WWII Airborne Reinforced M42 Jump Jacket

In July 2007, a collector friend stopped by my house on his way to visit relatives out of state.

Our visits usually turned into show-and-tell, so I wasn't surprised when he started pulling artifacts from his duffle bag.

What surprised me was what came out next.

Two WWII rigger-reinforced M42 jump jackets.

I'd seen rigger-reinforced M42 jump jackets at shows before, but never side by side, at my own pace, in my own living room.

He'd decided to sell one of the jackets and offered me first pick.

The price was the same. One carried the green canvas reinforcements of the 101st Airborne and still had its original Screaming Eagle shoulder patch. The other had the 82nd Airborne's gray canvas reinforcements, no shoulder patch — but a soldier's laundry identification stamped inside.

At the time, the obvious choice was the 101st jacket — Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers had only recently renewed public fascination with the division.

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. The reinforcements were meant to keep overstuffed pockets from blowing out on landing — a lesson learned from earlier combat jumps.

I also noticed the epaulets still showed where a lieutenant's rank insignia had been removed, with nothing on the sleeves to suggest an enlisted wearer instead. Based on that evidence, I'd assumed the jacket belonged to an officer.

Later, I posted photos of the jacket — including close-ups of the laundry identification — to a militaria forum.

"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, he'd been compiling rosters of the 82nd Airborne, hiring researchers to mine morning reports, duty rosters, and other archival records. His database held roughly 43,000 names.

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. The find upended a few of my assumptions about the jacket — starting with D-Day.

The 504th didn't jump on D-Day. Heavy losses in Italy had forced the regiment to stand down, even though it had already been issued reinforced M42 uniforms. Many of those same uniforms went on to jump at Operation Market Garden in Holland instead.

He also explained why the laundry identification belonged to an enlisted paratrooper: the removed lieutenant's bars likely belonged to an earlier wearer, not the man documented in his database. It wasn't something the jacket itself could have told me.

The database match would have satisfied most collectors. I wanted "H 0608" verified in the veteran's own 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.

H 0608 had a name now — a technician fourth grade who jumped with the 507th and 504th Parachute Infantry Regiments, fought from Sicily to Central Europe, and came home with a Bronze Star.

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