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WIA 82nd Airborne Grouping - D-Day, Market Garden, Sicily, Italy, Korea, Vietnam


stealthytyler
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stealthytyler

I was able to rescue this group from being broken up by a seller online. I do not collect airborne and not sure what to do with it but had to move quickly to secure and preserve these items before they were sold individually. The only item I missed was the veteran's 82nd Airborne patched and named leather jacket from WWII. Maybe someone on here has it?

 

I was told that this group came directly from the veterans family after it had spent some time in a museum on the east coast (I have the museum ID cards that were on display with the items and a written review of the helmet by the museum director).

 

He was a veteran of North Africa, Invasion of Sicily, Invasion of Italy, Invasion of Normandy, Invasion of Holland, Korea and Vietnam. He received a battlefield commission after the invasion of Normandy in England.

 

He was awarded the bronze star for his heroism in action on D-Day. He landed behind Utah beach by glider with the 80th AAA on June 5/6. His platoon made their way to Sainte Mere Eglise where they setup a successful defense around the town.

 

In Holland, he landed by glider during Operation Market Garden and was wounded by shrapnel in the arm, hand and face. He spent 4 years in hospitals stateside before being assigned to the 11th Airborne Div, 88th AAA in 1948 with whom he served in Korea with. He went on to work in Army Intelligence in Vietnam during the war and is in the Army Intelligence Hall of Fame.

 

NOTE: The above service information is from my brief research of looking over his documents and finding information online.

 

 

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Amazing grouping! Great work Tyler! It’d be great to see Lt. McFaddens leather jacket as well! Hopefully it’ll surface somewhere, maybe even on the forum!

 

Rick

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stealthytyler

Just a note to reiterate, the above leather jacket is not in my possession...it sold to someone else before I could jump on it. I was lucky enough to grab the rest of his items.

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Screamingeagles101

Omg, great group!

 

Will you be parting with it? ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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stealthytyler

Omg, great group!

 

Will you be parting with it? ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Well, I do not collect airborne so... It was just a great opportunity to pick up this group and save it from being broken up. I enjoy looking at it in the meantime but will move it along sooner than later I suppose. I would gladly pass along to the right para collector. I am trying to contact the family to get verification on everything but I don't see any issues myself. I have a photo of the vets wife and son in front of some of these items at the museum.

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WWIIinterviews

 

Well, I do not collect airborne so... It was just a great opportunity to pick up this group and save it from being broken up. I enjoy looking at it in the meantime but will move it along sooner than later I suppose. I would gladly pass along to the right para collector. I am trying to contact the family to get verification on everything but I don't see any issues myself. I have a photo of the vets wife and son in front of some of these items at the museum.

 

 

Just an amazing group. So glad you found it. I would be interested if you do let it go.

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The A2 jacket and helmet (perhaps with the boots? Can't remember) were originally run on Ebay in separate auctions. I don't believe the helmet sold. The A2 has some odd features that made me scratch my head. There were things about it I liked, and things I didn't. At a minimum, I believe the liner has been replaced. I suspected it might have been a reunion or tribute type thing. I don't recall seeing the other uniforms in the auction(s), or all of the paper...

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stealthytyler

The A2 jacket and helmet (perhaps with the boots? Can't remember) were originally run on Ebay in separate auctions. I don't believe the helmet sold. The A2 has some odd features that made me scratch my head. There were things about it I liked, and things I didn't. At a minimum, I believe the liner has been replaced. I suspected it might have been a reunion or tribute type thing. I don't recall seeing the other uniforms in the auction(s), or all of the paper...

 

I saw the jacket sell on eBay and saw the helmet listed as well. I reached out to the seller and it turned out that he had the entire grouping so we made a deal to keep it all together minus the jacket. I called the daughter of the vet to verify all the items but she has not called me back yet. I do have a photo of the vets wife and son in front of some of these items at the museum. The seller gave me the review of the helmet by the museum director. The director mentions that the helmet was given to him by the family of the vet in the condition it was in. I hate to speculate but I would not be surprised if the shell was his from WWII and the liner was his from the 11th Airborne in 1948 since it is a rigger made Westinghouse liner with mixed blackened a-washers and green painted washers. I will update you all if I can make contact with the family to get the scoop. No luck so far.

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stealthytyler

Yes, I remember that the liner of the helmet was post war, which may be why it didn't sell...

 

The liner is actually late war I believe. Not post war. It may have been issued to him for the 11th airborne in 1948 but I believe it was manufactured late WWII. The shell on the other hand has to have been issued to him sometime between 1944 and 1947 due to his rank of 2nd LT in July 1944 and 1st LT in December 1945... he became Captain in May 1947 before being released from 4 years of hospitalization in 1948. Cant imagine a para helmet was issued to him while he was a hospital patient with an MOS of Patient-0003....thats why I believe the shell to be his from WWII and the liner to be his from post-war 11th Airborne into Korean War.

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BigDogMilitaria

cool pickup, and good for you for going the extra mile to keep as much of it together as you can.

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BILL THE PATCH

Congrats, that's an awesome grouping.

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

 

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manayunkman

I think, and correct me if I am wrong, that the two original auctions should be displayed here.

 

I don't know how to do it myself.

 

The reason for it is: it's part of the provenance.

 

Documenting everything here, on the forum, is part of the proof that these items all came together.

 

The more information and pedigree the better for the next and future owners of this group.

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stealthytyler

To help show provenance and evidence of the backstory, here is a photo of the veterans wife and son at the museum in front of one of his displays. The photo is not the best because its printed on paper (I assume the family has the original) but you can see his leather jacket with the 82nd patch and name tape, his LT dress garrison cap, his dress jacket (you can see the Purple Heart ribbon) and a photo of him in his combat gear that is in my grouping (its the photograph on the floor to the left of the museum identification card in my grouping photo). To be sensitive to their privacy, I blurred their faces.

 

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stealthytyler

Amazing! Glad you were able to save the grouping!

 

Andrew

 

Thanks, wish I saved the leather jacket though. Im sure it will pop up someday on this forum

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stealthytyler

These are the foam core ID cards that came out of the museum. They are quite large. Can anyone identify the museum based off of these?

 

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