WristWatch Magazine | Page 119

in 24-hour intervals with an outer minutes/seconds chapter ring marked in 5-second intervals, indirect center sweep seconds hand. Case has a coin edge screw on back and front for a tight hermetic seal. Lepine-style case with crown at 12 o’clock, fitted with a Lepine movement modified to indirect center sweep seconds. This watch was worn by Staff Sergeant Jason Shiflet, a Lancaster County native, during Operation Iraqi Freedom I. It worked well and accompanied him throughout the invasion until June 25, 2003. On that day, while acting as the quick reaction force, Shiflet and his platoon were responding to reports of Marines in Contact. Moving quickly to the scene, the Light Armored Vehicle that Shiflet was commanding rolled over when an irrigation canal collapsed beneath it. Shiflet was injured and medically evacuated. Shiflet’s gunner, Corporal Gregory E. MacDonald, was killed. The watch accompanied Shiflet to Germany and eventually home and has not been set or cleaned since that day. Shiflet deployed to Iraq again in 2007 and retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 2011 after 20 years of service. Corporal MacDonald was one of the finest men he ever knew. Watch info: Circa 2001 Timex Expedition easy-set bezel alarm watch. Quartz analog with Arabic numerals, blue steeled hands and a white, center sweep seconds hand, date window at 3 o’clock, and crown at 3 o’clock that sets hands. An additional crown at 4 o’clock sets an hour and minute alarm. Water resistant to 165 feet and mineral “sapphire” glass. Through personal interviews with surviving veterans the Museum staff realized that the watches these men and women wore were more than just timekeepers. The watches connected them to a significant and emotional experience in their lives. The Museum hopes that through the continued presentation of these timepieces on the exhibit’s website that others will share their watches and their stories with the public. 2016 | WRISTWATCH 117