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And my favorite uniform, this unattributed Ike jacket, worn by a 1st Sgt who served with the 83rd ID, and later with the 8th AD.

 

Uniform comes with a German made "Thunderbolt" tab above the 83rd patch, yellow cross-stitching on the SSI, and green leadership stripes below the rank insignia. 

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83rd Comb 1.jpg

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eaglerunner88
On 12/4/2019 at 4:41 PM, Scarecrow said:

Here is another one of my collection favorites. US service jacket that belonged to Reade Tilley. Reade was from Clearwater Fl, he joined the RCAF in June of 1940, arrived in the UK in April 1941 where he joined 121 Eagle Squadron in May. He was posted to 601 Squadron in April 1942 where he was one of the daring pilots that flew a Spitfire off the deck of the USS WASP to reinforce Malta. When in Malta he was posted to 126 Squadron. Reade became a 7 victory Ace while flying with the RAF in Malta, earning the British DFC which was presented to him at Buckingham Palace in October 1942. Also in October Reade transferred to the USAAF where he was assigned to 8th AF Headquarters. In the photo attached of Reade he is wearing what I believe to be this service jacket.

 

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Your post made me want to look up more about this guy and boy what an incredible wartime experience he had! Amazing that you acquired this Ace's uniform. Is it actually ID'd too?  

 

https://acesofww2.com/USA/aces/tilley/ 

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3 hours ago, MasonK said:

And my favorite uniform, this unattributed Ike jacket, worn by a 1st Sgt who served with the 83rd ID, and later with the 8th AD.

 

Uniform comes with a German made "Thunderbolt" tab above the 83rd patch, yellow cross-stitching on the SSI, and green leadership stripes below the rank insignia. 

 

83rd Comb 1.jpg

Thanks Eric for the photos of this fantastic patched IKE,

Mario

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On 12/30/2020 at 11:49 AM, eaglerunner88 said:

 

Your post made me want to look up more about this guy and boy what an incredible wartime experience he had! Amazing that you acquired this Ace's uniform. Is it actually ID'd too?  

 

https://acesofww2.com/USA/aces/tilley/ 

Hi eaglerunner88

Thank you for your nice comment.  Yes, the uniform is Id'd.  

 I acquired it from a good friend of Tilley's. Reade donated his Eagle Squadron items to the National Museum of the Air Force and gave much of his US items to his friend, from whom I acquired them. The grouping I have includes the Service jacket, some loose insignia, much correspondence and notes between Reade and his friend and Reade's post war Air Force MA-1 flight jacket. 

 

Here is a link to his items in the Air Force Museum. Note he also only has the DFC ribbon on this tunic. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Photos/igphoto/2000513752/

 

Here is a photo of his IMG_5848.jpg.bd1a4d66ee7fee6d922484c0b88a1874.jpgMA-1 flight jacket.

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nguoi tien su

Probably one of the most interesting so far:

 

It belonged to Brigadier General John F. Freund, CO - 199th LIB, March - September, 1967.

Gen. Freund was born on 27 April 1918. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1940. However, upon graduation he chose to be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In World War II, he served in North Africa and Europe. During his time in South Vietnam, he performed duties as Deputy Senior Corps Advisor, Director of Training for Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), Assistant Director of the Joint United States Public Affairs Office, Special Assistant to the COMUSMACV General William Westmoreland. In March 1967, he was appointed as the 199th LIB Commander. General Freund was wounded in action on 7 August 1967 becoming the first of the 199th's three general officers to be injured in combat.

The jacket, as well as the patch and scarf were directly purchased from his son. The scarf is believed to have been a present from General Cao Van Vien.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not sure if this is exceptionally rare but its probably my favorite.

This named and tailor made USN aviators uniform with a great sewn-on ribbon bar and bullion wings/insignia. Got this one for a great deal online and it quickly became a favorite of mine

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After considerable thought, and  some great additions, i have to say this is my favorite pick up of 2020.  I have not seen another red 7th corps patch.

