Yorba Linda Man’s House-Bulging Collection of Rare Military Artifacts Is Anything but Uniform

One way to view Roger C. Gisler’s private museum in his Yorba Linda home is to sell him something for it, preferably a one-of-a-kind World War II military artifact, like a uniform, medal, shoulder patch or for that matter, hard-to-find, army-issue ski boots.

“About the best place to get special military equipment like U.S. Army-issue snow equipment used during the Battle of the Bulge,” said Gisler, a commercial burglary detective for the Placentia Police Department, “is in Europe. I know at least four military surplus stores there that have American issue equipment I can’t find in the states.”

But despite the European outlets, America is still his best shopping market. “I’m out almost every weekend looking at garage sales,” he said, hoping to find items for his collection, which numbers in the thousands, much of it stored in his 26x30-foot home museum.

On occasions, such as Veteran’s Day, Gisler will bring some of his collection to area libraries for public display and often will invite school children and various groups and clubs to view the items that has taken him 16 years to acquire.

Besides uniforms for men and women of all military branches and countries from World War II to the Korean conflict, Gisler has emblems, helmets, caps, ski boots, leather flight jackets and caps and medals, all logged and videotaped.

One of his prized possessions is a uniform from the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team composed of Nisei (second generation American-born Japanese) soldiers who fought in Italy and was the most decorated U.S. unit in World War II.

Gisler, who served in the Air Force after World War II, said he always had an interest in collecting military items since some Air Force pilots befriended him as a youth.

“But it wasn’t until 16 years ago that I put so much into it,” he said. “Besides collecting, I get a chance to do some deep study of that time in history.”

But besides books, “I like to sit down with the people who actually experienced the war,” he said, “because you learn more from veterans than you can from books.”

When active, retired and former women Marines gather at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on Saturday, most of them will be talking about their families and about experiences during their enlistments, but group spokeswoman Kay Van Hook, of Santa Ana said a lot of the talk will center on today’s woman Marine.

“Why, they even have maternity uniforms today,” said Hook, 65, who served during World War II and later married a Marine and had four children after her three-year enlistment. “The women in the service today are much more modern and liberated than we were. Some of them stand guard duty.”

She said about 100 of the 150 members of the Orange County Chapter of the Women Marines Assn., most of them from the World War II era, are expected at the gathering, which is a prelude to the July 6-11 national convention in Buena Park to celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the women Marines.

“Actually our country had women Marines during World War I,” Hook added, “only then they were called Marinettes.”

But no matter the name, she said, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

Contestants on game shows can make big bucks by smart betting, which UC Irvine student Susan Topercer, 27, of Irvine learned after being chosen a contestant over about 200 others for CBS-TV’s “Card Sharks.”

She bet heavy and won a total of $17,000 in cash and prizes, pretty good considering she’s blind and went to the audition with her seeing-eye dog. “I . . . just wanted to do something different this year,” said the master’s degree candidate.

Loralea Williams, 65, was one of those teachers everyone loved, and when she died recently, her former students, other teachers and community members felt there should be something to remember her. So they planted a tree on the Crest View Elementary School grounds in Huntington Beach, where she taught, with a plaque at its base describing her greatest honor.

It reads: Loralea Williams, teacher.

Acknowledgments--La Habra resident James E., Bailey, 42, instructor at Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, was honored along with two UC Berkeley School of Optometry faculty members by the American Academy of Optometry for their co-authored paper on color vision screening.