Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great 82nd Airborne ike jacket for a Private in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. The uniform is not named.

The jacket has an 82nd Airborne patch and rocker on the left shoulder, three bullion overseas stripes on the left cuff, US & Infantry collar discs, and a French Fourragere cord on the right shoulder. There is a Presidential unit citation over the right breast pocket, and four ribbons over the right breast pocket including the Occupation Medal, the Good conduct medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern campaign medal with two campaign stars, and the WWII Victory medal. Over this is a great Airborne oval for the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment with a set of Sterling Glider wings pinning it to the jacket. The oval has no stitching. On the pocket is a Combat Infantryman Badge. There is a size tag under the collar, for 34S.

The jacket has some minor moth nipping on the collar and across the exterior. The interior retains a tag in the pocket, with a contract date of June 9th, 1944. 

This is a great 82nd Uniform, with a number written on the lining but nothing identifiable. Ready for further research and display.

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (508th PIR) was activated during World War II on 20 October 1942 at Camp Blanding, Florida. Lieutenant Colonel Roy E. Lindquist formed the unit and remained its commander throughout the war.

After extensive training and maneuvers the 508th embarked on 19 December 1943 in New York City, New York and sailed on 28 December 1943 for Belfast, Northern Ireland, arriving there on 8 January 1944. After additional training at Cromore Estate in Portstewart, the regiment was moved by ship to Glasgow in Scotland and by train on 13 March 1944 to Wollaton Park in Nottinghamshire, England, where they became part of the veteran 82nd "All American" Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway, which had seen distinguished service in Sicily and Italy. A sister unit, the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment (later to become attached to the 17th Airborne Division), who were part of the 2nd Airborne Brigade with the 508th, were camped less than ten miles away at a former country hotel called Tollerton Hall, Nottinghamshire. During training in England Brigadier General James M. Gavin, the Assistant Division Commander (ADC), was particularly impressed with the regiment, noting that the 508th "looks as good as any new outfit that I have ever seen, if they cannot do it it cannot be done by green troops."

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment participated in Operation Overlord, jumping into Normandy at 2:15 a.m. on 6 June 1944. The 82nd objectives were to capture Sainte-Mère-Église, secure crossings at the Merderet River near La Fiere and Chef-du-Pont, and establish a defensive line north from Neuville-au-Plain to Breuzeville-au-Plain. There they were to tie in with the 502nd Parachute Infantry, of Major General Maxwell Taylor's 101st Airborne Division. Like most paratroop units involved in Overlord, the 508th were dropped in the wrong locations and had extraordinary difficulty linking up with each other.

Portions of the 508th regrouped and remained in contact with German forces until relieved on 7 July when they became the divisional reserve force. On 13 July, they were transported back to England in two LSTs and returned to their station at Wollaton Park. Of the 2,056 paratroopers of the regiment who participated in the D-Day landings, only 995 returned. The 508th PIR had, by this time, suffered 1,061 casualties, out of an initial strength on D-Day of 2,056. Of those, 307 had been killed in action, including the commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert F. Batchellor, the highest-ranking officer to lose his life in the regiment.