a2jacketpatches
Active Member
Picked this up a week ago at my new swap meet for two bucks, looked a little ratty and smelled musty but for 2 clams, why not? To my surprise after a quick wash and dry, plus it hanging on a mannequin for a week, I noticed some black but extremely faded marks here and there. Upon closer examination, the back says VMF 513, the front left breast pocket says W. L. W. and inside on the liner is written Welch. Had to put a little effort into making these marks stand out because they are very faded and hard to see, but they are there and I believe they are legit. This unit was stationed at USMC Air Station El Toro, not too far from here down in Orange County so not a hard thing to believe. They flew the F4U-5N and then F7F Tigercats and saw service in Korea operating out of Japan and then Pusan West Air Base. Very happy to see a cherry pop out of this old timer.
