And the answer is "Night sight assembly for French MAS 49/56. Very common, $25 value"
Checked ebay to cross ref.
@Granite3 I was thinking of pulling you into this as soon as I saw it.
Funny you should mention this because as a coin collector, we go thru the same process, eventually deciding on a specific coin or time frame. I started with modern coins, dabbled in ancients, picked up a bunch of coins of the Bible and think I'm finally settling on flying Eagle pennies as a real...
Junior was somewhere between awe and shock when AC told him the story about the rifle and let him hold it. He had just learned about it in history class.
I just know that my kids know nothing about any of my stuff.
What @GeauxLSU said....please fix that. Even if you just write a little sentence or two for each medal on a 3x5 card and pin the medal to it, you might be surprised at how that memory will later be cherished.