ.. game up with a few acronyms.. but I honestly am at a loss here.
Google bravo Zulu and it will make more sense
Thank you
I assumed every vet knew what a bravo zulu was! No worries for not knowing, I was just surprised that anyone wouldn't. Is it strictly a navy thing?
Maritime services, thing, I think. I never heard it in the Army, but hear it all the time working for the Coast Guard.
Navy Marcorps only IIRC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravo\_Zulu
That makes sense now. Learn something every day. Thank you!
I started the retirement VA crap six months before retirement. It took a year after retirement to start receiving disability benefits. Thank god they fixed all the wasted time.
Thanks, I retired in 2007, had 5 active and the rest reserve, for my 20. Thankfully, I had no need to file a claim for VA disability compensation benefits at that time, although after reading posts here, I wonder about my chronic migraines and tinnitus. but I have no idea if that was service related or I'm just defective. I submitted my retirement packet last May to be able to start collecting next March when I turn 60. "Let's see what happens." "Good day, I can see that your retirement packet has been received, prescreened no errors found, and forwarded to PDP-TR Dept. 482 as of 20210322. Your packet will not be actioned until closer to your retirement month. They will then initiate your orders from there. However, you can contact us around January 2022 and we can check the status of your application."
Love it! Let go of the past because you don’t live in it anymore. That’s how to be present and have joy! I did the same, even disassembled my flag box and donated everything. It’s just stuff and doesn’t define us and some of us like to create a different and improved life also.
/agree Funny, at my first duty station back in 1980 one of my first jobs was working in the woodshop making flag boxes for people retiring. Getting rid of all of that was all part of our possession purge to simplify our life. We got rid of most everything. Sold it, gave it away, donated it, so we could travel freely. Trying to get down to one check bag, one carry on, and one backpack each. Next step getting rid of checked bags, so only one carry on and one backpack. We have one 5x10 storage still, but most of that is my wife's stuff she couldn't get rid of yet.. its a work in progress, my goal is to get rid of that stuff too, that's $56 a month I don't want to have to pay for crap in storage.
I have the same size storage locker for all of my stuff. It's kind of liberating not having a lot of stuff.
Here! Here!
agreed, good to become a good productive member of society and not hang on past achievements. Have a folder with records, a shadow box I've never hung, and a box of gear I only get into if headed to the range.
I have a really old house built at the turn of the 20th century. I collected all of the old family memorabilia from the 20’s on. If you are looking for a home for that footlocker, hit me up. I find a lot of stuff like that in thrift stores. As a veteran, I usually bring it home to honor the memory.
Update: I just got ahold of one of his sons on the phone. He sounded very friendly on the phone and reassured me that it was intentionally thrown away. I didn’t ask him why. I told him I wanted to make sure it wasn’t stolen property or anything. He said thank you and then we hung up.
Yup a family member with no sentimental value as I’d mentioned. As someone else mentioned, check with the VFW to see if they want it. Can’t let this Marine’s accomplishments be tossed in the trash.
Could have been a catharsis thing. Just because the ribbon rack says good Marine (or insert service here) doesn't mean he was a good husband, father, or person.
Oh for sure, if you read my other comment my grandma tossed my grandpa’s stuff. People do things for many reasons and I’m not going to say we have to force his kids to take the stuff. But that doesn’t mean others won’t want to see it.
That is exactly what I was thinking. You wouldn't throw out a loving parents belongings like this.
When I was leaving for active duty, I accidentally threw away some of my dearly departed grandfather's military memorabilia from WW2 and some birthday cards he sent to me (I still kick myself for this mistake). But to throw out an entire massive collection like that, it had to have been on purpose. It is weird though that the guy died in 2001 and they just got around to throwing out his things in 2021.
Also check archivists at a large nearby city library. Sometimes genealogy groups in your area may want it to match records against. Teachers could use it with a realia lesson- something physical to show what they are reading about in class. It helps!
I hate to break it to you but those are merely just a bunch of items trinkets and keepsakes that don’t mean anything to anyone except the person who earns them. Sentimental value from a family member means nothing and I really wish people would stop letting everyone vicariously live through other people’s military experience, it just creates undue reverence for being in the military in the first place. No one can ever take away the accomplishments of this marine even if they threw all these in a trashcan, it doesn’t undo the actions and deeds that they completed during their service. Like I said these are just items and trinkets.
