July 13-15, 2021 Collectible Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/15/2021
Small but significant uniform grouping that belonged to Private First Class Gene R. Dorr who served as a scout sniper and spotter in 1st Battalion, 1st Marines during the Vietnam War. Gene enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1964 and after being wounded in Vietnam and given a general discharge, came home and found himself protesting in a hunger strike in Lafayette Park, Washington D.C. 13 years later. By this time in June of 1981, at 34 years old, Gene, by his own recollection, had had almost 50 different jobs and had been arrested over 65 times for offenses ranging from homeless loitering to drug and alcohol charges. He had started his protest in from of the Wadsworth Veterans Hospital in Torrance, California. Dorr, along with John Avalos, Stephen Androff, and five others, with the help of the California based Veterans’ Coalition, left behind four other protesters on a hungry strike to travel to Washington to make their demands heard about the effects of Agent Orange to then President Ronald Reagan. Gene ended up losing 19 pounds in 27 days from his 6’4” frame. The timing of Gene’s and his compatriots protest cannot be stressed enough. Several months prior, the collective suffering of Vietnam veterans had been diagnosed as “delayed stress” or “Post-Vietnam Syndrome”. This eventually became post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and morphed into what we now refer to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The grouping includes: (A) USMC stamped First Pattern slant pocket jungle fatigue jacket missing size tag and washed out spec tag. Complete with all original buttons. USMC stamp exhibits fading. A few frayed pockets and small tear. (B) Unmarked woodland camouflaged boonie hat that exhibits slight blemishes. (C) Balisong knife with bone handles that measures approximately five inches long. Also included is a photocopy of a teletype notice stating Dorr was awarded a purple heart in 1966 and photocopy of pages from Robert Moskin’s book “The Marine Corps Story". Completing the group is a hand written letter from Dorr declaring the authenticity and transfer of the property to the consigner's possession, signed by him. CONDITION: Good. JLD
Paperwork
Letter From Dorr, documents