Offered is a true piece of American history in the form of a flag that once flew over USS Sampson. The USS Sampson was a destroyer set into service prior to the war but played a big role for the Navy. The consignor removed the flag when his service was up, and the relic has been in his possession ever since. The flag is frayed at the end from wind shearing but is in over excellent condition.

USS Sampson, an 1850-ton Somers class destroyer built at Bath, Maine, was commissioned in August 1938. She made a shakedown cruise to Europe, then operated off the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean area until April 1939, when she went to the Pacific. Sampson returned to the Atlantic in July 1940 to undertake Neutrality Patrol service between Newfoundland and the West Indies. As relations with Germany deteriorated in the late summer of 1941 the destroyer began convoy escort duties. She conducted anti-submarine patrols for a month after the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941.