MSGT Tom Heathman - woodwork Marine flight jacket group from VMJ-253, MAG-25

December 4, 2024

My latest “stuff is still out there” find, straight from the woodwork!

This is the first half of a grouping belonging to Master Sergeant Tom Heathman, a native of Versailles, Kentucky who served as a flight mechanic aboard USMC R4Ds (C47s) in VMJ-253, MAG-25, SCAT from early 1942 through the fall of 1944. He shows up often in their operation reports and was a regular on their flight crews throughout the period.

He was flying during the battle of Guadalcanal when he and his crews played an essential role in supplying the marines and soldiers fighting there as well as evacuating casualties, earning the PUC as a result. He continued flying through the rest of the war throughout South Pacific operations evacuating casualties from combat zones while bringing ammo, weapons, supplies, mail, food, and other equipment to troops across the Pacific. At one point they were even the hosts for in-theater training jumps of the marine paratroopers, before they were broken up. They got close to the action at some points too, performing various air-drops to provide immediate resupply for troops on the front. I still have a lot of research to do, but I’m quite stoked at what I’ve found so far! Not too many guys in the unit and he seemed to be quite involved in a lot of operations. He went home in late 1944.

While the seller, a friend of the family, still has to find a bunch of photographs and letters from the vet, yesterday she passed on some great stuff, including:

- His M-422a (I believe that’s the right designation) flight jacket with an Australian-made chest patch for MAG-25, and a pretty worn but slightly legible name tag

-Letters from his time overseas

-Some association insignia, a unit history, and a print version of their official patch designed by Disney

-Lots of letters for his and his wife’s activities in the MAG-25 association

- Various association paperwork

-Duffle bag with some sort of tactical marking I believe

-His Capac helmet liner

-Photos and other misc paperwork

Pretty stoked to add a nice local marine, and my first flight jacket to boot! Once she finds the rest of the group I’ll probably redo a full post with a complete researched article.

3,524 · December 4, 2024

That’s is a really a fantastic group. Congratulations. I know from personal experience that a USMC patched flight jacket from WWII is near to impossible to find any more. I think the chances are better than average that it is in fact a M-422A, although there were other jackets with different nomenclature in the 1943 and 44 era that might match it as well (the AN6552 introduced in that time period and is but one example). ). There is a great post on this forum started by forum member Kastauffer who seems to be very well versed on WWII Navy style flight jackets. The vintage leather jacket forum also might provide some assistance in nailing it down if you so desire, and some experts can even identify the maker based on pocket shape, zipper maker and other small details. I have been looking for a USMC patched flight jacket for years and so far have had no luck. . It is always nice when it has never been in a collectors hands. Thanks again for sharing your wonderful find with the forum. Kevin

4,536 · December 4, 2024

This is great! And I will second the above - finding a patched USMC jacket is beyond rare. These WWII groups are getting harder and harder to find. Congrats

December 4, 2024

Thanks both! I’m quite excited to have it and am more than glad to share. I couldn’t find many marine examples in my research so hopefully this one provides some good reference material for guys going forward. I’m also eager to see what photos and other paperwork she can find, as she mentioned having a lot of the planes and squadron.

@warguy I just edited some better photos that I will post here and on the sub you mentioned, based on what I see I do think it’s a 422a.