88th Division 313th Combat Engineer Battalion Officer

1st LT C. F. C-U-R-R-I-D-E-N was born in 1921 in Salem, New Jersey. Enlisting in the Army in 1942 he was quickly put into the combat engineers with his strong background in building construction. He was assigned to the 313th Combat Engineering Battalion in the 88th Division. Shipping out to the MTO, Lt. C wasn't shy about being in the thick of combat. He was wounded in action THREE separate times and awarded the Bronze Star Medal twice. Leadership under fire flowed through his veins and Uncle Sam took notice. He received a battlefield promotion to 2nd Lieutenant on November 12, 1944. After his time in combat was over, he spent several months as an instructor at Ft. Belvier Virginia (hence the Washington Command patch)

The story of ID-ing this uniform is just as thrilling as C's. It came to me via the forum as an unnamed, unidentified jacket and whistle uniform group with a BEAUTIFUL bullion 88th Division patch. I was able to get in touch with the original ebay seller that stated it came out of an estate sale in Salem NJ. Upon finding a digitized 313th unit booklet with a full roster in the back, I was stunned to find an 88th Engineer from Salem County NJ listed in it!

I reached out to his family via ;their names in C's son's obituary and they provided me with a WEALTH of information, documents, and photos. I believe that this jacket was sold at his son's estate sale in 2012-2013. All that I added was the ribbon bars to reflect his service record (wartime originals of course) The rest is history as they say and I will let the rest of the photos do the talking.

NOTE: I believe the whistle attached to his enlisted 4-pocket jacket in the portrait photo below, is the very whistle I received with this jacket!

17th Airborne Officer

James H M c C L U R K I N was born in 1920 in Alabama. He enlisted in the Army in May of 1943 and having a degree in Agriculture under his belt, he was sent to OCS at Fort Sill almost immediately. He was a member of Class 83-43 which started July 1, 1943 and he graduated as a Field Artillery Officer on September 22 1943; a 90 day wonder.

2nd Lt M was then assigned to the 464th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and trained with them in the States until shipping out for the ETO in February of 1945. It was at this point that the 464th was transferred from the 13th Airborne Division to the 17th. The Battalion arrived in France on March 11, 1945 and on March 24 the unit made the Varsity jump. It was here that Lt M was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor. After landing by parachute near Wesel, Germany, under intense German artillery and small arms fire, he directed the assembly and firing of a 75mm Howitzer into enemy machine guns and snipers. He remained in combat until V-E Day. The 464th did not participate in occupation duties for long heading back to the States (and the war in the Pacific!) in July of 1945. The 464th remained at Camp Kilmer until its deactivation on October 25, 1945

M C C L U R K I N made the Army his career. When the war ended, he left the Officer Reserve Corps and was accepted into the Regular Army in July of 1946. He retired as a full-bird Colonel and passed away in 1987 and is buried in North Carolina.

This uniform came to me missing the 17th patch which I delicately sewed back on matching the "ghosts" perfectly. There aren't any signs of insignia on the other sleeve. It is a beautiful cut down 4-pocket which has plastic exposed buttons versus the gold eagle versions. The wings are pinback and simply marked "Sterling". Please take some time and look through the documents I have been able to obtain and remember the sacrifices this brave red-legged officer made. Thanks for checking it out!

Flying with Jimmy Stewart: The Story of a B-24 Pilot in the 445th

This incredibly complete grouping belonged to Lieutenant William O. Shank who flew B-24's for the 445th Bomb Group in the 701st and 702nd Squadrons. Born in Ohio in 1924, he was commissioned in May of 1944. Upon completion of training here in the States, his crew shipped out overseas in Jan of 45 bound for Tibenham, England. There they would join the 445th BG. Shank flew 11 combat missions over Germany, several of which he flew deputy lead to Jimmy Stewart's lead. Shank spoke of Jimmy as being "...very well thought of. On Saturday nights, he would drive around to all the bars and taverns in town to pick up his crew members so they wouldn't miss curfew. He ate in the dining hall with everyone else and refused to leave the control area until all squadron members landed their planes." Shank last spoke to Stewart during a book signing in New York.

Shank’s wartime service was over on a fateful day in April of 1945. Returning from a training mission, they lost an engine while flying in solid cloud cover. Unfortunately, it was the engine that provided the vacuum necessary for the flight instruments to work.  The aircraft went into a spin and became badly damaged during the spin recovery. They lost the entire left vertical stabilizer and also most of the left half of the elevator.  While attempting to make an emergency landing at Thorpe Abbots, they were waved off by the control tower because the runway they were lined up on was too short.  To avoid the village of Thorpe Abbots, Shank had to turn into the dead engine.  The aircraft stalled and crashed outside the airfield, killing 3 and injuring 6 others. Horribly injured in the crash, he had to undergo quite a bit of plastic surgery to his face.
After his release from the military, he went back to college and practiced Law until his retirement. He passed away in 2011 in Illinois.

Being in the USAF myself, she said she wanted me to be the caretaker and carry on the story of her heroic father. This grouping has over 200 original documents chronicling his service from his enlistment to mail from the 8th AAF association. His Air Medal, original aviator sunglasses, a set of mini-wings, association membership cards, certificates, his laundry bag complete this making it the most complete grouping I own. All of his flight and pilot logs provided much insight to the amount of time and training put in before a crew could ship out to a theater. I will let the photos speak for themselves. Thanks for looking!