Status: U Return-Path: Received: from web12708.mail.yahoo.com ([216.136.173.245]) by niles.mail.mindspring.net (Earthlink Mail Service) with SMTP id tqlg67.3po.37kbi1o for ; Fri, 21 Sep 2001 00:23:35 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <20010921042333.64678.qmail@web12708.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [64.12.104.44] by web12708.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 21:23:33 PDT Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 21:23:33 -0700 (PDT) From: MPCgram Subject: MPCGram 439/3 To: MPCGram@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ============================================== MPC Gram ============================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ----------------------------------------------- Series 002-Number 439 Thurski, September 20, 2001 WWII POW Camp in US by Larry "Ski" Smulczenski In one of my previous Thurski columns, I mentioned good friend Robin Ellis of San Antonio, Texas. Robin collected many things throughout the years, but really specialized in the memorabilia of Medal of Honor reciepents and Texana type material. His real joy is to research the areas of his interest. I can remember him telling about driving to the corners of the state of Texas to find the burial site of a little known Medal of Honor recipient. Robin has always shared his findings with others and it still is an interesting day for me when a package of goodies arrives in the mail from him. These are some facts that Robin shared with me 12 years ago dealing with both of his favorite collecting topics. Those of you that collect POW chits are familiar with Camp Barkeley, Texas. Camp Barkeley was an infantry training center built in 1941, nine miles southwest of Abilene, Texas. There was a prisoner of war compound at the camp holding about 700 POW's there. The camp was named after the first Hispanic Medal of Honor winner and is one of two military installations named for an enlisted man (right now I don't know the name of the other installation, does anyone out there know?). The interesting part of this story is that when the camp was named, no one knew that Barkeley was Hispanic nor did they know that Army records had his name misspelled. David Barkley Cantu of San Antonio, Texas enlisted in the Army during 1917 at Fort Sam Houston as David Barkley. In WWI there was a atmosphere of discrimination that included the idea that if you were Hispanic or Black or too different from the other Americans you possibly could not be a good combat soldier. Sounds like "Don't ask, Don't tell" of a bygone era! Young David did not want to serve in the rear echelon, in a supply or support unit. He wanted to fight for his country and was assigned to a infantry unit that was shipped to France and saw action at the Argonne. During this action he volunteered for a dangerous reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. He and a sergeant crossed the Meuse River and crawled around behind enemy lines in order to gather information on enemy fortifications and machine gun emplacements. The two men gathered their intelligence information and entered the icy river to return to friendly lines under a hail of enemy gunfire. Unfortunately, Barkley only made it half way back across the river. The mission however was a success as the other man returned with the information. Barkley was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts and the camp (Barkeley) was named after him during the early part of World War II. He was buried at San Antonio National Cemetery but the headstone read "David Barkeley" Not until September 16, 1989, seventy-one years after his death was the headstone replaced with the proper spelling of Barkley's name during a ceremony at the cemetery and he identified as the first Hispanic winner of the MOH. The chits from Camp Barkeley are relatively scarce. Campbell lists only a 10c chit with two varieties from this camp. I have only seen those two varieties that Campbell lists. They have serial numbers 2501E and 5501E. I have seen the booklet cover from 5501E and it is a $5.00 denomination. On a high value booklet like this, there usually are other values of chits included. However, Donn's book on POW chits says that the $5 book contained 50-10c chits and it illustrates the chit with serial number 5501E so it is quite possible that only 10c chits exist. I have also seen what I believe to be printers waste of a $2.00 and $10.00 booklet cover from Camp Barkeley, These had no serial numbers printed on them so I don't know if the values were issued. Donn does list these with serial number suffix letters of "B" and "F" respectively. Has any gram reader seen any serial numbers other than the two listed? Let us hear from you. ANA TO CELEBRATE 200,000th MEMBER The American Numismatic Association (ANA) will welcome its 200,000th member this Fall, and is conducting a new-member contest to celebrate the occasion. Everyone who joins the ANA, and every individual or club who sponsor a new ANA member between September 17, 2001, and January 31, 2002, automatically will be entered in the drawing,” says ANA Membership Director Rudy Bahr. The first-prize winner and his or her guest will receive a choice of four nights at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, site of the ANA World's Fair of Money' next summer, or a one-week scholarship for Summer Seminar 2002 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Second prize is a 2000 one-ounce gold American Eagle, and third prize is a $100 gift certificate from the ANA MoneyMarket hobby supply catalog. In October 1891, the ANA started with five people meeting in Chicago, Bahr says. “Since those founding days, more than a century ago, the ANA—America's coin club has enlightened, entertained and informed tens of thousands of collectors around the world. Every day is a good time to join or sponsor a membership in the ANA, Bahr adds. This contest to name our 200,000th member makes it an opportune time to be part of the organization that does the most to promote the hobby and science of numismatics. All members receive the Association’s award-winning, monthly journal, The Numismatist, access to more than 40,000 books, videos and slide sets in the ANA Library, and many other member benefits. New members also receive the ANA learn-at-home video 'Grading Mint State Coins' produced by ANA's School of Numismatics. Contest rules prohibit ANA staff, officers, members of the Board of Governors and their families from participating in the drawing. The contest is void where prohibited. For more information or a membership application, contact the ANA Membership Department at 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279; telephone 719/632-2646; fax 719/634-4085; E-mail at membership@money.org; or visit the ANA web site at www. money.org. ============================================== Editorial ----------------------------------------------- We have had several questions about back issues (see below). Frankly, we are undecided about this. First, we do not want to make recent back issues available because we want people to look forward to their Gram every day. Older back