Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. Edward “Ed” J. Hallo (ASN: 16152019) enlisted in the US Army on December 7, 1942, exactly one year after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. Ed was born in 1920 in Toledo, Ohio. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1925 where he grew up and graduated from Northwestern High school in 1939. Ed went to work at the Ford Rouge plant, but when the war started, he joined the army and volunteered for the Airborne.

Following his initial training, Ed Hallo was sent over to England to prepare for the invasion of France. Three days prior to the invasion, they made their final training jump at night in England. Over 350 men were injured, mostly with broken bones and were not able to make the jump on D-Day. Ed broke his leg and was assigned to guarding equipment. It was there, on the best day of his life, that he met a lovely British girl named Sylvia.

Two months later, the British forces were stalled in France, and the 501st geared up and made a jump to break up the enemy attack. This time Ed was present and did so with a still injured leg. With this added pressure to their rear, the German forces pulled back, and the British pushed them into Holland. A large part of the British force was cut off, and the communications were lost in Nijmegen. The 501st was sent in to open and hold the main road to allow the rescue team to reach the surrounded forces. This was to be a one day operation, which turned out to be a 72-day mission.

Upon their return to their base in France, the 501st was given some time to rest, and several officers and men went on leave to Paris. One night the orders came down that all personnel were to grab their warming layers, uniforms, ammo etc and load up on transportation which was already staged and ready. With many of the Officers still on leave, they found themselves in Belgium, just northwest of Bastogne, where they would stay and fight in the infamous Battle of the Bulge. With the 502nd Regiment, (made famous in the Band of Brothers series) to their right, they were surrounded, without food, low on everything, and unable to dig into the frozen ground for cover. Then came the snow along with the temperature drop.

The people in the area gave up their linen so the US forces could cover their helmets and rifles to blend into the snow. With limited ammunition, they had to wait until the attacking Germans got within 30 feet before opening fire. Food, weapons and supplies were scavenged from the fallen, many of whom fell feet from their line.

The final German push was set to begin, and the Germans demanded surrender. It was here General McAuliffe gave his famous reply of "NUTS."

General Patton had pushed his forces north for three days to break the siege at Bastogne. With the Germans attacking, Patton's 3rd Armored crashed their flank and entered Bastogne. Then as the skies cleared, the Army Air Forces went to work, with transports dropping food, supplies and medical help. P-51s filled the skies destroying any target they saw. The battle was soon over and the 101st was finally able to catch their breath.

The spring push into Germany began early. As the allied forces liberated more death and labor camps, they feared that the American prisoners of war would be killed also. The 501st was moved to France and equipped to liberate the allies held captive in these camps. The mission was called off because the Red Army was moving so fast that many of the camps were abandoned, or in some cases, the Germans marched the captured prisoners to the allied forces and surrendered.

The war for Ed Hallo was soon over and he went to England for training and school. During this time he married Sylvia. In 1946 he finally found himself stateside and soon after received an Honorable Discharge. In 1947 Sylvia joined him and soon after they started a family.

The Ike jacket is in near pristine, well cared for condition. The size is a 36 Small and features a lovely “Screaming Eagle” Old Abe patch with Airborne rocker on the left sleeve. Old Abe, a bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. Later, his image was adopted as the eagle appearing on a globe in Case Corporation's logo and as the screaming eagle on the insignia of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

Other features on the uniform include Sergeant chevrons on each sleeve with 4 overseas bars and single service stripe on the lower left sleeve. The collars have the standard “US” and Crossed Rifles discs. Above the left breast pocket are the ribbons for the following medals; Good Conduct, American Campaign and European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign which appears to have once had devices on it. Above the ribbon bar is a lovely red with blue trim oval for the 501st PIR and a set of beautiful jump wings which has a Bronze Arrowhead flanked by a single bronze star on each side.

The right breast pocket has a Presidential Unit Citation with cluster and the outline of what once was a Ruptured Duck patch now removed.

This is an incredible Ike jacket with such an incredible story attached to it. It doesn’t get any better than this one! Comes more than ready for further research and display.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16”
Chest width: 18”
Waist width: 18”
Hip width: 18”
Front length: 24"