 

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  • 5 months later...
  • 2 months later...
Thunderbird collector

This is one of my rarer uniforms, unnamed but it comes with the garrison that has had its piping hand sewn. I Love finding 89th infantry division uniforms.

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  • 3 months later...

I have never seen a crazier gallery than this. This stuff is better than most stuff in Museums. Crazy! Ive got some collecting work to do ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thunderbird collector

My all time favorite uniform in my collection, belonged to my grandfather who was a combat radio operator with HQ Co 180th Infantry Regiment 45th Infantry Divison.

PSX_20211227_083805.jpg

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General Apathy

.

From the Shoebox . . . . . . . 

 

Two uniforms from the same wartime RAF Air Sea Rescue crew member,  one the short two pocket Battledress jacket with printed patch.  The second a four pocket dress jacket with an embroidered patch.

 

With a photograph of a rescue launch picking up the crew of an American glider that didn't make it to Normandy.  The RAF rescue launches operated up and down the English Channel and the North Sea rescuing downed American & British aircrews flying to or returning from raids over the Continent. 

 

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regards lewis.

 

..

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Here is one of my rarest uniforms, a first pattern army tanker jacket.  I would venture a bold claim and say these are harder to find than even m42 jump uniforms.  this one looks like it was owned by 3-5 different solders judging by the different names and laundry numbers found inside.  Its amazing that its in the condition that its in!

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Brian Dentino
1 hour ago, eagle mtn said:

Here is one of my rarest uniforms, a first pattern army tanker jacket.  I would venture a bold claim and say these are harder to find than even m42 jump uniforms.  this one looks like it was owned by 3-5 different solders judging by the different names and laundry numbers found inside.  Its amazing that its in the condition that its in!

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Wow, now that is something you don't see everyday!  What a jacket and it is in AMAZING condition.  Rare to extinct that you find another one in the wild that is there, let alone in this condition.  Thanks for showing us a real interesting and not often seen example.  I have only heard about these but have never seen one before.

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Here’s my rarest. This individual had a impressive career. Awarded Silver Star on D-Day as part of the 37th Engineers was at LT at that time. At the end of WWII was a Capt then got in trouble in 1950 and was demoted to Master Sergeant, went to paratrooper school and was assigned to the 187th airborne for Korea and made the October 1950 jump, where he earned the solders medal shortly after. Then transferred in March of 51 and was wounded with the 2nd engineer battalion in august of 1950. Large group with tons of letters and paperwork all came out of the woodwork. 
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Hi everybody!

 

here's one of mine, with an interesting flock of ribbons. Unfortunately I don’t think the name is the actual owner, because it would be nice if the jacket had belonged to the famous cosmonaut...

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  • 2 months later...
eaglerunner88
On 2/27/2022 at 5:07 PM, mkite93 said:

Here’s my rarest. This individual had a impressive career. Awarded Silver Star on D-Day as part of the 37th Engineers was at LT at that time. At the end of WWII was a Capt then got in trouble in 1950 and was demoted to Master Sergeant, went to paratrooper school and was assigned to the 187th airborne for Korea and made the October 1950 jump, where he earned the solders medal shortly after. Then transferred in March of 51 and was wounded with the 2nd engineer battalion in august of 1950. Large group with tons of letters and paperwork all came out of the woodwork. 
0F0F879C-47CB-423D-876D-F36648ED8008.jpeg.e54606238f93384410eefda74799aef9.jpegB7A8187E-D9DD-4E27-A8FC-386E9E9D3047.jpeg.38169fb9c9f33ce23bc1c389c529c36c.jpeg520086D6-31A0-4BB8-9600-498488A6C5EC.jpeg.f0b4aa94b928fd2a5110f855fb993cb8.jpeg2445792D-5787-481F-B236-CB2652C2C936.jpeg.5286c98a1777c5aafdae9b2789aa46c5.jpegF7146E0C-1D77-47D6-B9EF-C6FC1ADC6176.jpeg.fcff2ed0378b706b84e6448ee670a0c0.jpeg41FE66AB-6890-4322-B9CD-59CA5662905F.jpeg.513544400b9d5b670dfa4d69958bd387.jpegAE56F2A3-476E-475A-8060-1C7447BF7568.jpeg.95fc6dd6e02a8bbfac2a1351e9fbf125.jpeg

What an army career! Any info on what he did that got him demoted??