issues are another matter. First, there is much good stuff in the Gram and when the next editor or his/her successor passes issue 10,000 the Gram will be an important source about the development of the hobby in addition to the material itself. Conceptually, we support the idea of distributing back issues, but, frankly, we are thinking about some alternatives. Specifically, we might be able to publish the back issues on disk, CD or even in printed form. We might also post them on the internet. However, we are thinking that these might be available on a paid basis. Although expenses are not great for the Gram, subscriptions have not been covering them all. Not only might we be able to raise a little money by selling "old Grams," but we would be doing something good for the hobby and might raise a few bucks too. As always, we welcome your comments on these ideas. ============================================== Mail Call ----------------------------------------------- Hello Fred, I hope all is well with you. I got to look over the draft of the MPC 4th Edition book. Did I miss the letters from collectors section or did that idea end up on the cutting room floor? It was a good idea and I hope it makes it. By the way, would you please let me know why you do not want me to see copies of the early grams. I hope you are not ashamed of them. I did not think reading them would be such a big deal. Also, if you have an extra one, would you be able to see me a gem 591 dollar. I can't seem to locate one anywhere. Thanks... James Dear James, I have been holding your letter for too long because you brought up good points that need discussion. I will address the back issues in the editorial above. For the benefit of other readers, I mentioned to James at FUN that we would include "letters to the editor" in the new MPC book. That idea has involved into a section called adventures in collecting in which I and others have told some stories about how we got started in collecting, great discoveries, and near misses. We can still accept some more of these personal stories and even shorter items in the "letter to the editor" mold, but time is VERY short (I hope). I will be very pleased to have an article/letter from you from the book. We do not have anything on collecting MPC literature (are you there Kevin!?) so you could write something on that if you like. Thanks a lot for writing, these were very good points. Editor Dear Gram, Please put me down as attending the upcoming mpc fest in Port Clinton, this coming March. Let me know when I need to send my money and I will do so. Hope all is going well with you and your family. Sam Feeback :-) ================================================ Departments ------------------------------------------------- Calendar of events for Gramsters maintained by Howard Daniel, Nancy and John Wilson and Gram staff, last updated September 7, 2001 show reports are requested on all events. Even if it was not a great show, there must be something to report. What and whom did you see? Market activity? Share your observations and thoughts with Gramsters everywhere. ---------------------------------------------------- September 21 - 23, 2001, Paul Padget's 18th Annual Greater Cincinnati Numismatic Exposition, Sharonville Convention Center, Small Auction by Paul Padget and major paper money auction by Currency Auctions of America contact Paul Padget at (513) 821-2143 September 21 - 23, 2001, Virginia Numismatic Association, 43rd Annual Coin Show, Northern Virginia Community College Ernst Center, Annandale, VA September 21 - 23, 2001, Bick International Expos (www.bick.net) River Palms Hotel Casino, Glendale, CA September 27 - 30, 2001, North East Ohio Coin Club, 41st Annual Show, 100 Tables, Holiday Inn, Route 82 At I-71, Strongville, OH Phillips Auction October 4, 2001 October 5-6. 2001Remy Bourne Literature Auction featuring selections from the Katen library. Contact Remy at 1/800789-7005 for information October 4 - 7, 2001, long Beach Coin and Collectible Expo Long Beach California Convention Center, 400 booths, Educational Programs, Auctions by Heritage and Ponterio Spink Auction October 5, 2001 World Paper Money Fair, run by London Chapter of IBNS, October 6/7, 2001 Special "MPC" events March 2002 8-10 - MPCFest III - reservations in order received: Guido Crapanzano, Harold Kroll, Larry Smulczenski, Gary "Got any fours" Hicks, Tom Warburton, David Seelye, Jack Lippincot, Phil Goldstein, Warner Talso, Nich Schrier, Tom Koch, Mark Watson, Bill Yanchick, Doug Bell, Sam Feeback, Fred Schwan {running total 16}] W.W.II numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar, July 2002 Session I (Sunday, June 30 through Thursday, July 4, 2002) Session II (Sunday, July 7 through Thursday, July 11, 2002) --------------------------------------------------- Donations are now being accepted for scholarships to the 2002 "Military Money" course at the 2002 ANA Summer Seminar. Inquiries and donations should be sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 Donors to 2002 Scholarship Fund Steve Feller Harold Kroll R. A. Medina Guido Crapanzano David Seelye Steve Feller Harold Kroll R. A. Medina Guido Crapanzano David Seelye Leo May Warner Talso Marv Mericle Mark Watson ==================================================== Post/Base Exchange (PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. Send in a list of items for sale and we will list them here in the gram. In all cases confirm your order via email first. FOR SALE Series 661 $5.00 GEM Crisp Unc $25.00 insured postpaid. Series 481 $0.25 1st printing Crisp UNC $60.00 insured postpaid. coinman@rochester.rr.com WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them or sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - MPCGram@Yahoo.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com distribution manager - Brad Peacock bp22@swbell.net Tuesday columnist Joe Boling JoeBoling@aol.com Thurski columnist Larry Ski Smulczenski skifla@prodigy.net critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@AOL.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.net; The Boss: Judy Schwan FOR SALE Series 661 $5.00 GEM Crisp Unc $25.00 insured postpaid. Series 481 $0.25 1st printing Crisp UNC $60.00 insured postpaid. coinman@rochester.rr.com WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them or sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - MPCGram@Yahoo.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com distribution manager - Brad Peacock bp22@swbell.net Tuesday columnist Joe Boling JoeBoling@aol.com Thurski columnist Larry Ski Smulczenski skifla@prodigy.net critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@AOL.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.net; The Boss: Judy Schwan ===== MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. The entire contents including linked illustrations are copyright protected by the publishers. In the case of contributors, the copyright is protected on behalf of the creators. Please send all correspondence regarding the gram to MPCgram@yahoo.com. Thank you very much for your participation. __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/