Serial Numbers

[dvkiii]

Hello There!

A while back I picked up late 1940's Zippo complete with name and serial# engraved on it. The serial is post WW2 and I reckon it is probably from the Korean War era.

The engraving is like this:

H. L. KELSEY
US 51202442

I had been informed that the first part of all US numbers indicated the geographical location of the person's enlistment, but I can't find any evidence to support this.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Kindest Rgards,

Darren.

[Mighty Mouse]

Darren,

There's quite a bit of information available on this. Try this: users.skynet.be/jeeper/page83.html. Scroll down the page for the post-1945 information.

In your instance, the first digit indicates that this soldier was pulled from the 1st Army Area - putting him in the New England area.

- MM

[dvkiii]

Thanks MM, right on the button with that one!
Now I'm on a mission to find out all I can. I'll keep you posted