One day in April 2012 I was cleaning out the crawl space above the stairs in my Grandma's house that we called her "attic." It was a pretty scary place, with cobwebs almost as thick as the fake ones you buy in Halloween stores. Through the choking dust I saw two very large pretzel cans. Wondering what could be in them, I carefully rolled them down the ladder. As I pried the lids off, I instantly realized I was opening a time capsule. Inside each was a blue World War II US Navy uniform, with the shoulder patch of an eagle and three lightning bolts for Radioman Third Class. The submarine Dolphins patch is on the right cuff. Unmistakable as that of Hugh Siegel's.
They were put away fresh and still smelled like they were steam cleaned last week. He was very clever to store them in these airtight metal cans. The one I brought home is in pristine condition, with no moth holes or decay whatsoever.
What surprised me about these? He was smaller than I thought.
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| The lightning bolts was the symbol for Radioman. This is not a common patch that turns up in collections of Navy patches. |
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