US 82nd Airborne Division wool Ike jacket : 360 Object 19410712-19450209.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Summary:

Description: US 82nd Airborne Division wool Ike jacket. Jacket is in excellent condition with no tears or rips, and ribbons and epaulettes are in place. Paratrooper insignia, combat infantry badge, Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct, and WWII Victory Ribbon are all present and also in excellent condition. Donor served with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division and is a combat veteran of the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes-Alsace Campaign). Label text: Band of Brothers [Paratrooper Jump Boots and Eisenhower Jacket] These paratrooper jumper boots and Eisenhower style jacket were issued to Voorhies DeWailly during his service with the 82nd Airborne. DeWailly joined the 82nd Airborne Division after the jump into Normandy. DeWailly and other paratrooper replacements were not sent to America to train, but instead attended the British jump school in Ashvale England graduating in October 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge he was "deployed on the west bank of the Salm River a few hundred yards southerly of Trois Ponts, Belgium. During the afternoon of December 22nd Captain George Carlson of Co. D. advised me and Pvt. Clarke that it was expected that the German forces would attempt a crossing of the Salm in our sector and ordered us to prepare to 'hold the bridge at all costs' and prevent the Germans from crossing. I hid behind a pile of old bricks. From my position I could cover the bridge fairly well. Sometime during the early part of the night the booby trap (on the bridge) exploded by German troops attempting to cross. We could see a very large group of German soldiers on the bridge. Clarke and I opened fire with our rifles and threw hand grenades at the Germans. Pvt. Clarke and I took heavy automatic and mortar shell fire most of the night. Next morning we were relieved. We had successfully defended the bridge at a heavy cost to the enemy." DeWailley's jacket illustrates his accomplishments as a paratrooper and includes his parachute jump qualification badge, combat infantryman's badge, and ribbons for the Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct, and World War II Victory.

Notes:

Description based on online resource (viewed on June 12, 2019).

Uniform, US, Army, Jacket, Eisenhower.