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just found this thread and figure I would share two uniform sets from the World War One Era that I own. I’ve been collecting Militaria for about 8 years but only started sticking solely to WWI items in the last 6 years.

 

The first set I have is one I’ve shared on a few threads which is named to 1st Lieutenant Otto Ade Arnston from F. Company, 369th Infantry Regiment. Otto was born in 1885 and hailed from the Chicago Illinois area where he spent most his life working as a lawyer. In 1906, Otto enlisted with the Illinois National Guard and deployed to the 1908 Springfield Race Riot and the Mexican Border in 1916. Otto left the Guard after returning from Mexico but was drafted in 1917 and was assigned as a white officer to the all black 369th. Otto was with the regiment during their entire deployment in France and was one of the 170 men to be personally awarded the French Croix De Guerre, Otto earned the medal with palm. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive, Otto was seriously wounded by a German bullet in his right shoulder on the 26th of September 1918, and after being evacuated Otto was exposed to gas when his hospital was hit with gas shells on the 3rd of October 1918. Since doing research on Otto I managed to speak with a relative who knew Otto before he passed away in 1971 and found out he was missing his right arm! I am not 100% sure if his missing arm was a direct cause of his wounds from the war but I would assume so. A rare uniform for an interesting guy! I had to outsource all the insignia as the uniform was stripped when I got it (minus the patch and French award loops which are original to this tunic.)

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The second set, although not as rare as the Hellfighter, is definitely my favorite. Both uniforms belonged to 1st Lieutenant Henry Boode Cooley, born in 1889 and he served with the QMC during World War One. The real kicker of this set is his cadet uniform he wore while attending the New Mexico Military Institute, which dates from 1907. Unfortunately neither uniform is named but considering his service matches up with both uniforms and I have his named wallet it would be safe to presume everything was his. Henry hailed from Roswell New Mexico, where NMMI is located, and passed away from a ruptured appendix in 1942. He has no living descendants so it’s kinda tricky doing research, but the uniforms and his wallet are super special because I’m an alumni of NMMI myself! His wallet includes a NMMI football game ticket dated 1932 which I’ll be sure to attach. (His Sam Browne and hat were not originally part of the grouping.)

 

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Hope y’all find these interesting!

-JD

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eaglerunner88

Otto's uniform is absolutely stunning! Is the French helmet attributed to hm as well? Any photos of him in uniform?

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49 minutes ago, eaglerunner88 said:

Otto's uniform is absolutely stunning! Is the French helmet attributed to hm as well? Any photos of him in uniform?


Thank you for the kind words! Unfortunately the helmet is not along with all the insignia and belt. Luckily there were still holes in the appropriate spots for the collar pieces and whatnot so getting it back to its former glory was pretty easy! Here’s a better shot of the patch, the earliest pics of this patch I can find are dated February of 1919 as the 369th was disembarking in New York following the war: 


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The gentleman who I purchased the set from (I also have Otto’s matching trousers which are very long considering he was 6’3”) had bought it from Otto’s daughter in the late 1960s but completely forgot any names as he was young at the time. You could imagine the excitement I had when I found Ottos name 50+ years undiscovered inside a pocket and managed to attribute him to another, near identical tunic which can be found here:

 

 

Ive been in contact with Otto’s family and I hope they have a uniformed photo but we will see! In the meantime the gentleman who remembered Otto that I spoke to provided this photo of Otto dated April 1st, 1932 when he was an active member of American Legion Post 15. For now the photo does the trick but I’m still on the hunt for a period shot! 

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-JD

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