My World War II Combat Boots.

This is what they looked like. The two buckle attached extension replaced leggings. I walked several hundred miles in my combat boots during my army service.

While reading in Vol. V of the The Munson Record, I was startled to learn that the boot is built on the Munson Last. A shoe last is the solid form that a shoe is  built on. The last was designed by a distant cousin Edward Lyman Munson in 1912. He was in the Medical Corps. The last was designed after an extensive study. He wrote a book "The Soldier's Foot and the Military Shoe". The book is still in print and available on line.

The boot has been variously known as the "Munson Last", the "hobnail brogan" of World War I, and the "GI shoe" of World II.

You can buy the latest version of the boot on eBay.

No one ever told me that I was marching in Munson boots! I have to say that I never did get a blister.

My cousin Edward Lyman had a distinguished career in the Army, medicine, and teaching. He is buried at Arlington. He is worth a google.