Airborne Troop Carrier named uniform group

[albatrosdva]

This may be a long shot but I wonder if anyone can help me find the service history of Luciano J Lopes.

He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1943. He died in 2015 and his obituary just mentions he was a WWII veteran of the US army. His grave says he was a Staff Sgt in the Army Air Forces.

I bought his uniform from the estate this year. None of the family wanted it so I want to find out all I can about him. I care if no one else does. I'm being harsh. Space could be an issue. The collar insignia and ribbons were taken off the uniform so I'm sure the family at least kept that. I'm wanting to find out what all he did so I can try to replace the ribbons.

 

 

The annoying aspect, which is also the most intriguing, is that his uniform tunic and his shirt both have Airborne Troop Carrier patches that are English made for the 9th Airborne Troop Carrier. I would love to know if he was part of D-Day, Market Garden, or Varsity

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I know it was common to write an article in the newspaper if a hometown boy was sent somewhere, promoted, or wounded or whatever. Is there anyone on here with a newspapers.com account to see if there is anything about him? I feel like he went through an interesting time. His first shirt is with a PFC stripe. His second shirt with the troop carrier patch (which I neglected to get a photo of the whole shirt, but it's the same as the other shirt except the patches) is when he was a sergeant. His dress tunic shows his staff sergeant rank. In two years he went from private to staff sergeant so there may be an interesting story behind his service.

I photographed the inside of the jacket to show where the ribbons sat. He obviously had a connected ribbon bar with clutch-backs. I'm thinking Victory, Europe, and American Campaigns on the bottom but I can't put those on without knowing how many campaigns he was in. The upper row, who knows, good conduct, purple heart, bronze star? He was a radioman so I don't think he would get an Air Medal but I don't know. Hope you enjoy. I welcome questions, comments, suggestions.

[albatrosdva]

more photos

[Basic Rifleman]

Reviving this old thread... Great uniform, and great find. In case you still have it, and have not found the information you were looking for:

 

According to this resource...   https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234781372.pdf    SSgt. Lopes was part of the 96th Squadron, 440th Troop Carrier Group. Specifically. he was assigned to Combat Crew, flight "B". One of the group photos showed Lopes as a radio operator. So, yes, in all likelihood he was a part of D-Day/Normandy Campaign.