Army, Navy, Air Force grouping to a single serviceman

[Shakethetrees]

I found this group at an estate sale in a really ramshackle old cottage in a good neighborhood sometime back before the real estate boom. The roof was open to the elements, the place was full of bugs of all types and it was, for New Orleans around Christmastime, very cold! The daughter of the veteran and her girlfriend were manning the ship doing their best to clear it out so she could sell the house and be done with her father and move on. Basically a free for all ensued, and her open hostility was evident.

 

After locating the odd medals here and there among the debris, I asked if I could go into the attic, accessible by a long ladder through a trapdoor. The ribbon set and several silver tan sets devoid of any insignia and a zippered OD bag of some sort used for storage in aircraft. Hauling everything downstairs, this "lady" pulled out the N-3 parka that I posted a little while back, throwing it on, while stamping her feet and singing Christmas Carols in an angry tone! It was one of the most surreal estate sale experiences I've ever had. I finally talked her out of it for what at the time I felt was an exorbitant price, gathered everything up in an old footlocker and got to warmer places.

 

From what I gathered, he enlisted In the Army for WWII, was wounded in the Pacific, Bronze Star with a "V" and Commendation medal. It looks like he transferred to the Navy and went to China. He then, after the War, went in to the Air Force, where much later in his career he was stationed in the Arctic, being inducted into the "Order of the Glisnia Frigida", an honor similar, I believe, to getting a Shellback or one of the other spoof inductions indicating service in an unusual place.

 

I never researched this group, unfortunately. The silver tans are gone, one of the few things lost to high water in Katrina, along with some odds and ends field gear in the same footlocker.

 

To wrap this diatribe up, should I keep the remains of this group together with the N-3 Parka?

 

The zipper OD bag I found this in is not pictured yet, as I still have to find it. I will do so in the next few days.

[Shakethetrees]

Images of the N-3. I mistakenly called it an L-3 in the original posting, so search under L-3 for more photos and a more detailed description.

[Rogi]

What a cool group I'd keep everything together if I were you, it tells a story of the service member

[lettow]

According to his obit it was Navy, Army, Air Force. Enlisted in Navy at 15. Despite being found guilty at a court martial while in the Navy, he ended his career as a LTC in the Air Force.

 

Or there were two Jack R Booths that served in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

[Shakethetrees]

I suspect he was enlisted his whole career. There was nothing remaining that lead me to think he was ever commissioned, so I was probably the other Jack R Booth.

[lettow]

If you Google "Jack R. Booth" and "air force" you will get a link to the obit. He died in Houston in 2000. There are some obvious errors in the obit (DOB of 1936 instead of 1926), it sure looks like the same guy.

 

He served in the Navy in WWII on LST 937 which saw service in the Philippine landings (one star plus an arrow head), performed occupation duty in Japan, and went to China. He was on board for all of this service (despite the obituary saying he was discharged from the Navy and enlisted in the army in 1945). The obit also says he served at the embassies in Turkey and Thailand although does not indicate when or what service.

 

The rank at time of retirement is obviously wrong also. His marker is available on findagrave.com. It shows

 

S1 US Navy WWII

SGT US Army Korea

SSG US Air Force

 

BSM PH

[Shakethetrees]

Crazy stuff!

 

I wonder how he has an ArCom, unless he squeezed into the AAF and got it then before the AF totally split from the Army.

 

Not surprised about any errors, as his daughter didn't appear to be close to him at all.

[Shakethetrees]

Lettow, thanks for the footwork! This is a group I got before I was active doing Internet research and it sort of fell through the cracks!

[lettow]

He's got a knot on his army GC so he was at least 6 years there. We don't know when he started in the air force.

 

Grave says Korea but no Korean medals on the rack.

[Allan H.]

To me, this is a pretty interesting grouping and the ribbons, medals and certificate would make a nice display. So how do you incorporate a parka into the display? Medal collectors tend to call parkas and other clothing pieces "laundry" and tend to not ever display the piece with the medals etc. My reaction would be to sell the parka to someone who collects cold weather gear, USAF flight gear, etc. and to move the medals, pins and certificate to someone who will honor them as they are. This "group" isn't really a historic "group," so I don't see the value in keeping the parka with the other items.

 

My two cents,

 

Allan

[Shakethetrees]

I put this question up a while back and included it to strengthen his connection with his Arctic Service and the Glisnia Frigida certificate.

 

There are so many questions with this group. Some especially for what's not there on the rack. Medals can get lost, but I feel the rack is what he wore at the time of his retirement.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Crazy stuff!

 

I wonder how he has an ArCom, unless he squeezed into the AAF and got it then before the AF totally split from the Army.

 

Not surprised about any errors, as his daughter didn't appear to be close to him at all.

 

Don't forget, that even though the USAF became a separate service in 1947, they continued to use Army decorations/medals for a long time afterwards. The AF version of the commendation medal was created in 1958, and the AF version of the Good Conduct Medal in 1963. I would expect to see "Army" ribbons associated with an AF serviceman of the 1940s/50s era.