The Koala bear is a gift Sammy sent Fannie from Australia when he was in the Army
on 2020-May-21 08:54:50 Israel Cohen said
Uncle Sammy was a medic in the US 1st Cavalry. His unit underwent training maneuvers near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, then transferred to Camp Stoneman in California, took a long zig-zag sail across the Pacific to Australia, and had joint maneuvers near Brisbane with Australian cavalry who had real horses. His unit only had tanks. Sammy suffered a shrapnel head wound at some point before his unit reached the Philippines.