World War II 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment A-2 Jacket
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GUEST:
Well, this is my father's. He's a, was a veteran of World War II. He was in the 507th P.I.R., Parachute Infantry Regiment. From what I know, he was in the military just before the war broke out. I see a couple of pictures of him wearing the jacket. He was at Normandy and he was at Ardennes. And he said he never was so cold in his life when he was in Ardennes in December of '44.
APPRAISER:
Do you know when those photos were taken?
GUEST:
Well, the back of them, one says October of '45, and one says December 7 of '45. He was 24 years old, and he was a instructor in England, teaching the troops how to parachute. He arrived not on D-Day itself, but after D-Day. From what I understand, the 507th was attached to the 82nd Airborne.
APPRAISER:
The 507th was an outfit that saw a lot of action. When you're think about World War II collectibles, obviously, there are people who collect just a little bit of everything because they want to tell the whole story. And then there are people who collect very specific things, and one of the sub-areas that is the most likely to get a big following is airborne. It just evokes the unit camaraderie in collectors today that it did for these guys at the time. It's definitely something to be admired. Oftentimes, they purloined these what are Army Air Forces' flight jackets. It's a U.S. Army-issue jacket, but primarily for fighter pilots. Fighter pilots, bomber crew-- It, it's aviation-specific. It's a brown leather steerhide A-2 flight jacket. It's a little bit out there. Normally, when we see these things, we're thinking fighter pilots, we're thinking bomber crew. And you would expect this to be a squadron patch, when in fact, this time, this is the unit insignia of the 507th Airborne. You know what this represents?
GUEST:
No, it's a spider, and it looks like he's doing a lot of stuff at once.
APPRAISER:
What this is is the unit insignia just specifically for the 507th.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It was designed by two sergeants within the unit, but it represents a black widow spider. If you see here...
GUEST:
Oh, yeah, right.
APPRAISER:
He's, he's got the, the hourglass symbol, he's carrying down the bomb and the lightning bolt. And I like the way that you phrase it. He's doing a lot of things at once.
GUEST (laughs): Right.
APPRAISER:
Which I'm sure these guys were doing, as well. More than likely, he got this in England.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Would, would be my guess.
GUEST:
And, and the patch would have been sewn on in England?
APPRAISER:
Yes. Let's take a look inside. We've got the label here, which tells us that this was made by Aero Leather Clothing Company in Beacon, New York. The contract number tells us that it was made in 1942. In fact, this is, I believe, one of the last contracts that Aero had, if not the last. We have his name on the front above the patch. We also have his name inked in the liner with his service number. If you're interested in preservation, flat is better than hanging. Hanging puts a lot of wear on the seams. Flat in an acid-free box with acid-free tissue supporting the, the piece. That way, when it's flat, you've stuffed these seams, and it's not getting self-ironed.
GUEST:
So, it's in pretty good shape?
APPRAISER:
It's in very good shape. On its own, without the insignia, it's a wonderful thing. With the insignia, it's even nicer.
GUEST:
I'm proud of it.
APPRAISER:
I'm curious, have you given any thought to what you think it might be worth?
GUEST:
I've seen online the patches going for, like, $800.
APPRAISER:
This is one of those cases where I like to say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This jacket, as it sets, would have a retail value of between $3,500 and $4,000.
GUEST:
Wow, that's, uh, that's nice. Um, I'm more proud of the service that he did, so, that's, uh... but it... thank you for that.
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