Personal Note from Ryan Joyce:

I have been a collector most of my life. Thanks to my parents, who would accompany me to auctions, antique stores, and shows, I was introduced to collecting at an early age. At 13, my father decided that we would start collecting German daggers together. I would research and find the items and he would be the financial backer. Not a bad arrangement for a passionate teenage boy.  I would stay up late reading Tom Johnson’s dagger reference books, and Manion’s Auction House catalogs, trying to find the perfect dagger to add to our collection. Eventually, as we started to buy more, I wanted to collect everything – helmets, daggers, uniforms, medals, badges, you name it! Learning the history of an item, where it came from, and who owned it, has truly been the enjoyment of collecting all these years. I believe that now being a veteran, myself, has given me a better understanding of the sacrifices that these military members have made. I feel that it is our responsibility to care for these historical items, so that they can be enjoyed for future generations to come.