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SOS; Named 82nd ABN M42 Jump Jacket


Kadet
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This is another from the show. The belt has been removed and the top pockets sewn down. The name tape and cloth Captain bars are sewn on with the same thread used to modify the pockets. The jacket also has his laundry # in the collar. I'm in the process of researching this one...

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Thanks very much! I had somehow missed this entry. To date, I had found three paratroopers with this last name. One, also named Joseph, served in the 101st and was KIA. There was an Emile who served as an enlisted man in the 505th and Joseph D. who served in the 508th. I think this is another Joseph though, because Joseph D. doesn't appear to have been wounded. I also think Joseph D. was enlisted. Great lead. Officers can be very difficult to research...

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Perhaps this is him? Both from MA

 

 

 

 

Joseph C-o-m/ea/u

Joe "The Pro" C owns but one world candlepin title, that garnered in 1950 with a then-remarkable 1123 pinfall. Now the Peabody, Mass. resident is a double Hall of Famer as a two-sports champion.

C, the Massachusetts horseshoe champion in 1955, 63 and 64 and New England kingpin in 63 and 64 (the latter at age 57), is a member of the New England Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame.

Of 175 trophies, the long time West Lynn resident is proudest of his top bowling prize.

Playing with pain became a harsh reality for C. Despite crushing his right hand at the General Electric West Lynn Works where he worked 37 years, Joe survived 5 elimination rolloffs.

Four days before the finals in Waltham, Mass., intense pain prompted a visit to the doctor. The splint came off a broken right-hand middle finger knuckle just 24 hours before the title test. The doctor's parting shot; "Win that championship tomorrow!" C disregarded the discomfort, crayoned a 10-string 1123 and beat runnerup Art Doyan of New Hampshire by 20 sticks. He averaged 109 for the 60 string tourney.

C twice captured the North Shore Amateur Lynn Item tourney and was runnerup a third year.

Personal best were 191 single and 436 triple.

C remained active in bowling for 16 years after lessening his competitive role. He helped organize the Little Bowling at Lynnway Rec Alleys. More than 300 youngsters participated in Pee Wee, Bantam and Junior Classes. Such standouts as Jim Mauro, George Raymond and Bobby Twomey emerged from leagues around Lynn. comeau.jpg

Peabody, MA 1987

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I checked the NARA AAD POW files, and there were 4 men with that last name, but none were officers. Not sure if that is a 100% roster, however.

 

Kyle

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Thanks. My assumption from the description is that he was wounded in Normandy, captured and then liberated 21 days later as the Allies gained ground against the Germans. I'm not sure this sort of thing is reflected in the database. I believe it only reflects men that were actually put in to POW camps and liberated at the end of the war...

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Any candlepin champ is one tough SOB, I can assure you. Us Massachusetts men don't like our bowling to be easy.

-- Jon

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  • 1 month later...

I was digging around online and found another lead. There was a Wallace J. Comeau who served as an airborne artillery officer, and ended the war as a Captain. He is listed in the unit history of the 458th PFAB, 13th ABN. He was commissioned through artillery OCS in June 1942. It is possible that he ended up in the 82nd at some point.

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Didn't the 82nd do Occupation duty in Berlin and take in a lot of low point men? That might be the case then.

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  • 1 month later...

This jacket definitely belonged to CPT Wallace J. Comeau. I requested his record, and the ASN matches the laundry # in the jacket. As I mentioned above, at discharge, he was assigned to the 13th ABN. His record was destroyed, so all I have to work with are his pay records. I'm almost certain that he was a reassigned officer from another unit based on his ASR Score (points). At discharge, he had 80 points. Given his service months, and the fact that he had no children, his total must represent a fair amount of time overseas. Much more than the 13th ABN had. Based on the patch, I am guessing he was originally assigned to the 82nd, then transferred to the 13th in anticipation of their planned service in the Pacific. The war ended, and he was discharged instead.

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That's incredible... this jacket was in my collection 30 years ago ! I sold it in the late 80s to another french collector.

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Small world! I bought this from a friend at the SOS, and he got it from a French collector.

 

Others probably realize this...but the ASR is a powerful tool in sorting things like this out. I had never paid much attention to it in the past. Last night I used ASR scores to solve two unit attribution mysteries

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Thanks, yes I saw that. It is one of the documents that helped sort it out. This was the hardest research project I've ever had...

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  • 1 month later...

Here is a research update on this jacket, with what I think is some compelling info that he was originally assigned to another unit. Further, I think that unit may have been the 505th RCT. I was able to acquire an original unit history book for the 13th ABN Division. The book was printed around the time Comeau was released from the Army in late 1945. He is not shown or mentioned in the unit pictures and names. His name does appear in the roster however. He is clumped along with a few other names in the HQ Battery of the 458th PFAB. This tracks with what remains of his service record (he was released from the 13th ABN). The way the names appear in the book as almost an afterthought leads me to believe these men were only temporarily assigned at the time the book was printed. I also decided to look more closely at the actual attributes of the jacket for clues. What I found is pretty striking IMO. The Comeau jacket is identical to the one pictured here, w/ the exception of the 82nd patch:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/148656-in-remembrance-of-operation-husky/?hl=naugle

 

The green web name tapes seem to have been used by the 505th, and if you look carefully, it appears to me that the exact same stencil was used to make both tapes. Look at the letter "Es". The bottom foot of the E is spaced over farther than the top on both tapes. The cloth rank bars, and machine done pocket stitching are also the same. Even the laundry # is stamped in the same place and in the same configuration. As an artillery officer, if he did serve in the 505th RCT this would place him in the 456th PFAB at some point...

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