Established in 1942, the First Special Service Force was conceived as a multi-national special unit, built around the idea of thinking of deep snow as a fourth operational element alongside sea, air, and more conventional land. At heart, the idea was that a properly equipped combat force could turn the deep winter snows of Norway, Northern Italy, the Alps and Romania into their own private hunting ground, running roughshod over enemy resources, denying critical assets, and drawing enemy forces away from the coasts prior to invasions. This did not pan out; only the Americans and Canadians joined in quantity, and the unit instead operated as elite mountain warriors, raiders, and light infantry. Particular distinction was found for the unit in the rough terrain of Italy, where their preparations for war at high altitude and the hand-picked, elite nature of the Force made them the terror of the German opposition. More than one enemy unit woke up in the morning to find dead bodies in sentry posts and graffiti on their fortifications warning "the worst was yet to come". Thriving in environments that more conventional units would see as massive handicaps, the Force often would attack at times and from angles written off as unlikely or impossible, approaching superior forces by stealth and striking with great speed and violence. This entire grouping was the personal wartime property of Marvin D. Price, an early member of the Force and Headquarters Company First Sergeant. Having joined the Army in 1942, Price volunteered for the Force and was on the roster from the "liberation" of the Aleutian Islands (the Japanese had invaded Kiska Island but evacuated before the Americans could drop the hammer) to the end of the unit's life. Never defeated in the field even in the face of massive disparities in numbers and equipment, the FSSF was undone when the Canadians terminated their contribution to the Force; Canadian brass was convinced that the Force was too deeply immersed in the American structure, and their men were essentially making zero contribution to the Canadian Army; given the quality of men that constituted the Special Service Force, one can hardly blame the Canadians for wanting them back. While many of the Americans went on to other units, a number of men and officers (Price among them) moved to the 474th Infantry Regiment, which became the unofficial successor for the Force. While the First Special Service Force officially ended during World War II, they are counted among the spiritual forefathers of both the American and Canadian special forces communities. The jacket, tagged size 38S, is outfitted with a set of 1st Sergeant insignia, four overseas service bars, "US" and "HQ" lapel pins, and the Honorable Discharge Lozenge, in addition to the Force's signature arrowhead shoulder patches ("USA/CANADA" on the right, viking ship on the left) and red, white and blue shoulder cord. Among the decorations are the Combat Infantry Badge and ribbons for the Good Conduct Badge, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1 star), European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (5 stars) and the World War II Victory Medal. A tag inside the right breast pocket is marked for the vendor Herman Oritski via the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot. The shirt is OD twill construction, with a red, white and blue cord running from the left shoulder to the left pocket, "USA/CANADA" arrowhead patch on the left shoulder, brown plastic buttons, size marked 15-34 with a tag for William H. Noggle & Sons via the Philadelphia QM Depot. A case of accoutrements from Sergeant Price is included, with a picture of the Sergeant in the center, Technical Sergeant and Master Sergeant rank patches, Infantry lapel pin, silver "crossed arrows" badge, Kiska Task Force shoulder patch, "Ruptured Duck" lapel pin with overseas bars device, and the matching medals for the ribbon bars on the jacket (no attached stars). Rounding out the set is the Sergeant's V-42 stiletto and "long drop" sheath. Designed by a committee headed by the SSF's own founding commander Colonel Frederick, the V-42 was a combat weapon in the vein of the Fairbairn-Sykes dagger, capable of agile slashing and extreme penetration; in one early test, a Forceman slammed a prototype ice-pick style into a U.S. M1 helmet, straight to the hilt. This example measures 12 inches overall with a 6 3/4 inch double edged hollow ground blade, notably shorter than factory-new examples, having lost notable length to heavy sharpening of the blade, evidence of a very busy service life. Opposite the "thumbprint" serrations and "CASE" marking on the ricasso is stamped "U.S./432". The hilt is equipped with a leather-backed alloy guard, washer grip, and "skull crusher" pommel. The scabbard shows the symptoms of an extremely hard life, with evidence of multiple punctures in the front (a common issue due to the extreme sharpness of the stiletto, hence the iron plate mounted to the back of this and other examples to prevent such a puncture from leaving a hole in the Forceman's leg), as well as heavy creasing just above the former location of the retention strap (another common feature, as the extra-long strap could be folded over to allow more conventional web belt wear when the stiletto didn’t need to clear a parka).

The uniform items are in very fine condition, with a minimum of wear and staining. As noted, both the stiletto and the sheath show the rigors of combat. The stiletto blade has turned a mixed gray color with shallow pitting, with a darker brown tone to the pommel, a small amount of play in the guard, and some shrinkage of the guard padding. The scabbard definitely looks like a piece of equipment that was put to hard use on both fronts of a World War and exposed to about every variety of cold, damp and sea spray seen by an Army man in the 1940s, with numerous holes, tears, stains and areas of absent material, including the retention strap; many V-42 scabbards likely ended their service lives in a state like this and were discarded for fresher replacements, leaving few examples of this sort of hard travel to be found.