Future Heirloom: My Hubby's Military Memorabilia

The framer did an incredible job with this custom, archival shadow box displaying my wonderful husband's wonderful US Army memorabilia. It was a worthwhile investment in preserving these items for the future, including an archival envelope on the back. His discharge papers and his many stories about peacetime Army life will be put into that envelope for posterity.

In the center is a b/w photo of hubby as he looked on his way to lunch in camp one day. The framer took my high-resolution scan of the original photo and had it printed on cotton to preserve the smallest details and prevent yellowing over the years.

The chronology of his military service as a personnel clerk begins to the left of the photo, with a stint in the First Cavalry (notice the horse on the patch) and below that patch, the combat engineer unit badge, combat engineer brass, and his US Army brass. 

Going clockwise, above the photo is my husband's 32d Infantry badge, 7th Division patch, and infantry brass. This last item was purchased from eBay because the original was cruddy-looking.

To the right of the photo is his US Army Japan patch, 8th Army patch, Sgt's stripes, and good conduct medal.

Below the photo, hubby's dog tag showing name, serial number, blood type, and religion (obscured for privacy here).

We put a brass name plaque on the bottom edge of the frame (blocked for privacy here) to permanently identify who this is. Descendants are actually excited about this future heirloom! And it is neat and attractive, putting these important items on display rather than leaving them in a box or drawer.

Future Heirloom: My Hubby's Military Memorabilia Shadow Box

Last year, I had a specialty frame shop create a custom archival shadow box to hold my Dad's military memorabilia from World War II. I tried an off-the-shelf shadow box but it wasn't nearly as beautiful and it wasn't nearly as sturdy as the custom version, which is entirely archival, even including an archival envelope attached to the back. Admittedly, custom is considerably more expensive, but I decided that the items were worthy of the expense.

This year, my husband and I returned to this wonderful frame shop to order a custom shadow box for his own US Army memorabilia. The framing experts listened carefully and respectfully as my hubby described the significance of each item and then together, we grouped items and adjusted the layout to tell the story of hubby's time in the military. 

At top, the "final" arrangement of his shoulder patches, buttons, badges, dog tag, and other items. In the center is a 5x7 black and white photo taken when Sgt. Wood was overseas in the US Army decades ago. 

The wooden frame will be black and the background behind the items will be ecru linen. The glass will be museum-quality, and each item will be attached to the linen backing with adhesive or sewing that is safe and removable. A brass plaque attached to the front of the frame will show my husband's full name.

We will put into the archival envelope an explanation of what each item means, plus a timeline of my hubby's military service, and his discharge papers and a few other photos from his time in the Army. This professional shadow box will be a focal point for saving the artifacts and facts of my husband's military service, to be passed down to future generations.

Full disclosure: One of my hubby's items was too damaged to include, so we found an identical item on eBay and bought it specifically for this shadow box. Why not?