Last week, I wrote about how the militaria collecting community embraces new collectors by providing invaluable guidance and answers to questions newbies might have. I also touched on the giving and generous nature these folks have toward genuinely interested, potential newcomers to the pastime.

With my day job, I have the wonderful opportunity to stay off the road a few days each week by telecommuting to work and plugging into my company and team workload electronically, which affords me the opportunity to be around my family during the day. Earlier this week, the doorbell rang about the time of our normal, daily postal delivery. I answered the door to see our letter carrier standing with a stack of mail and a parcel. Unfazed by the delivery contents, I thanked the postal worker as I grabbed the bundle and closed the door.

Walking away from door, I checked the parcel to see that it was addressed to my son. Just a few days before, I was checking the latest postings on one of the militaria forums as I was catching up on some of the amazing new discoveries other collectors were sharing when I saw something that caught my eye. It was a posting that was offering something special to a young, budding collector (under seventeen years of age) provided he or she is the first to respond to the thread.

As it was a school day and my kids are home-schooled, my son was nearby immersed in his math studies. I called him over to read the posting and to look at the pictures of the free item that was offered by this thoughtful collector. My son, who is fourteen, has a keen interest in history, including military history (hard to tell where he gets that from) and took to militaria a little more than a year ago. He read the details of the forum post and I watched as his eyes grew wide, viewing a full set of medals, full and miniature, ribbon and lapel pin of a fairly current Navy Cross in a presentation case, in unissued, new condition. He promptly responded to the offer, indicating that he wanted the medal for his collection.

Since my son has embarked on his own militaria collecting venture, he has been the recipient of several similar offers ranging from medals to patches and even a World War II Eisenhower uniform jacket in pristine condition. These fellow collectors, in their efforts to spark the next generation of collectors, are almost obstinate in their refusal to accept so much as a penny to cover shipping costs. These folks do this (quite often, in fact) out of the kindness of their heart and knowing the joy that it brings the youngster on the receiving end.

The medals are pristine and clearly, unissued to a recipient.

I walked to the table, returning to my laptop where my son was also seated with his books. In my hand was the package containing the Navy Cross set. I reached out to him with the package with butterflies in my stomach. I was almost as excited to see the medal as he was! Responsibilities come first in our house so I told him that he could open it once his work was completed. It pained me to do that…heck, I wanted to open it!

A few hours later, my son opened his package and was giddy as he removed the medal case from the bubble wrap. He opened the case and carefully removed each piece from its individual wrapping while we discussed the reasons Navy and Marine Corps personnel are awarded this beautifully-designed valor decoration. We discussed how this medal didn’t belong to him (it wasn’t awarded to him) and that he was merely a steward – charged with learning about it and sharing the history with others.

The medal set includes the full-size, mini, the ribbon and the lapel pin.

Sharing – this is something my son, along with many other young militaria collectors, is learning as it is being demonstrated to him by other collectors.