VenitHora Posted October 22, 2010 Share #1 Posted October 22, 2010 in honor of the anniversary of the Battle of Leyte gulf, I thought I'd post a jacket that I feel fortunate to have. The jacket belonged to J.P. Haggerty, a radio operator on an Avenger attached to VT-29 off the USS Cabot. Haggerty's pilot Lt. William Anderson won a Navy cross at the battle of Leyte gulf for a torpedo hit on a cruiser in Cabot's attack on the IJN battleship Musashi. Here are excerpts from the Cabot history: "Lt. McPHERSON led the TBM attack with Lt. ANDERSON and Lt. (jg) SKIDMORE in an attack on the leading Japanese battleships. However, Cabot's shining hour of the battle came when she helped sink one of the world's largest battleships Japan's Musashi." and an account from Anderson himself from the book "wings of gold" by Gerald Astor: : "We got in pretty close, straight and low,opened the bomb bay doors, and pickled off the torpedo.....My gunner, Richard Hanlon, said he saw it drop and head for the cruiser before he lost sight of it. The radioman, Joe Haggerty, said he saw it hit the cruiser. I was credited for having hit the cruiser and got a Navy Cross but I'd be hard-pressed to swear to the fact" After the battle of Leyte gulf VT-29 took part in the sinking of the Imperial Japanese Navy's other super battleship the Yamato in the battle of Okinawa. "The Cabot made five strikes against the Yamato and was credited with three torpedo hits by Lt. ANDERSON and his Avengers. The Yamato exploded and capsized" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share #2 Posted October 22, 2010 name tag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share #3 Posted October 22, 2010 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share #4 Posted October 22, 2010 picture of the pilots of VT-29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted October 22, 2010 pilots and crew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted October 22, 2010 Share #6 Posted October 22, 2010 Fine looking jacket.Great history too. RD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted October 22, 2010 Share #7 Posted October 22, 2010 That's one awesome jacket! I remember when Andrew had it. I was 5 minutes too slow Glad to see it's in good hands. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry_k Posted October 22, 2010 Share #8 Posted October 22, 2010 Great jacket! We can see not many often this jacket with squadron patch! Thanks for photos and story. Regards, Jerry K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvatwad Posted October 22, 2010 Share #9 Posted October 22, 2010 I may be mising something, but whay does a radio operator have pilot wings? I'm I seeing the tag incorrectly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted October 22, 2010 Share #10 Posted October 22, 2010 I may be mising something, but whay does a radio operator have pilot wings? I'm I seeing the tag incorrectly? This isnt unusual for WWII EM jacket tags. The guy wasnt a pilot, but he used a tag with wings to reflect Naval Aviation rather than as Pilot status. I have a few like this . Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted October 22, 2010 Share #11 Posted October 22, 2010 That is an awesome jacket. Let me know if you are selling it. Named jackets that have been researched successfully are in my opinion the pinnacle of any collections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share #12 Posted October 23, 2010 Thanks for all the comments, I'm glad you all like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran1944 Posted October 23, 2010 Share #13 Posted October 23, 2010 Beautiful jackt, congrats!!! Fran, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Signor Posted October 23, 2010 Share #14 Posted October 23, 2010 This isnt unusual for WWII EM jacket tags. The guy wasnt a pilot, but he used a tag with wings to reflect Naval Aviation rather than as Pilot status. I have a few like this . Kurt It is a little out of the ordinary as usually the ARM's have the "lightning" bolts symbol on their name/rank/rate patch , at least I've seen a few that way . Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted February 6, 2013 Share #15 Posted February 6, 2013 Bringing this back up! Its a great jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted February 6, 2013 Share #16 Posted February 6, 2013 What a fantastic jacket with some great history! Another great post I missed the first time around! JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History Man Posted February 7, 2013 Share #17 Posted February 7, 2013 A beautiful jacket with great history, not too often do you see these patched! Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLeo Posted April 17, 2013 Share #18 Posted April 17, 2013 I found this topic while searching for some more info on VT-29 to go along with a squadron patch I just picked up. Beautiful jacket with a great story behind it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABrangerjoe Posted April 18, 2013 Share #19 Posted April 18, 2013 Nice jacket! I've always loved leather flight jackets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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