Per statements from the consignor, all items in this lot are the personal property of Donald Anthony Cofone, a U.S. Navy radioman deployed to China as part of Navy Group China and the Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO, aka the Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization). Established in 1943, SACO was a joint Nationalist/American operation headed up in tandem by the chief of Chiang Kai-Shek's secret police and the commander of U.S. Naval Group - China, the U.S. Navy's intelligence outfit in China. The SACO served as an intelligence gathering/sharing organization as well as a training center for Chinese guerrilla forces operating in Japanese occupied territory and other tasks. While the Organization ended in 1946 with the departure of Naval Group China, the Chinese components of SACO were active participants in the Chinese Civil War, and the Americans were accused of complicity in their actions by the Communists. Available information indicates that Cofone hailed from Port Chester, New York, graduating from training in 1943 and being deployed to China shortly after. In civilian life he settled in California, passing on in 1970. Contents include: 1) A SACO patch, 3 1/2 inch diameter embroidered/printed, with the SACO "???!!!***" pennant on an anchor and Nationalist Star. 2) "Dragon" patch, 3 3/4 inch diameter, embroidered with leather backing, with American and Nationalist Stars and USN anchor. 3) CBI "shield" shoulder patch modified with anchor device, 2 1/2 inches wide. 4) Leather SACO name tag with Cofone's name. 5) SACO "pennant patch, 3 inches long, embroidered. 6) Small cloth tag with SACO pennant, 1 3/8 inches long. 7) Enamel SACO lapel pin. 8) Vintage photograph of two sailors, hand marked "Me & Tom 1945". 9) A laminated ID card identifying Cofone as a member of the Ancient Order of the Deep, noting him as having crossed the equator aboard the troop ship USS General George M. Randall. 10) A printed rayon "blood chit", 8 inches wide and 10 inches long, with the Nationalist flag, red ink seal, and ID number "W 43127". Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection

Very good overall, with wear appropriate to age. Some of the small items show signs of having been glued into a scrapbook.