What is the coolest trinket that you have ever "Liberated" from the trash while you were in the service?

A half eaten AFFES cheeseburger and a few fries out of a Dugway Proving Grounds flight line dumpster while waiting to board a C130 to jump during Ranger School. We were starving - might as well have been a bag of gold.

Bet you weren't expecting THAT to make the list.

This is going to be a stretch, but I've been waiting to share this story, a true story, on RallyPoint and I don't expect there will be a better opportunity...

The coolest trinket that I ever liberated from the trash is a memory. That's right a memory of an experience at a dump.

When my tour of duty in Vietnam ended I was stationed as Special Services Officer at Tripler Army Medical Center. One of my additional duties was to supervise disposal of surplus and out-of-date medical supplies. This is how I happened to be at the dump on several occasions.

Since most medical supplies are controlled, I had to arrange for a pit to be dug in the landfill and a power shovel standing by to smash the trash as soon as it was all in the pit and then cover it over. (Narcotics had to be destroyed with great care since all were serial numbered and I certified each and every one of them destroyed. Woe to me if any turned up later.)

On this one occasion, the load included several gallon sized cans of petroleum jelly which, by chance, ended up on top of everything else in the pit. When the shovel operator dropped the scoop, one of the cans burst and its contents flew out of the pit and directly at my sergeant who had ill-advisedly opted to stand at the opposite end of the pit from the machinery.

There was silence following the dreadful sound of the goop hitting the poor man from head to toe.

The enlisted men scattered to laugh secretly in the bushes.

I held it as long as I could, then erupted.

Rank hath its privileges...

I found a small stuffed bear with a USA flag on it's chest. I glued a Bud Light beer cap on it and henceforth was named "Bud." Bud traveled on the rear view mirror with me in my truck while I drove in Afghanland. When we left, I took Bud with me and now he sits on my rear view in my car and goes wherever I go. However, he is a piss-poor guardian angel as he has been in 2 car accidents with me.