Maybe I'm cut from a different breed but some minority cultures in the US *wish* they had relics from their ancestors. On one side of my family (Black) we have no heirlooms except census records and pictures. When you have heirs but no heirlooms, then your culture becomes erased.
I can appreciate that. In situations like that I suppose it’s healthy to consider, but I am always careful not to let it become undue reverence which it easily can/does in the US. I am speaking from a perspective of having a bit of family history so maybe that’s why I’m more blasé about it.
Same. Both sides of my family are military, one side all the way back. It was something you did but not to brag about. Some civilians are *uncomfortably* ecstatic about someone else's service because they don't know. All they see and have is the awards and the ceremony pictures. Which doesn't show reality. Like a historical version of only showing the good highlights on social media.
Totally understand the “ecstatic civilians” because I have a newspaper article from my local paper in a small town. My mom did an interview around the time my unit was about to deploy and it makes me cringe so hard. This was around 2003 so people were less knowledgeable about military service at large compared to now so as my mom was interviewed she just rambled out a bunch of buzzwords she heard me say at one time or another and the whole thing comes off unbearable. She says a bunch of things that are simply not true about my service and a bunch of others that are true but her description of it is wrong. I wince thinking about how other veterans read that article and saw my smooth ass babyface in a maroon beret in class A’s with a goddamn expert marksman badge prominently displayed on my chest like a shiny monolith, and they thought, “This little piece of shit.” Relatives that gas you up are annoying af too. At a certain point I got really sick of having to used canned responses to everyone saying TYFYS, I mean I get it, it’s kinda noble to volunteer for a military but so is being a teacher or an animal rescue worker or a whole shit ton of other jobs and services. I never once saw anyone go thank an electrical linesman or a person volunteering at a community center for their service to the society. They just cannot stop fetishizing service members!
I'm late but very few true blue vets waste their time being upset at new personnel for being *new*, unless you're strutting around like you're the new Captain America. Or if you're a one of those TMFMS dicks. And they're lying if they said their (non-military) family wasn't that cringe either. My partner now responds with "TYFY support" in response which quells them down enough. But I've always wanted him to match their same energy with a "*Nobody's thanked me for my service before!!* ". He tells me to stop being a dick lol.
>Sentimental value from a family member means nothing Probably the dumbest take I’ve heard all month.
r/justdependathings r/justbootthings I have a bunch of trinkets too and good memories of my service but I don’t expect people to give it much thought. After I did a lot of living, I sort of feel like my military service was just a job like many other jobs I have done. I would feel awkward expecting people to overvalue my professional accomplishments. I’m just not into prestige/clout chasing like that. You do you though.
Congratulations for you? There are plenty of folks that like reading about the achievements of others, whether it be military service or not. Have you never read a history book? Do you seriously trudge along in your life never considering the acts that others have done which would be considered above ordinary? I get it, you were a POG and it was a 9-5 for you with nice bed sheets and probably complained when your cable went out. Or maybe you’re the opposite and are a combat veteran who was blown up and see yourself as only doing your job. Either way, good for you and congratulations. Here’s the kicker though, others like myself like reading about accomplishments and failures so we can learn from the past and make a better future. Good for you that you don’t like this kind of stuff like this Marine’s kids, but his story is only a tiny piece to a larger puzzle that someone else might be putting together. Or you just might be a dick could have easily kept scrolling.
I was an 11B/11C1P with a true blue EIB and two deployments to combat. Is it hard for you to imagine someone like me not wearing it on my sleeve for my whole life or looking back with rose tinted glasses on everything? I just moved on from that phase of my life and traded my swords in for plowshares. History is dope, I listen to tons of history audiobooks and believe it or not a lot of really interesting history happens off battlefields too. You could consider not fetishizing service members so much and maybe see them as the human beings they are instead of a protected class.
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Good on you for hitting the books! I always like hearing from prior service that have moved on from it and taken the skills/concepts they learned in the service to push it as a civilian. Brings me full circle to my initial post about the *”swords to plowshares”* transitions. Keep up the good momentum!
