My latest entry of the things hanging from my apartment walls, which I am spending more time looking at during shelter-at-home. I like history, and I was looking for something that encapsulated the classic American experience during WWII.
This jacket comes pretty close. Because the owner wrote his name and serial number inside, it was possible to learn some basic facts. It was issued to Edward Devney. He was a 30-year-old farmer, single, in Minnesota when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Three weeks later he walked off the farm and enlisted in the U.S. Army. According to the paperwork, his commitment was for "...the duration of the war, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President..."
He had a high school education. The Army put him to use with the combat engineers, in the rapidly evolving warfare specialty of large-scale amphibious assault. Moving entire armies across large bodies of water, and successfully landing them on enemy shores.
Ed rose to the rank of sergeant, and spent his time in the European theater. He participated in multiple landings, and almost certainly had a role in D-Day on the beaches of Normandy. (It was recently the 75th Anniversary of this historic event.) Planning, training -- piloting a landing boat? I don't know Ed's precise role. His insignias say he was part of the American command.
This jacket even includes the "ruptured duck" insignia. WWII ended so suddenly with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan, that many were discharged with little more than the uniform on their backs. To keep a discharged uniformed soldier from being harassed by MPs, this insignia was hurriedly adopted.
When I received this jacket, it came with the local Minnesota dry cleaners metal hanger. At first I was going to replace it with something more substantial. But this was also part of the legend of the greatest generation. When called, they dropped what they were doing, learned new skills, became part of epic battles, defeated the super race, and then came home, hung up their uniforms, and went back to their lives.
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