Sorry to ruin the romance of military boots, but government boots are auctioned off to the highest bidder. As a military boot collector (5000+pairs), I find the boots are surveyed by their owners for a number of reasons- mostly because they don't fit. Sometimes you find tags with the owner's name and the reason for the exchange. I do have boots of soldiers who I have known and who have died. I keep them in a shrine to that person. Perhaps you have seen my group- Heroes and Boots? Sometimes the boots don't match and the resaler has to match up one with another. One scene where the disposed boots were tossed out a window reminded me of a concentration camp. Let's face it, if the U.S. leaves tanks, and other heavy expensive equipment, why would they bother with a pair of boots.-On the other hand, I do have a WWII german helmut, bullet holes and blood- which I checked out at a blood center. BUT, that's another story.