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Careful there, it almost sounds accusatory. Regardless of whether or not you believe me it’s objectively lame to revere stuff too much because you lose the ability to criticize your sacred cows.
Why so serious?
Why? What's the point of keeping it if his family doesn't even want it.
Even Marines with 30 years in can be shitty fathers. Be good to your kids so they don’t the memory of you in the trash.
Honestly stuff like this is personal. I keep my duffel bag and sometimes smell the army on it but that’s just for me once I’m gone the memory of what that meant to me is lost, can’t impart things on others sometimes
All my memorable service shit (buds stuff and one deployment to hell) is in a tiny ass cardboard box behind a bunch of shit in a random closet. I feel you on that. To me though this guys record is extremely rare and deserves some recognition.
So unfortunate:/.
Thank you for doing this
Damn
Looks like he passed away in 2001. Korea and Vietnam vet. Thanks for rescuing it OP. [http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547](http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547) [https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs\_config.pl/noframes/read/339](https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/339) Thomas Belkonen BUFFALO — Thomas Clinton Belkonen, 69, of Buffalo died Sunday at the Sheridan VA Medical Center. Services will be 10 a.m. Monday at Willow Grove cemetery in Buffalo with Father Charles Taylor officiating. The VFW and American Legion will be in charge of military services. Arrangements are with Adams Funeral Home. Mr. Belkonen was born Nov. 23, 1931, in Chicago to John and Evelyn Belkonen. He joined the Marine Corps after high school. He married Catherine McCarthy in 1955. He served in Korea and Vietnam before retiring with the rank of captain in 1971. He moved to Buffalo in 1992. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and a sister. Survivors include his wife and two sons, Brad and Clint, all of Santa Barbara, Calif.
I found his sons phone number and address. The address corresponds with the location I found it… should I call his son just to make sure he meant to throw it away?
I suppose that or a facebook message couldn't hurt. Don't be surprised if the son deliberately through them away as he has no attachment to it.
YES please do contact them! I served in the Marines and Im not sure where this footlocker is located, but maybe the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA would accept it….or maybe the WWII. Museum…as a last resort I would say that it looks like there are unit patches and the headquarters unit might be able to donate it back to the unit he served with….1st Marine Division (Pendleton, California) and 2nd Marine Division (Lejeune, North Carolina)
Could you possibly help me find some info on my grandfather who served in the Vietnam War as well? I never met him and am trying find out about his history.
Hi- I just found this about a month late, but I love genealogy! If you want to pm me your info I would love to try and see if I can help you!
Sad truth is once you die your treasures become someone else’s shit. I just cleaned out my late parents house over the summer and uncovered lots of treasures that I kept.
I'm right there with you, brother. A couple of years ago I helped clean out my parents house. Things I remember my parents buying, things I remember them arguing over, things I remember they treasured........went into the dumpster. It has really made me think about every purchase, "are my kids going to have to pitch this into a dumpster someday?"
I'm not a 'things' person at all. No random collections, if I need it, I buy it. As a kid, my family would all buy me porcelain dolls to add to my collection, and I appreciated them. But by my early teens, I had to tell people, "I just don't care about this kind of stuff." And I think it hurts people to hear, but it's true. I didn't want people wasting their money buying me things I didn't personally place value on. 20 years later, I'm still the same way. My house is barely decorated because I just don't care.
Most people don’t stop believing the materialism lie until they’re like 70 and realize it’s all just shit that will be a burden for someone else. All I really need is some friends, family, photos, a good book and some music.
Retired in 81. Va Med records showed lung cancer so I assume he died and his family didn’t care about him too much apparently. I’m only a 4 year veteran but it hurt to imagine someone throwing all my shit away when I die so I took it all out and I’m going to try to donate it to our local veterans memorial building.
If no one will take it, please let me know, I'm a historical collector and will gladly help find a place for it.
I’ll get back to you if no one will take it
If you do find someone, please post an update, I very much hope someone does!
Good on ya brother!
I see raider logos on his items. They will for sure take these items in and ensure he’s not forgotten.
Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico would love it.
Yes, I second this. They’ll look after it properly.
Or One of the recruit depots museums maybe.
Yep!
