About two weeks ago I scored quite the gem of a uniform, and I'm really exited to finally share it with everyone here on the forum!
I found this uniform while surfing eBay for new additions for the collection. I have to say I'm surprised no one else scooped it up before I did. The seller's asking price was extremely fair, and the grouping itself consists of items that would easily get the attention of any uniform collector.
After I bought this grouping I quickly messaged the seller to see if he knew any history behind the pieces. He didn't know too much about the items, but what he did share with me I found pretty interesting. The seller claimed he found the uniform in his late grandmother's estate. She passed a few years back, and he's just now going through all of the belongings she left behind. How his grandmother ended up with the uniform is a bit of an interesting story. This uniform originally belonged to 'William H Younker' who was the vet that wore it during the war. William who commonly went by 'Bill' passed away in 1991. After he passed his uniform was then left under the care of his wife 'Ernestine Younker'. Ernestine passed away in 2002, and after her passing the uniform was inherited by a very close friend of the Younker couple. This close friend is the grandmother of the eBay seller I bought this grouping from. So ever since the vet passed in 91, this uniform has been through few hands.
After some minimal research on my end I was able to a find a photo of William and Ernestine's tombstone.
This grouping consists of an ATC patched dress tunic, the vet's dog-tags, a shirt, two garrison caps, and a pair of pants. The tunic is a beautiful example with some really cool insignia. The air force patch below the ATC rocker is a theater made bullion example. Above the left breast pocket there is a fairly common assortment of ribbons followed by a pair of aircrew wings. The right cuff has a communications/radio operator specialist patch sewn to it. The specialist patch was sewn in a unique fashion giving it a cool looking decorative border. The dress tunic, shirt, and one of the garrison caps all have matching laundry lumbers, which in turn match the information on the vet's dog-tags.
I'm beyond happy to be able to add this grouping to my collection! Examples like these don't come around often.
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