Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Group. This is an outstanding grouping including original dog tags, garrison cap, lucky penny, sterling parachutist wings, and a copy of the soldier’s discharge from the National Archives, identified to Private William Manteufel, who was a truck driver with an airborne field artillery battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. Thanks to the inclusion of his Separation Qualification Record, we have a fantastic detailed record of what he did with the 101st Airborne.

According to his Separation Qualification Record, he spent nearly two years in the ETO. He made jumps, following the dropping of dismantled equipment. After landing, he would assemble pieces and seek out a gun position. He served as a truck driver hauling personnel and food and equipment. He loaded supplies from ration and gasoline dumps and hauled them to his own outfits. He drove under difficult conditions of combat exposure and unfavorable elements of weather and terrain. He made his own repairs to his vehicle.

The group includes:

- William Manteufel’s dog tags on chain, with serial number 39117940
- Manteufel’s garrison cap with hand-stitched parachute artillery garrison cap badge on left side. Cap has yellow and blue piping which normally denotes wear by the Air Corps. There is some minor moth nipping.
- 101st Airborne patch with detached rocker, uniform-removed.
- 17th Airborne Division patch with detached rocker, uniform-removed.
- Lucky Indian Head penny dated 1902 on a small string, certainly carried through the war by Manteufel and likely how he survived!
- Set of Sterling Parachutist wings with wartime pinback, marked in a circular embossing on the back STERLING BY ORBER.
- Printed separation and discharge documents, rare to find and normally requires NARA.
- Printed photo of Manteufel wearing football helmet and another of him wearing his uniform and garrison cap with the parachutist patch in the same spot on the cap. Wow! His 17th Airborne patch is also visible with the detached rocker.

William Manteufel was born on February 24th, 1917 in Casterville, California. He entered the Army on December 29th, 1942 at San Francisco, and was qualified as an Expert Rifleman with the M1 in May 1943. He was qualified as a light truck driver and was assigned to a field artillery battalion in the 101st Airborne Division. He left for Europe on September 15th, 1943 and saw heavy combat in the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. He was awarded the ETO Campaign medal with one invasion arrowhead and the Good Conduct medal. He was discharged on November 16th, 1945.

An outstanding 101st Airborne grouping, ready for display.