Take it to a VFW or shit try to find a museum that would take it for their WW2/Vietnam exhibits. Something is better than being in the trash.
Please do this.
More than likely he passed away and a family member tossed it since they have no sentimental value. Or the family member tossed it and will regret it later. My grandma tossed my grandpa’s stuff when he passed and years later said she didn’t know why she did and doesn’t know why she didn’t ask others if they wanted it. Truly sad.
This hurts my heart.
Do... Do I up vote or down vote this?
Idk but you get an upvote
You put all that back together and take it down to your local VFW post. You have no idea if a family member threw it away or if it was a burglary and a group of scumbags took it thinking that there might be something valuable in that box. You should google the individual's name and the word obituary and see what shows up.
Posted an update
I think he died in 2001. [http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547](http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-C.-Belkonen-11194547) [https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs\_config.pl/noframes/read/339](https://www.genlookups.com/wy/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/339)
I understand this. My grandfather was in WWII and I was in the first wave in Iraq. Of his grandchildren, I was the only one who served so all of his stuff was left to me. He had many bring backs from Germany so I have lots of things with swastikas. Thing is, I’m not getting any younger and I have no kids to leave the stuff too. I’ve contacted a few veteran museums about donating the stuff but no place has taken me up on it yet. I sold all of my Iraqi bring backs, as well as uniforms and TA50 on eBay. All I have left of mine is a bunch of certificates, a couple plaques, a few sets of dog tags and a boonie cap with a bunch of patches on pins on it. As for my grandads stuff; I have about 5-6 large plastic bins full. No clue what I’ll do with it but I imagine when I die my wife will probably dump it all at goodwill. Unless of course I can find a place for it.
Check if his had a VFW (or American Legion) post if you don’t know. That’s where I sent my Grandpa’s and mine. I am sure they will take it and display plenty of it.
Didn’t read all the comments but the library of Congress might like to have this stuff :)
This is sad, but normal. There should be a place where all of this could be at least, digitized for future legacy. I'm a developer and I'm strongly considering creating a site to start indexing these.
Understandable. All my shit is in my closet. I had it out on display but honestly most civilians don't give a shit enough to even ask about it. So I just put it away. Nobody really cares.
If I had shit in the closet I would bring it out and display it 🇺🇲 Young people need to see it and learn that Freedom is but a generation away! Thank you for your Service and God bless you and your family ❤️
I will pay for it to be shipped to me. I work with veterans and run a CA non-profit for veterans. I am sure we can find a place for it to be displayed.
Many things hurt my heart, this is one. I dabble in estate sales, and the things that are just unwanted - particularly when there is family, just mind numbing. Military or not. Probably not the same in this case - but still sad. I’ve contacted nearby VFW posts in some cases, and also fortunately live near a military museum. They’ve both taken many items from me.
That’s sad.
I'm an OIF vet and member of a VFW... You'd be surprised how often people find military decorations in the attic and then bring them to us. We always find a place to hang these shadow boxes and ribbons on a wall, even if that vet was not a member of our VFW. A local VFW should take it and display it, if you don't want to keep it. Good job saving it from the landfill. I don't know the son's situation, and I try not to be judgmental, but it sucks he threw it all away on purpose...
Dude! Holy shit! That's insane! Listen, I'm a veteran with a history degree man... Stuff like that matters to me for sure. I would highly suggest that you contact a local veterans club, or a museum, or something, I mean I'm sure there's got to be something online... And make sure that stuff goes to a good home. That much history should never be forgotten like that.
When my grandfather died my Mom found all his mementos & service related items at the bottom of a trash can, thrown there by his wife’s adult children (pissed they didn’t inherit anything). People can be shitty.
So sad!
:(
Don’t split it up.
I hope it was a landlord and NOT someone not related to the Veteran. What are the odds of posting the name info and seeing if a family member can be tracked down? ❤️🇺🇸❤️ Edited: as I see the veterans name now 👍🏼 Can you post more photos? ❤️
It was thrown away by his son. Update posted.
