Question About WWII/Korea Flight Jackets and Patches

[Colonel Sanders]

Hey guys,

 

I was wondering how common it was for patched jackets (AAF, Navy, USMC) to be worn on combat missions in WWII and Korea. Were jackets primarily used for R&R purposes or were they actually worn in combat? It seems like I've come across a lot of "combat worn" squadron patches, but more often than not it seems like flight crew members wore unpatched jackets (from pictures I've seen).

 

Thanks in advance!

-Cody

[Stony]

A-2s were not exactly warm jackets, so for the most part they were worn while on ground duty or for kicking around town. I mean, do you want to freeze to death at 30k or look good.

[Colonel Sanders]

That sounds like quite the dilemma

[Randy]

Generally, unpatched while flying combat. Operations security would be a big reason as well, you don't want to advertise who you flew with if you were captured. Gotta make them work for it! As always, there were exceptions, but I would say you have it right. The patches seemed to be worn mostly while on the ground or maybe during non-combat sorties.

 

Randy