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Recreating My Grandfather's Uniform


wildcat123
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A while back I picked up a number of items to recreate my Grandfather's WWII uniform from forum members. I have finally put it all together (except sewing on the patches). I wanted to get some feedback on the placement of the patches before I proceeded (to make sure it get it right). Let me know what you think.

 

My Grandfather was drafted in July of 1941 and served stateside until early 1944 as a gunnery instructor at various airfields. He went overseas around May of 1944 and flew with the 466th bomb group at one time. I don't know much more about his service, he rarely spoke about it. I chose the four pocket tunic instead of the Ike, as a personal preference and b/c all the pics I have of him in uniform are in the 4 pocket. My uncle has his air medal with three oak leaf clusters and named Good conduct medal.

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Thanks to everyone who sold me items for this uniform, I appreciate it!! I'm looking forward to showing it to my Grandma thumbsup.gif

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Stinger Gunner USMC
Sweet!! My Grandfather was a waist gunner as well...

Lookin Good Wildcat thumbsup.gif

I posted the uniform I recreated for my grandfather last month.

Everything looks pretty good, I may suggest moving the SSI and chevrons up a hair.

SSI should be 1/2" below shoulder seam and rank is placed centered between the shoulder and elbow. In many cases with Tech Sgts and Master Sgts the tip of the chevron is only just below the SSI.

Smart thinking, posting a mock up on here for opinions before committing the time to sewing. Make sure you show us the end result, and a photo of him in his orig. uniform if possible

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Cobrahistorian

Glad to see someone else working on their Grandfather's uniform! I just restored my Papa's Ike as best I could. My Grandmother had it re-cut for her after the war, so it is absolutely tiny now and the patches were all messed up. I moved the patches to the correct shoulders and put his infantry collar brass and LT bars back on (even though the epaulettes are long gone...)

 

Stinger had it right as far as patch positioning, but overall, it really looks great! I'm sure that your effort would make your Grandfather proud!

 

Jon

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Very nice uniform! thumbsup.gif

 

I recently put back together a uniform that only had the Ruptured Duck patch left. He was in the 5th AAF and I replaced all of his insignia and even added a missing button. Luckily I had a wartime portrait photo of him to reference it by. You can check my thread out over in the Preservation section titled, "Repatching a Dress Uniform".

 

- Jeff

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Thanks for the comments and tips, I appreciate it. I moved the SSI up and chevrons as well...now to find someone to sew the patches on for me :rolleyes:

 

I'll post pics when I'm finished. Thanks again.

 

Tyler

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  • 9 months later...

Here's an update on my project, the uniform is all done (except I need to get the rank insignia re-sewn, it is crooked). A picture of my tribute display with the uniform, a couple pics, and a B-24 model I built a few years back (not a modeler, don't look too close). The glasses my dad had. They are WWII style and were around my grandparents house for years. Not sure if they were my grandpa's in the AAF or not.

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