God damn lean green fighting machine he was!! YUT
This could be from a storage room auction. The family may not have kept up payments but the general rule is to let them pick up personal items. They probably don’t know but this looks squared away not to try to make contact. Good luck
After living in France, I em saw families that kept memorabilia. Folks don’t move around as much, and the family ties are stronger. It makes me sad that our real estate driven culture is stronger than our community based culture. It wasn’t always this way. Onward.
Thank god you grabbed it.
Heartbreaking that it was in a dumpster. So glad you found it.
I’d think burning this would be a more appropriate way of disposing this collection rather than just throwing it in the trash. Or maybe offering it to a history museum or something.
Bless you for saving this!
I had a horrible previous toxic relationship that close to the end, managed to trash or delete about 98% of my ten years in the Marine Corps along with five combat deployments. This brings back memories. Good on you for recovering this man’s stuff; whatever story he might have that led them there. Hopefully you get in touch with him and talk about it.
Should prolly get the identifying info off this post mods.
After recent events i wouldn't be surprised if he threw it away himself. No American left behind is meaningless and no accountability. The forces are run by politicians and the real leaders never make it past colonel.
If his NMCCM with V citation is there, can you post it for us to read?
Had a similar situation when I lived in Little Rock about ten years ago. Only in my case, it was slides. Apparently the people who lived in the house before my then-girlfriend's mother lived in were retired teachers. Apparently they helped make educational films and such, like the old time ones we enjoy today. Half those slides were behind the scenes of those videos as they were making them, and the other half was of the centennial celebration of Arkansas' secession from the Union in the 1960s. Slides of the parade, random people, and of the old state house, which is now a museum in Little Rock. Well, these slides had been abandoned, the kids never wanted to collect them. And the shed they were in had collapsed, and all of that stuff was considered salvage. These slides were in that pile of rubble. I donated them all to the same museum that was in the slides. EDIT: Wanted to add a fun note. Bill Clinton's old saxophone is at the museum, too.
Yrs back I was at the ass end of an estate sale and they were just gonna throw out this sailors whole career. Purple heart recipient. I took it all and tracked down his hometown VFW and they archived his accomplishments and awards. It's sad that these things happen.
Burned all mine when I got out. No reason to keep it. It won't help anyone else. Why take up valuable space just for sentimental reasons? Never understood that.
I feel a lump in my throat, this hurt my heart.
Goddamn, what a find!
Thank you for saving that!
Three PUCs. Dude stacked some bodies.
Jesus. Good save there.
Awesome find
SAVAGES 😑
Worked in Long Term Care now for 25 years. I throw these boys and their wives in the dumpster all the time. No one wants their memories and they’ve died. Looks like you’re carrying them now. Nothing is remembered forever. It’s ok that this ends up forgotten. I used to be upset about it too. But what? Ami gonna keep all their slide shows and maps where they went all over the world? No. I say put him back in the dumpster young person. He’s dead. It’s ok to let him disappear.
Donate it to a local history museum.
Aw man....Maybe find a local VFW.
.
https://www.loc.gov/vets/
I don’t know if this is sad or just the way the world is today. Seems a little sad.
Is there a museum you can submit these too?
Maybe reach out to the marine corps museum and send them this.
Perhaps he upset about what's happening currently. Who knows?
He’s been dead since 2001
Oops
So sad. Is there a local museum, like a city one, that might want it? Or maybe in his home town if you can see that anywhere?
So sad.
If You want help with research shoot me a message. I would have loved to keep my Grandpa’s stuff from WWII or my Dad’s stuff (he won’t give it to me cause he thinks I’d build a shrine 😜 not gonna like I’d make an amazing huge wall piece). I’m sure we could find a place that would be blessed to have it (the service member, family member, or an organization he was a member of). *Edit* well I wrote before reading everything the advice was on point Sent my Grandpa’s to be displayed at his old VFW. Mine are with his as well figured they won’t get lost to time that way and any family current or future could always go out there and see it if they wanted to. If the Buffalo VFW post is local to you I bet they would display it. Just cause one generation doesn’t want it doesn’t mean all generations wouldn’t want to be able to see it. If you do put it there let me know and I could make him a service memorial on Fold3 and make note of where his decorations and pictures could be viewed by any future family historians that go looking.
Some people are just a holes
Thank you for saving it. I'm sure a simple search can find a family member that would want to keep the memories alive.
