Vintage Military - WW2 - Korean War Era Ike Jacket 11th Airborne Division Dress Uniform Top With Awards & Skill Badges

$300.00
Unit price per

Includes:
11th Airborne Division Patch
Staff Sargent Rank (E-6)
3, WW 2 Ribbon Bar
Novice Jump Wings With Unit Background Oval
Combat Infantry Mans Badge With Star (Second Award)

Condition is fantastic with all snaps, adjustments and buttons present. No stains inside or outside and no worn areas. Liner is completely intact. No unpleasant odors. One moth nip shown in photos. There are very small pin holes where the Unit Crests and US/Branch insignias would normally be located and above the right pocket where a Unit Citation would be.

Measured Size:
19 inches pit to pit
27” sleeves
21.5” length

Held in reserve in the United States for the first half of 1944, in June the division was transferred to the Pacific Theater of Operations. Upon arrival it entered a period of intense training and acclimatization, and by November was judged combat-ready. The 11th Airborne saw its first action on the island of Leyte in the Philippines, but in a traditional infantry role. In January 1945 the division took part in the invasion of Luzon. The two glider infantry regiments again operated as conventional infantry, securing a beachhead before fighting their way inland. The parachute infantry regiment was held in reserve for several days before conducting the division’s first airborne operation, a combat drop on the Tagaytay Ridge. Reunited, the division participated in the Liberation of Manila, and two companies of divisional paratroopers conducted an audacious raid on the Los Baños internment camp, liberating two thousand civilians. The 11th Airborne’s last combat operation of World War II was in the north of Luzon around Aparri, in aid of combined American and Philippine forces who were battling to subdue the remaining Japanese resistance on the island.