Vintage USAAF WWII Painted Leather Flight Bomber Jacket Dated 1943 \'JAP HAPPY\' For Sale

Up for offers and something you don\'t see every day is a vintage painted flight jacket that has the name \"Jap Happy\" on it. A quick Google search shows that it was a B-17E with the plane number 41-2520 that was assigned to the 13th Air Force 5th Bombardment group 23rd bombardment squadron and leading a night bombing mission over Kahili Airfield on July 26th 1943 . This jacket came from a local sale over here in the Puget sound area and was tucked away in an old trunk for what has to be at least the last 30-40 years or longer judging by the looks and has that \"old\" smell to it. There are 2 silver bar pins 1 on each shoulder as well as a large set of sterling silver wings by Gemsco NYC. I was told the bars and wings are for a 1st Lieutenant. The painting on the jacket does have some wear but looks awesome and is one of those items you do not see every day that would make a nice addition to your collection. It also has some initials and what appears to be a date of 1943 on the back as shown. See photos and email with any questions you may have and we would be happy to answer them. Winner pays shipping of $15.00 and adds insurance if desired. Payment must be received within 5 days from sales end. Thanks for looking.

On Oct-24-14 at 12:18:30 PDT, seller added the following information:

Some more info on this jacket from a generous member who said that the wings were for an enlisted aircrew member who could have been a load specialist or bomb armorer or a waist gunner position. He said the turret gunner had a different center on the wings and that with a little research one could fairly easily narrow it down to 1 or 2 crew members this jacket belonged to based on the kills painted on it. Hope this may help. Thanks again to the member for sharing his knowledge on this neat piece of American history.

On Oct-24-14 at 15:51:26 PDT, seller added the following information:

With the help of Google and another member we are fairly confident we pinpointed who the owner of this great jacket was- Basil Debnekoff was a waist gunner on the (Jap Happy) and it turns out he may still be alive and he used to live on Whidbey island, Washington just up the road from where I live. He actually posted his contact info onto another website under the 23rd BS contacts section a few years ago (don\'t know if he is still alive but I have his email address and his daughters phone number and will give that info to the winning buyer for them to further their research) he even gave some amazing information- saying \"he served with the 23rd Bomb squadron beginning august 18th 1942 in the 5th bomb group 7th bomber command stationed at Mokelei , territory of Hawaii. He said they flew B-18\'s until they were transferred via boat to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebredes on dec.18th 1942. He talks about being assistant radio operator to captain Burton H. Burns crew in December 1942 saying Burns became squadron commander and I became 1st operator. Assignment also consisted of side gunner during combat missions although I had the exciting task of being in a ball turret during bombing raid on Christmas eve, 1942 on the port of Rabaul in the New Britain Archipelago. We completed a total of 52 combat missions,26 search, and 26 bombing. Combat career ended August 23rd 1943 when our crew and four other crews returned to the U.S. flying our B-17\'s back with us. We were the last B-17 crews prior to the squadron converting to B-24\'s\" hope this helps. And thanks again to the member for passing the information on to us.

On Oct-28-14 at 14:47:05 PDT, seller added the following information:

Measurementsfor the Jacket are : Shoulder to Shoulderapprox. 21\" inches ~ Armpit to Armpit approx.25\"inches ~Arm lenght from Shoulder to bottom of Sleeve approx. 25 1/2\" inches ~Lenght from back of neck to bottom of Jacket approx. 24 1/2\"inches,I believe this is a size 40.

On Oct-29-14 at 17:09:49 PDT, seller added the following information:

One of the bottom snap buttons does not stayed snapped shut tightly due to years of wear but could be fixed if one desired to do so.