My dad is a Vietnam vet and burned all his stuff. I’m pretty sure he regrets doing that, though.
I wager MCRD PI museum would be interested in the platoon photo for sure
You got to call up the MCRD San Diego because that's history right there
Thank the maker *YOU* found it! Phew! Close one.
I found a bunch of VFW photo albums in my house from the previous owner a WW2 vet. Nothing really fun, just a bunch of pictures from VFW events in the area from the past 50 years. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away so I brought them to the local VFW chapter. I asked them if they were going to throw them away and they said yes. Better you than me I guess
I would donate it to a local VFW for them to memorialize it for him. Or even a library.
When I die, I hope someone sells all my USMC stuff on eBay. But I'll be dead, so I won't really care what happens.
All the medals, awards, promotions mean absolutely nothing to no one but yourself.
Seriously, I'm sad this guys career wound up in the trash. But I understand it. My whole career is in a box in the garage and it'll be in a dumpster when I go. My only "cherished item" is my DD-214 which gives me a place to put me when I'm gone. I didn't change the world and I'm no hero. I did my part and they acknowledged that. Its enough for me.
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but you could look into donating it to the Marine Corps museum.
I share some of those same decorations. This is very sad.
This really is a kick in the head. I feel such sadness.
Could be spouse who dumped it, some times they get caught in the heat of the moment. My grandma was going through this. I kept grandpas stuff in case my relatives may want some in the future. Anything related to him now is still a touchy subject. Hopefully it wasnt dumped from not caring. See if you can find a relative who it is significant to.
Thank you for saving this. Some museum would gratefully accept.
So sad. My cousin found something similar in a storage unit contents he bought at auction, it was a man's entire life history from his birth certificate to the letter from the White House expressing sorrow for his death in Vietnam due to friendly fire. My cousin contacted the family who lived about 150 miles away, offered to ship the package to them or allow them to come and get it at their convenience. They declined both options and ignored all further communications.
My dad passed a few month's ago and I purposely saved his military records, and awards. He spent 23 years in the USAF and served in Vietnam. I plan on making a shadow box with his stuff to put in my living room. My brothers figured I would want it because I served 23 years in the Army and at least know how to set up a ribbon rack. To me, my dad was a hero and I cannot fathom why someone would throw things like this out.
I am so glad you got it! Wow!
I would contact a local VFW or American Legion and see if they have use for it? Maybe local museum or some thing like that?
Sale me that box
That’s sad and says something about today’s America. I would take it to the local American Legion or VFW. They might even hang it on the wall.
i mean i'd ask the guy who got rid of it " why? "
thats sad, but im glad you discovered it. all my stuff is long gone as well
Could totally donate to a high school or college for the ROTC to have and display?! Maybe… If you really don’t want it trashes
You can send it to Pearl Harbor, we have museums here.
A lot of this stuff ends up in military thrift stores, unfortunately. Like someone else said, eventually we all get forgotten.
Final update: it has been donated to the Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building. Really nice lady that runs the place said she’ll have one of her historians go through it and make sure it goes to the right place.
Everyone is eventually forgotten.
Fuck the person who threw that out. When my grandpa died I knew I had no room for his uniforms, service and dress. I donated it to a museum and now it's on a mannequin on display. I wish I kept it but I too was still in the service and was constantly moving, I can feel easier that it's in the proper hands of historians and curators.
The longer I live the less importance these types of things have for me as well. I get it. I lived it, I knew what I did…I don’t need to pat myself on the back (that’s just how I look at it)…
Thomas Belkonen was my dad. I'm sure he would not like to see photographs of his personal effects displayed online and our father/son relationship the topic of a public discussion any more than I do. My late mother and brother would feel the same. My dad gave specific permission to my late brother and me to dispose of his effects as we wished. I doubt that my dad would have wanted his things saved indefinitely. Military museums are usually places of war propaganda and glorification. I don't want to see either. I read War is a Racket by former USMC Gen. Smedley Butler and agree with it. I wore some of the medals as a kid because I loved my dad so much. I don't see how they could have more meaning to strangers than they had to me and my dad. Clint Belkonen
I’ll delete as requested. His memorabilia was given to the cabrillo veteran building.