WWII Airborne Reinforced M42 Jump Jacket

In July 2007, a collector friend stopped by my house while driving across Nebraska to visit relatives in a neighboring state.

Our visits often turned into informal show-and-tell sessions, so I wasn't surprised when he began pulling military artifacts from his duffle bag.

What surprised me was what came out next.

Two WWII rigger-reinforced M42 jump jackets.

Although I had seen rigger-reinforced M42 jump jackets at military shows, this was the first time I could study original examples at my own pace. We sat in my living room comparing them side by side.

My friend explained that he'd decided to sell one of the jackets and generously offered me my choice.

The price was the same. One had the distinctive green canvas reinforcements associated with the 101st Airborne and retained its original Screaming Eagle shoulder patch. The other had gray canvas reinforcements associated with the 82nd Airborne but no shoulder sleeve patch. It did, however, have a soldier's laundry identification stamped inside the jacket.

At the time, the obvious choice was the 101st jacket. Only a few years had passed since Saving Private Ryan and HBO's Band of Brothers had renewed public fascination with the 101st Airborne.

I chose the jacket with the laundry identification marked "H 0608."

A patch identifies a unit. A laundry ID could identify a man.

It was the one that asked a question.

My friend smiled.

"You'll never identify this one."

Holding the 82nd jacket, I followed every stitch line the airborne riggers had sewn to attach heavy British duck canvas doubled over the elbows and pocket gussets. These modifications were intended to prevent the wearer's overstuffed pockets from blowing out upon parachute landing—lessons learned from earlier combat jumps.

I also noticed the epaulets had evidence of lieutenant's rank that had since been removed.

Later, I posted photographs of the jacket, including detailed images of the laundry identification, on a WWII collector forum. I summarized what I believed I knew about the jacket and what I was still trying to learn.

"I know this is a needle in a haystack, but I feel this jacket merits exhausting all resources."

After a few days, a collector in Europe replied.

"Chris, send me a PM please, I (more than) probably have found your man."

For more than a decade, this collector had been compiling rosters of the 82nd Airborne Division, hiring researchers in the United States to extract information from morning reports, duty rosters, and other archival records. By then, his privately compiled database contained approximately 43,000 members of the division.

After entering the laundry identification from my jacket, he wrote:

"In putting your request into my database only 1 (!) name fitted the criteria..."

The match was a paratrooper who served with both the 507th and 504th Parachute Infantry Regiments. This discovery challenged several of my assumptions about the jacket, including its role on D-Day.

The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment did not jump on D-Day. After suffering heavy attrition during the fighting in Italy, they were ordered to stand down despite having already received reinforced M42 uniforms. However, many in the regiment would later wear those same reinforced uniforms during Operation Market Garden in Holland.

He also explained why the laundry identification belonged to an enlisted paratrooper and noted that the removed lieutenant's bars likely reflected an earlier wearer rather than the documented soldier. It was a simple observation, but one I hadn't considered.

The database findings would have been sufficient for most collectors, but I wanted to see "H 0608" verified in the veteran's original military files.

I requested military records from the National Archives (NARA), obtained a copy of the veteran's recorded Honorable Discharge from the county where it had been filed, searched the Social Security Death Index to establish the veteran's dates of birth and death, and located his obituary. The Army Serial Number recorded on those documents matched the laundry identification stamped inside the jacket.

Piece by piece, the anonymous laundry identification became a documented paratrooper.

The question that led me to choose the jacket now had an answer.

Collection Details

Object

• M42 Jump Jacket
• Airborne rigger modified
• Gray British duck canvas reinforcements
• Laundry identification: H 0608

Veteran

• Technician Fourth Grade (T/4)
• 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment
• Headquarters Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
• Co L 156th Infantry, Parachute Battalion
• Dates of Service: 11/25/1940 – 09/23/1945

Campaign Participation

• Sicily
• Naples-Foggia
• Rome-Arno
• Rhineland
• Ardennes
• Central Europe

Decorations

• Bronze Star Medal
• Good Conduct Medal
• American Defense Service Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (Silver Service Star)
• World War II Victory Medal
• Combat Infantryman Badge
• Bronze Arrowhead
• Honorable Service Lapel Button