The jacket

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I had a presentation for a writers group this afternoon to discuss my experience with self-publishing and such things. It went very well and they were such an enthusiastic audience that I was there much longer than I had expected to be.

As I was leaving, I put on my jacket and one of the women said, "What I want you to write is the story of that jacket, with all those patches."

This bomber or flight jacket is real leather and has a map of the Normandy Invasion (D-Day) printed on the satin lining.

The patch on the right shoulder says 78th Lightning Division; the patch over the right side of my chest is of a helicopter and says Authentic 1re Escadron; the patch over the left side of the chest shows three bombers in flight and says Professional Flight Training, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The patch on the flap of the front left pocket is a winged star. The points of the collar are covered by brass triangles with winged stars again and the initial W at the point.

According to what I found online,

The 78th Infantry Division was activated on August 23, 1917 at Camp Dix, New Jersey. It consisted of four Infantry Regiments - the 309th, 310th, 311th and 312th and three Artillery Regiments - the 307th, 308th and 309th. Twenty thousand soldiers made up the original division.
In France, during the summer and fall of 1918, it was the "point of the wedge" of the final offensive which knocked out Germany. The 78th was in three major campaigns during World War I - Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Lorraine. Demobilization at the end of World War I took place in June 1919.
In World War II, the 78th Division was reactivated at Camp Butner, North Carolina on August 15, 1942. After two years as a Training Division, the 78th embarked for the European Theatre. There, in combat in Belgium, France and Germany our men brought even more honor to an already proud name. The Siegfried Line, the Roer and Rhine rivers, the Cologne plain, the Remagen bridgehead, the Ruhr pocket - all lay along the road to Berlin, where after six months of occupation duty, the Division was officially deactivated in May of 1946.
The World War II Honor Roll lists: One Medal of Honor Winner: Nine Distinguished Services Crosses; 599 Silver Star Medals; 3,909 Bronze Star Medals and 5,454 Purple Hearts. 1,368 Officers and Enlisted men paid the supreme sacrifice.
In November 1946, the 78th Infantry Division was reactivated at Newark, New Jersey and in May 1959 it was reorganized as a Training Division.
The 78th Division again responded to the nation's call in 1990 and 1991 during Desert Shield/Desert Storm when the Lightnings 920th Transportation Company (Medium, Petroleum) was deployed to Southwest Asia and provided vital fuel for the Thunder of Desert Storm's troops and machines in their victorious campaign. The 1018th Reception Battalion, the 2nd Brigade OSUT Headquarters, and the 1st and 3rd Battalion of the 310th Regiment as well as the 1st Brigade's3rd Battalion, 309th Regiment with a composite detachment from the 78th Training Support Brigade, provided assistance in necessary Training Base Expansion at Fort Dix. The 348th MP Detachment conducted protective service missions for key national leaders throughout the world during the mobilization period. Coupled with the 78th's many individual fillers and volunteers for other mobilized units, the 78th Division's proud tradition of service was once again illustrated.
In 1992, the Division transformed into an Exercise Division under the Army's "Bold Shift" initiative. The new mission is to conduct small unit collective training (Lanes) and computerized battle simulation exercises for client units in the First Army East area.
One of five Exercise Divisons in the United States, the 78th Division is headquartered at Edision, New Jersey with subordinate units located in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.

The 1er Escadron is a French infantry regiment. I found an exact duplicate of the Professional Flight Training patch on ebay listed as a vintage, WWII item.

I bought the jacket for $8 (yes, eight dollars) at a thrift store in Chicago seven or eight years ago. The leather is obviously worn -- distressed, I believe, is the fashion term -- but it is in good shape. The map-imprinted lining is beginning to fray now around the edges. Whenever I wear it, people comment on it, often asking if I was in the service. I just tell them that my father was and let it go, usually. Daddy was in the Navy, but if they want to think this is something I inherited from him, fine.

Further investigation of the label in the jacket led to disappointment, though. It turns out that my jacket was made by GIII Apparel in the 1980s, and it is not authentically WWII at all.

This is what happens when you give something like this to a librarian: we research it and kill the romance. 

That is the real story of the jacket as far as I know it.

But it would make a good jumping off point for something, don't you think?