ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese flag

[levisandleathers]

Howdy... hope i uploaded these images correctly.
this is a jacket that we bought many years ago, and just unearthed.
no history w/ it. had a sewn on name tag at one time.
zipper busted, and replaced cuffs. Willis Geiger ANJ 3

Any info or thoughts on its possible history will be appreciated on this one.

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/7/6/9/7/9/webimg/367731187_o.jpg[/img]

tnx

Dan

 

[deeb7]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

 

[pipvh]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Caption: "A Squadron member of the US Marine Corps' VF17 at Bougainville, in the South Pacific."

 

[442RCT]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Nice looking vintage jacket

 

[Grant]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Not much use for an M-422a in the South Pacific.
Wonder if the paint job was added statside or after the war?

 

[Peter Graham]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

That's brilliant. Best looking jacket art I've seen in a long time. It would not look out of place on a late 70's/early 80's punk jacket. Do you actually own this jacket ?

 

[levisandleathers]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Hi Peter... yep.. lucky to own it. (or should i say, present caretaker, of the jacket)

had a vintage store for many years, and many jackets came through
but very few fine examples. Never could be sure if paint is authentic
or not...and was hoping an "expert" on here might be able to confirm.

my guess from looking at the paint, is that is original...but that could have
been anytime from WW2 on, as mentioned on here. Not sure how one would
be able to tell 1944 paint from say 1970s. Paint wear seems commensurate w/ age of
the jacket.

its an AN-j-3A according to the label, which im 99% sure is correct and original.
did have a name tag...i can see the rectangular hole pattern.

Can someone, who is historically inclined, please give an opinion as to jackets
importance vis a vis general history of ww2? Where on the scale does this theater and
vf-17 fall ?

cheers and appreciate the dialogue.

dan
seattle

 

[deeb7]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Ah, the horsehide AN-J-3A. It's actually one of the last contracts before the 55J14 series, so it's a little post-war, dating from FY 1946.

Here's a VF-17 history ...

http://vf-17.tripod.com/VF-17_History_a ... _Bases.htm

 

[pipvh]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Just did a bit of casual Googling:

There's a website devoted to the Jolly Rogers here: http://www.jolly-rogers.com. The original VF-17 wasn't around for very long - 1943 to 44, then reconstituted in 1944, switched from Corsairs to Hellcats. Original members were formed into VF-84, who also flew the skull and crossbones... Anyway, it's all on the site. The story of Ensign Jack Ernie's skull is apparently a myth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VFA-103#Sq ... n_and_lore), but a good one.

Painted navy jackets are rare compared to USAAF ones, aren't they? Does anybody have any photos of them being worn during the war?

PS: David, we cross-posted...

 

[JGC]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

If the jacket is authentic you can probably get a pretty good idea who it might have belonged too. VF-17 had 11 aces in the squadron, Ike Kepford was the top ace with 16 kills, and Tom Blackburn was the CO with 11 kills, that leaves 9 pilots. You need to do a little research, I suggest you try and contact the unit historian and find out how many guys had 5 kills. Good Luck

 

[Willy McCoy]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Hi Dan. What was the name of your shop? If it was Dreamland, I bought my first black leather from you in 1977. If your shop was on the corner of @ Summit & Olive I stopped in a few times as well.

 

[levisandleathers]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Dreamland it was ! hope you were happy w/ your jacket !
you still have it?

Dan

 

[pipvh]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Did a bit of digging. The VF-17 pilots with 5 kills were Ens. Frederick J Streig, Lt Harry "Dirty Eddie" March, and Lt Robert J Humphrey.

Great picture of Dirty Eddie March here (top left):
http://boyington.blogspace.fr/image/1247600581.jpg/

And here's Jim Streig (far right):

And another:

Cheers,

Pip

 

[Andrew]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

This has to be one of the all time coolest crew pictures. Straight from the Dirty Dozen.

 

[levisandleathers]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

FANTASTIC PHOTO !!!!! thanks a million...

now how to narrow it down.....ideas??
maybe jacket size... its a 38, may eliminate the bearded Steig on the right.??

Dan

 

[pipvh]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Here's Dirty Eddie March at top left:

 

[Stony]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

The photo with this caption "A Squadron member of the US Marine Corps' VF17 at Bougainville, in the South Pacific" is wrong as VF-17 was a Navy outfit, not USMC. I do know and can contact a living ace from VF-17 and will ask him if any of the pilots ever painted their jackets during the war. If not, it's probably a post-war painting.

 

[pipvh]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

The photo with this caption "A Squadron member of the US Marine Corps' VF17 at Bougainville, in the South Pacific" is wrong as VF-17 was a Navy outfit, not USMC.

Yes, I shouldn't have passed that on without a correction.

Amazing that you know one of the VF-17 aces. Can I ask who it is? Re: the jacket, the battle honours include ones that the original VF-17 didn't take part in (Iwo Jima and Ulithi), and I haven't found out yet who and and in fact if any of the original squadron served in the reconstituted VF-17 (I don't think any did), though they did serve under Roger Hedrick in VF-84 - though again, from what I've read, almost every VF-84 pilot except Hedrick was killed in the kamikaze attack on USS Bunker Hill.

Bit complicated...

 

[TankBuster]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

The photo with this caption "A Squadron member of the US Marine Corps' VF17 at Bougainville, in the South Pacific" is wrong as VF-17 was a Navy outfit, not USMC. I do know and can contact a living ace from VF-17 and will ask him if any of the pilots ever painted their jackets during the war. If not, it's probably a post-war painting.

The vet should be able to tell the real story. It's nice to have those connections.
Real painted Navy jackets are a rarity since it was banned in most cases.

 

[bazelot]

Re: ANJ JACKET w/ PAINTED BACK VF-17 Jolly Roger + Japanese

Very nice looking jacket. i am always a bit suspicious with painted Navy jackets. I would love to hear more about this one. If it is genuine, you've got an awesome piece of history. I have a painted AN6552. It was obviously done by the vet but it's impossible to say whether it was done during or slightly after the war to impress the folks back home.