WWII & post war uniform - 23rd Infantry/5th AAF pilot

[doinworkinvans]

I first saw the WWII jacket with the combo of patches and immedieatly knew I had to have it. Such a unique combo plus being a huge 5th AAF fan, it was just too awesome. The initials of RJ Morgan were there but didnt have too much hope of being able to find anything with such a common last name.

After digging for only about 30 minutes I stumbled on the WWII memorial site and found an entry from the soldiers sister which reads the following:

ACTIVITY DURING WWII

APRIL 29, 1940; ENLISTED IN THE 123RD FIELD ARTILLERY, 33RD INFANTRY DIVISION, ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD. DEPARTED JANUARY 1942 FOR THE SOUTH PACIFIC AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE AMERICAL INFANTRY DIVISION, THE ONLY U.S. ARMY DIVISION WITH A NAME RATHER THAN A NUMBER. RETURNED TO U.S. MARCH 1943 FOR PILOT TRAINING. GRADUATED FEBRUARY 8, 1944, DOUGLAS ARMY AIR BASE, ARIZONA AS TWIN ENGINE PILOT. DEPARTED JUNE 6, 1944, B-24 LIBERATOR PILOT, FOR SOUTH PACIFIC. FLEW 39 COMBAT MISSIONS; 435 COMBAT HOURS (4 AIR MEDALS). MISSIONS INCLUDED BALIKPAPAN, ZAMBOANGA, FORMOSA, HAINAN, HONG KONG, CANTON, SHANGHAI, AND OVER LEYTE ON OCTOBER 20, 1944, COVERING THE RETURN OF GENERAL MACARTHUR. OCTOBER 1945, ASSIGNED VARIOUS FLYING AND ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES IN THE AIR TRAINING COMMAND, AIR LOGISTIC COMMAND, MILITARY AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND, AND 5 MONTHS AS A STUDENT AT THE ARMY TRANSPORTATION SCHOOL. AWARDED COMMAND PILOT RATING.

 

So after reading this, it matches up perfectly! BINGO! (I also found it neat the sister hit the history on the head)

 

At this point I continued looking and saw another jacket in the "shade 84" which I collect as well. I could also tell the jacket had AAF ribbons and WWII ribbons. It also had a command pilot wing (which matches the memorial). Then, I noticed the name tag of Morgan and BOOM, this was the same soldiers jacket!!! Two of my favorites in one day.

So I made an offer and was very, very fortunate to be able to acquire these uniforms. I couldn't be happier!

The WWII jacket appears to be tailor made, Australian most likely. No label at all. Cut edge 23rd and theater made 5th AF patches. The ribbons and wings were in the pocket of the post-war uniform as well as a few extra single ribbons! Don't know how they made in there for so long. It doesnt appear that the stars on the Pacific ribbon and overseas stripes match up? There is one smaller, appears to be silver so I guess that would make it 7? Is my math right? On the post-war the Air Medal has a silver leaf which matches up to the memorial.

I have ordered his records which should be quite the story! This soldier had to see quite a bit! I will add these once I get them.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do, haven't been able to add anything in quite a while.

Daniel

[doinworkinvans]

Also I apologize for the terrible pictures, our new house is not very conducive to pictures, its stuck in 1970 and bad lighting!

[doinworkinvans]

Here is his obit from the internet:

Major (USAF Ret.) R,u,s,s,e,l,l J. M/o/r/g/a/n, 90, passed away January 21, 2013. Visitation will be held from 6-8 PM today, Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. Funeral Services will begin at 11:00 AM Thursday, January 24, 2013 in the Mausoleum Chapel at Mission Burial Park Dominion North with entombment to follow on site with Full Military Honors. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, his memory may be honored with a gift to Fisher House Foundation, 111 Rockville Pike, Suite 420, Rockville, Maryland 20850, which benefits military families.Russell was born June 10, 1922 in Schuyler County, Illinois. In 1940, he enlisted as an artillery gunner in World War II, but went on to be a B-24 Liberator pilot in the South Pacific and flew 39 combat missions, was a C-47 pilot in the Korean War flying evacuation, cargo and combat missions, and went on to serve as a pilot and transportation officer at posts in Seattle, Washington, Great Falls, Montana, Warner Robins, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, Athens, Greece, and Harlingen and Waco, Texas. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1964 with sixteen awards and medals including the Air Force Commendation Medal, 6 Air Medals, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with six bronze stars and the Korean Service Medal. At that time he and his family moved to San Antonio, where he worked for 25 years and retired as a cost analyst at Kelly Air Force Base.

[Der Finn]

Antique shop? Craig's List? Tag sale? Please do tell, always adds to the story. Thanks!

[doinworkinvans]

This was an eBay buy...thought I had told that!

[CNY Militaria]

Great set! I like the wartime-post war uniform sets to show the progression of the career.

[ItemCo16527]

Nice find! Love the combination of the Americal and 5th AF patches. Very unusual.

[doinworkinvans]

The more I think about it...would have worn his ribbons and wings with this?? The inside of the jacket was riddled with holes from ribbons and either a CIB or wings....these were in the other jackets pocket? If he was a pilot (as his sister said) then it would be ok to wear those right? Otherwise I don't why he would have had them

[carbinephalen]

I had this group on my Watchlist as well. Great items!

 

I was hoping he was an artillery liaison pilot but this is just as cool!

[doinworkinvans]

I had this group on my Watchlist as well. Great items!

 

I was hoping he was an artillery liaison pilot but this is just as cool!

 

Hey bud - yea I that was my origianl thoughts as well, but it isnt looking that was as of now.

 

Hope to have his records soon at least for his AAF portion of his service.

 

Will order his Army records after that.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

[Timberwolf]

Very unique grouping!

[doinworkinvans]

Geoff at Golden arrow comes through again! He was able to recover over 40 pages of flight records for Mr. Morgan. By reading it appears he was a student after he returned from his 23rd Infantry days....started his training for AAF in October 1943. He got his pilot rating by 2-8-44 and was training in B-24s By July 1944 he was overseas with the 43rd BG/ 63 BS. Now, by April 1945 he had completed his missions and was shipped back home. He even flew B-25s in April. The records continue to go through 1949. It appears he did more training with C-47s and C-46s back in the states and he then did alot of transport duty post-war with the MATS.

 

I will attach a couple of pages to show what Geoff came up with! This is just a sample and he was able to acquire over 40 pages. I highly recommend his work and this certainly helps tie together this uniform group. Now to order his infantry days to see what turns up.

[doinworkinvans]

...

[doinworkinvans]

Also of note that during WWII his rank was flight officer

[BowlofRice]

This has got to be one of the coolest and most unique jackets I've seen. I'm a fan of the 5th AF myself (and other PTO AF units). Infantry/AAF pilot badged? Never seen anything like it!

[doinworkinvans]

This has got to be one of the coolest and most unique jackets I've seen. I'm a fan of the 5th AF myself (and other PTO AF units). Infantry/AAF pilot badged? Never seen anything like it!

 

 

Thanks bud - I thought it was way too cool! I cant wait to order his infantry records to see what all he did in the early war. He was even in the National Guard in 1940. Should be interesting. Thanks for the kind words!

[Dirk]

Great jacket! My father was in that squadron.....by the end of the war they were a night attack anti-shipping squadron that would bomb using a primitive radar where the ball turret was removed to locate their targets then flares to illuminate them. They were called the "Seahawks".

[doinworkinvans]

Dirk...I know that he switched to B25s and his squadron name changed ....can't remember as I am away from my computer where the records are, but maybe he was part of this?! Too cool!