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Dude of the Day 2
- Thread starter ZuZu
- Start date
Edward
Well-Known Member
gotsta look good when bombin' Dem Natsees
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
It IS a uniform.....gotsta look good when bombin' Dem Natsees
YoungMedic
Well-Known Member
An officers uniform at that, gotta look the part. I have an Army Officers Manual from 1906 which elaborates quite a bit on the standards for officers in sort of a gentleman's club kind of way, very old school chivalrous types of standards back then still
B-Man2
Well-Known Member
It’s one thing to have to wear a shirt and a tie as your winging your way at 20,000ft above your enemy , but totally different when you’re on the ground crawling around in the mud , blood and guts of the people around you and trying to stay alive in a mud and water soaked foxhole covered with logs to save your ass from the tree blasts of a German 88 . Patton demanded that all of his officers wore a tie while doing just that sort of thing . Wayyyy over the top in my opinion .
YoungMedic
Well-Known Member
Makes for a nice tourniquet though, probably not great for hand to hand combat
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
By the time you got a well tied tie sorted and around an arterial bleed you would be done....
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Maverickson
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Since it is the birthday (of my size 38 Switlik Parachute and Equipment Co. size 38 (as seen here https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/happy-80th-birtday-to-my-m-422.26680/ ) I thought my M-422 jacket's original owner Lt. P. Edelle Pirtle qualified as a good candidate for Dude of the Day.
The pic reads to have been was taken on Attu with his crew. The A/C is a PV-1 Ventura which were fitted with an extra fuel tank for the 1,500 mile long combat flights. Flown from Attu to the Kurile Islands.
Lt. Pirtle is seen wearing his M-445 and he is armed to the teeth. Yes, I believe that he is also wearing a tie!
Along with his M-422 jacket I also received his side arm and same survival knife as seen in the pic above. Apparently the knife was a gift to him from his crew. Which he was said to have preferred over his USN issue.
Cheers, Dave
Since it is the birthday (of my size 38 Switlik Parachute and Equipment Co. size 38 (as seen here https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/happy-80th-birtday-to-my-m-422.26680/ ) I thought my M-422 jacket's original owner Lt. P. Edelle Pirtle qualified as a good candidate for Dude of the Day.
The pic reads to have been was taken on Attu with his crew. The A/C is a PV-1 Ventura which were fitted with an extra fuel tank for the 1,500 mile long combat flights. Flown from Attu to the Kurile Islands.
Lt. Pirtle is seen wearing his M-445 and he is armed to the teeth. Yes, I believe that he is also wearing a tie!
Along with his M-422 jacket I also received his side arm and same survival knife as seen in the pic above. Apparently the knife was a gift to him from his crew. Which he was said to have preferred over his USN issue.
Cheers, Dave
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ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Very crisp picture!
B-Man2
Well-Known Member
Looking at the tail of his aircraft, it looks like he bombed a few Japanese targets . Just wondering if the Japanese flags represent ships or general enemy targets? Anyone have any ideas? If they were on a fighter they’d be Japanese planes but I don’t think that’s the case here.
Maverickson
Well-Known Member
This image was from an official U.S. Navy Dept. photo & professionally done. Included on the reverse of the photo are all Edelle's crew member's names.
Cheers, Dave
Maverickson
Well-Known Member
In researching Lt. P.E. Pirtle USNR I found several of his post action reports. Among those combat missions I found him engaging Japanese air craft, land targets and shipping.
The Ventura used by VB-135 had forward firing, top turret, belly guns and carried bombs. These fellows actually engaged the enemy either as a bomber or fighter.
The pic seen above is the same type of A/C flown by VB-135 & taken on Attu. The original heading indicated that it is a combat mission to the Kurile Islands. Note the fellows are wearing M-422a type jackets.
These guys were a courageous group of fellows. That water was cold. It was not an easy task to complete one of these 1,500 mile missions.
Cheers, Dave
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B-Man2
Well-Known Member
Dave
Thanks for that. Definitely an interesting topic and a more interesting flight jacket.
The PV-1 isn’t an aircraft I’m familiar with so I looked it up . Here’s some info on it .
en.m.wikipedia.org
Thanks for that. Definitely an interesting topic and a more interesting flight jacket.
The PV-1 isn’t an aircraft I’m familiar with so I looked it up . Here’s some info on it .
Lockheed Ventura - Wikipedia
YoungMedic
Well-Known Member
Yes I saw it mentioned here a few months ago and had to look it up, I'm always amazed to see something new of something you think you have seen so much of
