Hi all,

 

This is something I've been waiting on for a good while. My parents used to with the chaplain's son so I gave him a call one day and asked about further information on what his dad did in the service. I was actually asked if I wanted the uniform to which I was more than happy to say yes! He finally dropped it off yesterday and had a good talk. His son was actually a combat medic in Vietnam with the 25th ID's Wolfhounds. Chaplain Eastwood was the 464th's BG Protestant Chaplain. His son mentioned an interesting note that he visited Europe before the war on missions related work. Chaplain Eastwood wrote over 2,000 letters to the families of lost airmen. The church he pastored after the war is only a few blocks away from my church.

 

He was editor and contributor to one of the 464th BG's newspapers. This link will take you to them.

 

(Credit Wikipedia):

 

John H. Eastwood (May 12, 1911 – February 13, 2007) was an author, seminary professor, army chaplain,^[1] and church pastor in the United States. He grew up in rural Nebraska and earned a Doctor of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1941.^[2] He served in the United States Army 464th Bombardment Group during World War II,^[3] starting at Herington Army Airfield and later inItaly. His final position was as the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Hammond, Indiana,^[4] a church that he led to triple in size during his leadership.^[5]

"Our future is made sacred by their sacrifice."--Chaplain John H. Eastwood to the 464th's surviving airmen just after V-E Day 1945^[6]

 

(His Obituary used from the 464th BG Website)

Dr. John H. Eastwood was called home on 13 February, 2007. He died peacefully at ninety-five years of age. John had remained active, even after his open heart surgery four and a half years prior to his death.
John was born, and grew up, on his parent’s farm in Pawnee, Neb. It was there that he confessed his faith in Christ and joined the Mission Creek Presbyterian Church.
He graduated from Tarkio College in 1935. After graduation, John traveled to Assiut Egypt where he taught English for 3 years. When he returned to the States, John attended Princeton Seminar and received his degree in Theology in 1941.
John's first ministry was in Minden, Neb., where he met Shirley. John and Shirley were married in 1943 at her parent’s home near Souix City, Iowa.
John enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 464th Bombardment Group in Italy. As the Group's chaplain, he ministered to the servicemen who flew the bombing missions in the WWII European theater. John was deeply affected by this time and never hesitated to share the love and honor he felt for the men who knew the cost of service.

 

I'm very happy to have this uniform as legitimate WWII chaplains items are very rare. I think the best part is his son was happy I was going to be the new care-taker of his fathers uniform. No one in his family wanted it, and he didn't want to throw it out. So that made me feel great!

 

 

(From the 464th BG website)

 

(From the 464th BG website)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His uniform

Ribbon bars are wolf-browns which look sharp! Need to find out what his BSM was for, his son said it may have something to do with attending to the planes that would crash on the runways. Not sure how to go about trying to get his citation. May add a DUC w/ 1 OLC as the 464th earned them.

 

Hope you enjoy this one!

 

-Ben

always have loved seeing chaplain related items nice piece.

Thanks! I honestly thought I wasn't going to get this for a long time as I didn't hear from him. So after about 4 months I decided to call again, and he came over the next day!

I hear ya there I had acquired a coupe uniforms from a lady and said I could come see the others she had left at her shop everytime I tried to do it something happened and I never did get the others. Glad you got it is nice looking.

Thanks! I honestly thought I wasn't going to get this for a long time as I didn't hear from him. So after about 4 months I decided to call again, and he came over the next day!

I've had the same thing happen a couple of times! At least it paid off this time around.

Would love to hear some input from the chaplain collectors here on the forum! I

Not a chaplain collector, but I can sure appreciate the rarity of a piece like that. Being a AAF collector, I think this is a really great uniform. Thanks for showing it, and congrats!

 

JD

Not a chaplain collector, but I can sure appreciate the rarity of a piece like that. Being a AAF collector, I think this is a really great uniform. Thanks for showing it, and congrats!

 

JD

 

Thanks JD! I really appreciate it coming from you! You've got some killer stuff!

As a "chaplain collector" nice jacket and story. Did he keep any paper items too?

Thanks for sharing it.

Great history and presentation!

Patience pays off! That's a really nice addition.

As a "chaplain collector" nice jacket and story. Did he keep any paper items too?

Thanks for sharing it.

Hi Chap15,

 

Thanks! Not sure about paper items. I'm going to see if his son and family are willing to part with anymore. I think he thought I literally wanted just the uniform. I did ask if he kept his military chaplains kit, which his son said he remembered but isn't sure if it's still in his dad's house.

 

Thanks guys!

They say " that all good things happen to those who wait "--I'm always too impatient to find out....congratulations on a fantastic find. Thanks for posting

They say " that all good things happen to those who wait "--I'm always too impatient to find out....congratulations on a fantastic find. Thanks for posting

 

Thanks! It really was waiting game to find out. I had kind of forgotten to call him as I was in classes and clinicals. I honestly thought it was going to be one of those "My cousin wanted it" kind of stories, so I guess that kind of made me hesitant to call. Happy I did though!