Jump to content

1965 Experimental ERDL Shirt - Lieutenant Thomas Pitt


MajorBonacelli
 Share

Recommended Posts

You'd think right, but in my research for the topic I started with the 3 time CIB holders, a lot of info is simply not available, no info at all, or incomplete, like finding Vietnam units and or awards but nothing on WWII or Korea, or a combination of, Korea info but no WWII or Vietnam info etc. Conversely, I found a whole lot of them that were awarded the CIB 3 times that weren't on the Benning list, sometimes with full info sometimes with gaps etc.

 

 

Yeah that is true.

 

I was referring more to the idea, that you would think a WW2, Korea and now a Vietnam veteran with the 101st he'd have a bit of a "celebrity" factor about him, for want of a better term. even online in articles, unit rosters, stories and books. Mind you i haven't gone that heavily down the rabbit hole.

 

Especially with such an impressive career spanning so many wars and years. There is nothing on him for Korea or Vietnam and in Vietnam hes a full bird colonel. Also doesn't a full bird colonel command a brigade?

 

Again, keen to see his records to shed some more light on him but 5 will get you 10, that JJ wasn't worn in country like that.

 

Can we see the back of where the patches are sewn inside the shirt please?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Yeah that is true.

 

I was referring more to the idea, that you would think a WW2, Korea and now a Vietnam veteran with the 101st he'd have a bit of a "celebrity" factor about him, for want of a better term. even online in articles, unit rosters, stories and books. Mind you i haven't gone that heavily down the rabbit hole.

 

Especially with such an impressive career spanning so many wars and years. There is nothing on him for Korea or Vietnam and in Vietnam hes a full bird colonel. Also doesn't a full bird colonel command a brigade?

 

Again, keen to see his records to shed some more light on him but 5 will get you 10, that JJ wasn't worn in country like that.

 

Can we see the back of where the patches are sewn inside the shirt please?

In regards to Colonel.,In divisions, yes Brigade C.O.s or Division Support Command C.O.s (DISCOM), Division Artillery C.O.s (DIVARTY), DIVARTY C.O.s used to be Brigadier Generals, but that was changed, in the 50s post korean I should think, Colonels were also senior staff officers in the divisions. They could be senior staff officers in a whole array of combat support, support units, additionally, in the Vietnam era they were found as senior advisors over in MACV.

 

I agree with there, not an In Country worn item.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is Pitt's bio online somewhere? I wasn't able to find it with a simple Google search. His military bio should indicate whether he served in Korea.

 

As others have no doubt stated, it is mathematically impossible for any soldier to have more than 3 awards of the CIB and that would ONLY be a WWII - Korea - Vietnam soldier (for example, a soldier trying to claim 3 CIB's for Korea - Vietnam - GWOT would have to have been at least 18 years old in 1953 when the Korean CIB period ended. Even if you generously considered that he might have lied about his age and been 16 in 1953 that still means a DOB of 1937 which would have made him 64 years old in 2001 and far to old to serve in the military.)

 

Since the "Vietnam era" CIB period ran for 40 years (1961 - 2001), it is not possible for any current or recent vet to have more than 2 awards of the CIB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would also add that while I don't consider myself to be an 'expert', the badges, patches and overall appearance of the uniform seem amazingly clean and unworn for something that was purportedly worn on a battlefield over 50 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is either a post war parade jacket, mocked up 'badly' by the museum, or the whole thing's a crock

AG

I am thinking parade / reunion jacket.

 

If you ever go to such an event, you would be surprised how creative veterans can be... and without much thought or care about "authenticity". Just go back and look at the photos of veterans at any of the D-Day commemorations, especially the Airborne vets. The point of such jackets is to say "Hey...I was there...I did this...I remember."

 

This would not be the first time that a museum received a reunion jacket from a decorated vet and assumed it was a duty uniform.

 

I actually like items like this as they are part of the veteran's life story. It has it's own value in that regard.

 

But was this worn as a duty uniform? I would say no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Could be a printing error on the label

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think this may be it, I have found multiple DSA 100-68-C-2411 ERDL shirts online, I think it would be quite a coincidence to have two different contracts for the same item exactly the same. But I don't know anything about the inner workings of the DSA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this may be it, I have found multiple DSA 100-68-C-2411 ERDL shirts online, I think it would be quite a coincidence to have two different contracts for the same item exactly the same. But I don't know anything about the inner workings of the DSA.

Yes. I posted a picture of a label from this 1968 contract earlier in the thread. It is definitely a printing error/defect. This is not a 1966 contract contract shirt, but in fact a common late 1960s ripstop ERDL jungle jacket. And consequently has some serious issues related to being what the OP believed it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Yes. I posted a picture of a label from this 1968 contract earlier in the thread. It is definitely a printing error/defect. This is not a 1966 contract contract shirt, but in fact a common late 1960s ripstop ERDL jungle jacket. And consequently has some serious issues related to being what the OP believed it was.

Sh my bad, I forgot that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fixating on one digit on the label is like not being able to see the forest for the trees. All the full color insignia on this colonel's 1968 ERDL tells me this was a "party" jacket badged up to to be worn while drinking beer, much like the "party suits" worn by Vietnam-era USAF pilots. It's a great thing to wear while drinking and swapping war stories. And as stated before, it's impossible to earn 8 CIBs.

 

I suggest the title should read, "1968 ERDL shirt- Colonel Thomas Pitt".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For what it is worth.....Pitt is listed as having served in 3/504th PIR during WWII. The 504th made 3 combat jumps in WWII (Sicily, Italy and Holland), each with credit for an invasion "arrowhead". If he was a paratrooper in Korea the additional devices on the wings might make sense....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah checked two Officer Registries the 1967 and 1969 ones, both Regular and Reserves Component, and no Thomas Pitt is listed in any of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto for the 1965 Register, the Regular Register (No Reserve Component Register Available for years before 1967) no Thomas Pitt listed.

 

So to paraphrase Hamlet, Something is Rotten in South Vietnam!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

bravo_2_zero

I recon its a 1968 jacket with what I see regular as clockwork fiddled dates. You see it on 1946 onward Denison smocks where vendors tamper with the 194x to make them wartime issue.

 

in 66 they would have almost certainly been poplin like the other things at the time , 68'ish was the earliest ive ever seen ripstop in both solid green and camo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...