Mystic Army Navy Store

09/05/2026

This Holiday Weekend we are hosting Vietnam Veteran Richie Monteleone, author of Less Than A Hero; A Fight For Life for his second book signing with us!
The first one was so successful and we know this one will be as well. Richie is a great conversationalist and he and his wife Kathy will be talking to all passersby to the store so come on down, and get yourself a book!
You will learn something about Vietnam and our history and meet an interesting Veteran and his lovely wife!

Mystic Army Navy is open 10-6 daily including Labor Day and all civic holidays.
We only close two days a year; Thanksgiving & Christmas.
Richie and his wife will be outside the store at a table Saturday, Sunday & Monday 11-4; come say hello!!

09/03/2026

Found this gem while looking for Mystic Army Navy Anniversary photos!
This was an excellent crew: with two stores, the original flagship store Downtown and the OMV store (Olde Mistick Village 1996-2016)
Photo taken on 16 August 2015.
We had survived Bert’s retirement in 2010,
Hurricane Sandy and the store flooding in 2012, Larry’s sudden death in 2013, and the consolidation/expansion project in 2016/2017.
I am indebted to this crew for always rising up and knowing that It’s All Hands On Deck to get through the catastrophes and trying situations. Many of them worked for me for 7 plus years.
Between the crew, this one and all of the crew of past and present, and The Talent ellerytwining Mystic Army Navy is built for success!
Every business needs its essential workers and I am proud to have instilled a strong work ethic in each employee, as I was taught by the best.
Also, Happy 30th Birthday Leslie aka New Girl. She worked for me all through High School then got into an Army ROTC program in the medical field. Went to Africa with the US Army on assignment. Proud of her and all of the MANS kids!

Pictured L to R: Jack, Leslie, Katie, Izzy, Gordon, & Joey.

09/02/2026

It’s a celebration!
Today is our official 33rd Anniversary in Downtown Mystic at 37 West Main Street!
Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here; you are why we are here!
Proud to continue the Gemma legacy on West Main Street; we started in 1973 at 27 West Main Street with Stitch in Time Boutique!
Grateful to Larry and Bert Bert Dahl for having the vision to start the Army Navy 1 September 1993..

And thank you to my main man the Talent ellerytwining who has been with me then and now, always contributing; the design, the postcards, the design, the Mystic Teeshirts, the sweat equity, the retail carpentry, the design—I couldn’t do this without you! Thank you for rebuilding the store 4 crucial times; each time essential to get to the next point..
Thank you to all of the crew; Jack and all of the kids, and to our customers; thank you! We are keeping the dream alive!
📷: The Day The Day

07/06/2026

The best thing to do in Mystic is to go sailing on Argia, located on Steamboat Wharf in Downtown Mystic!

Argia offers two hour cruises, 4 times a day and my absolute favorite is the Sunset Sail.

Built by the best; Frank Fulchiero (I worked for him as a teenager for Voyager Cruises as a dock girl), then sold to Captain Amy Blumberg, who runs an incredible operation. She and her two Captains Eric and Jack along with the amazing crew James and Luke and others offer the experience of learning about our local nautical history while sailing underway in Fishers Island Sound, and they will keep you in stitches..
It is hands down the best thing to do in Mystic; go book yourself a sail right now at Argia Mystic Cruises

Reporting from the Shire: mg at m/a/n/s

06/26/2026

Come downtown today to meet Beatrice and Janet!

We are hosting the Mystic Women’s Club today only until 2 pm for their quilt raffle!!

They handmade the quilt, which you can buy a $5 ticket to enter the raffle; they also have handmade potholders and their signature cookbook available for sale.
Last year they raised $22,000 to donate to area scholarships abs organizations!

This year’s theme is quite festive for the 250th!

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 r***e 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..