Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is the heavily-worn & painted A-2 Flight Jacket of Distinguished Flying Cross Recipient & Pilot 1st Lieutenant John “Jack” Kenneth McDonald, 762nd Bombardment Squadron, 460th & 470th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, who flew a B-34 Lexington Heavy Bomber during 52 missions in Italy. He was also awarded the Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters. The jacket is painted to the front with a “50 Mission” bomb insignia, a motif of a bomber shaped like a Magnet with anti-aircraft fire exploding around it, his nickname, “Mac”, his pilot wings, and a black panther, the unofficial emblem of the 460th Bombardment Group.

The right and left shoulders are painted with the insignia of the 460th and 470th Bombardment Groups, respectively. There are 1st Lieutenant rank bars painted on both shoulder straps. The back of the jacket has an outstanding large painted insignia depicting “The Black Panther at Home”, which we found a postcard depicting. In this scene, the black panther lays on his side with a cigar in his hand and smoke emanating above, with his tail in a pretzel loop and his “coin purse” clearly visible. Within the insignia is 460 BG and 762 BS, with two small German swas’ painted above it. We found that McDonald flew a total of 52 missions, so this may be the evidence of those two missions being in addition to the “50 Mission” bomb on the front. Below the insignia is a very faint painted phrase, appearing to read “IS YOU AIN’T?”, which is likely an incorrect transcription.

McDonald’s DFC Citation reads:

“1st Lieutenant John K. McDonald is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement in aerial flight against the enemy. Consistently performing vital strategic missions against heavy enemy opposition from highly aggressive enemy aircraft and intense anti-aircraft fire, he displayed courage, aggressiveness, and intense devotion to duty throughout all engagements. His conspicuous and extraordinary achievements throughout these many missions against the enemy have been of inestimate value in successful combat operations and have reflected great credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States of America.”

We were able to find a photograph of a veteran, H.V. Byroads, holding his 762nd BS patch on top of what we believe to be this exact jacket.

On the left breast is his name tape, reading J.K. MCDONALD. The interior retains the original data tag:

TYPE A-2
DRAWING NO. 30-1415
ORDER NO. 42-8777-P
PROPERTY
AIR FORCE U.S. ARMY
UNITED SHEEPLINED
CLOTHING CO.
LONG BRANCH, N.J.
38

The lining is now partially torn along the top edge, but is mostly intact otherwise. There is heavy wear to the paint on the front and shoulders of the jacket. There are a couple of holes in the 460th BS insignia on the right shoulder. The black panther and pilot wings on the front of the jacket have the most paint loss, with the magnet bomber in good shape though the exploding bombs around it show heavy loss. There is heavy wear to the leather across the jacket with crazing and some cracking in spots.

The knit cuffs of the jacket are now entirely gone, with only small threads remaining along the edges. The knit waistband is intact and in good overall condition. The zipper is now broken, with the tab gone and the attachment piece broken off, and some of the pieces broken off. It was made by Crown.

Included in the pocket are two small strips of paper identifying the jacket to McDonald. We have two printed pages showing the photo of McDonald and his DFC citation newspaper article in one of the pockets.

John “Jack” Kenneth McDonald was born on January 14th, 1922 in Oakland, California. He lived in Trinity Center, California for most of his life, and graduated from Shasta Union High School in the Class of 1940. He entered the Army Air Forces at Mather Field, Sacramento on November 22nd, 1942, completing 18 weeks of primary and basic training at Visalia and Chico, California. He received his pilot’s wings at the AAF Advanced Flying School, Stockton in February 1944. He traveled overseas as a heavy bomber pilot, and joined the 762nd Bombardment Squadron, 460th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, flying a total of 52 missions over Italy and Germany. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with Three OLCs. He returned home and joined the 2126th Army Air Force base unit, and was discharged on August 3rd, 1945. After returning to Trinity Center, he ran heavy equipment in the woods and for Trinity County Road Department. He also served as a Trinity County Supervisor for eight years, representing the North County area. He continued working for the Trinity County Road Department retiring in 1984. He returned to the woods working for his brother Bud, finally retiring at age 87. He passed away on March 21st, 2022, two months after his 100th birthday. The only reference to what aircraft he flew was in his obituary, mentioning that he flew B-34 Heavy bombers. However, we found that the 762nd Bombardment Group only flew the B-24 Liberator Bomber, so this may have been a typo in the obituary.

This is a fantastic example of what has become the most sought-after uniform piece of the Second World War, covered in painted insignia and worn by a combat bomber pilot, having flown a staggering 52 combat missions and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. There are some serious condition issues, but this will still become a welcome centerpiece to any WWII or Aviation collection.

Approximate Measurements
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 21"
Shoulder to shoulder: 17"
Chest width: 20.5"
Waist: 20.5"
Front length: 23"