Mystic Army Navy Store

05/27/2026

I was interviewed by channel 3 at the store yesterday!
Thank you to the exuberant Luke Hajdasz
REPORTER for the story!

It’s Marine Corps, not Corp..

Rain on Memorial Day weekend didn’t stop customers from visiting Mystic businesses, with store owners reporting a strong unofficial start to summer.

05/25/2026

In Remembrance

“The first is that I think a lot about the other side as well. … War always brings casualties on both sides. The origin of Memorial Day was as Decoration Day; it started in Gettysburg, when Union widows decorated the graves of Union soldiers, but also of Confederate soldiers. So to me, Memorial Day also symbolizes a sense of reconciliation. ...” David Danelo is better-spoken than most broadcast journalists. He understands political intricacies on a deeper level than the average historian. But he didn’t get that way by attending graduate school. “If you look at my resume, you’ll see I don’t have a master’s degree or a Ph.D.,” he said during a May 2015 interview. “But I’ve had a bit of learning in the school of hard knocks.” Those hard knocks proved formative rather than destructive for Danelo, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998 and served seven years as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. In 2004, he served near Fallujah, Iraq, with the First Marine Expeditionary Force as a convoy commander, intelligence officer and provisional executive officer for a rifle company. Since leaving active duty, he’s published multiple award-winning books about his experiences.
Photo by at a Memorial Day ceremony at Noank Valley Cemetery.

05/14/2026

You can have both:
Stitch in Time on the left, Army Navy to the right!
Indian print wrap around skirts due in, also the famously lightweight and breathable Kurta shirt due in, plus reorders on these crinkle pants, and other goodies!

05/12/2026

This young man was totally pumped up to get some authentic Vietnam War military surplus at the store. USGI Pistol Belt with LC-II Y Suspenders, part of the now old school ALICE system which is still beloved by many. I favor it over the modern MOLLE system myself but we always stock both, although ALICE can be a rarer find these days..
He also had a 1 QT canteen with cover attached to the belt and the olive drab anglehead flashlight attached to the suspenders —(note the red filter installed.. useful for night vision operations), and is also known as a moonbeam.
He tops it off with a USGI patrol cap in woodland camo, which is post Vietnam.
This was one happy kid, already fascinated with military history and we gave him a lot to chew on!
And moms love us!
canteen

05/08/2026

First customer waiting for me this morning was Jim from Pawcatuck in need of a M65 Field Jacket which we had for him.. I noticed his ballcap and started asking him about his Navy career. He was serving onboard the USS FORRESTAL when it caught on fire..
“On 29 July 1967, a fire broke out on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal, which was engaged in combat in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. The fire was caused by an inadvertently fired rocket. The rocket was a Zuni rocket on an F-4B Phantom rupturing an external fuel tank of an A-4 Skyhawk. The tank’s jet fuel spilled across the flight deck, ignited, and triggered a chain reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161..”
Jim survived the fire because he was down below in the steering room which had thick armored walls which protected the 4 sailors from the smoke..the fire lasted 27 hours and they had nothing to eat but they had water and he said luckily the AC held out which prevented the machinery from overheating. Just on the other side of the room, however 4 sailors were not so lucky and perished because of smoke inhalation. Turns out there was a bent screw on the overhead hatch door, so although they closed the hatch, smoke from the fire overwhelmed Jim’s shipmates..

Thank you to Jim for serving and in remembrance of those who did not survive..

05/07/2026

Five new Military logo tee-shirts added to stock!
With more on the way.

05/05/2026

Meet Silas!!
a very special dog trained to assist his Military Veteran owner!
Today Sage of Wagging with Wisdom came into Mystic Army Navy to make the rounds with Silas on a training mission.
Look Sage up if you need any dog assistance—
she is an angel…

05/03/2026

Clean the palate! We were expecting a large new order of USA made military ballcaps from Eagle Crest this week so we stripped the hat shelves, top to bottom one at a time and vacuumed each shelf plus scrubbed them down with disinfectant. Then brushed each hat to remove any dust parties. Oh yeah!
We do it quarterly to maintain a fresh look before new merchandise arrives! Thanks to the talent who shared his knowledge from Emporium days with We know how to get things done and customers remark daily that we are the cleanest and most organized Army Navy Store they have ever been in. It takes a lot of work but it’s important!
And we also got in more Stitch in Time Boutique clothing, incense, and candles, as well as fully restocked the ammo cans and technical and field manuals.. You can have both!
More pictures to follow, new merchandise arriving daily!

04/24/2026

Did you ever think you would see the day?

Stitch in Time Boutique meets Mystic Army Navy!
We have been bringing in boutique items over the last 7 years: some consignment vintage in the ladies section, incense, white sage, cool purses and totes, crinkle pants from India. It’s an homage to my past- 27 years of Stitch in Time Boutique in Downtown Mystic and now about to be 33 years of Mystic Army Navy. The overlap is real. Monday I had a customer come in and ask for tapestries….. not yet.
But check out our deep selection of clean civilian necessities mixed in with all of your favorite army surplus items. We are getting a lot of Vietnam War surplus: OG-107 Fatigue Shirts and Pants, canvas duffles, equipment pouches and bags. Vintage Navy uniforms, plus a lot of foreign surplus- Alpenflage, Flecktarn, Austrian, French, and more!
And yes, Spiritual Sky Essential Oils. Because that’s what we carried at Stitch in Time.

04/05/2026

Thank you to our customer Cathy for sharing her photo with us!
“My dad is a retired Marine and your store enabled me to make him the perfect Easter basket.“
***de