Flight vest with blood chit

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Yesterday while at my favorite antique shop I ended up buying something rather neat. A WWII 'or at least I think it’s WWII' flight vest with a hand painted blood chit to the reverse. I always thought the blood chits from the CBI theater were pretty cool, so I wasn’t able to let this vest pass me by.

The vest itself is ripped up pretty bad, but thankfully the damage didn’t affect any of the artwork to the back. I was just wondering if someone could help me identify the insignia on the bottom left corner, and 'if possible' provide a translation of the Chinese characters next to it. I can’t say I’m familiar with the faded insignia on the bottom left. It appears to be a winged serpent.. but that’s just a guess. My gut it telling me this is somehow marine related, but were marines in the CBI theater? It’s certainly a neat piece, but it has my curiosity kicked into overdrive. Any and all knowledge you guys are willing to share will be greatly appreciated!

P.S.- It looks like someone did a shabby repair job on some of the rips with black thread.

[texasuberalles]

Probably Korean war era.

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Really? That would be pretty cool. I don’t have many Korean War pieces in my collection.

[RustyRelics]

I don't think this is Korean war, as the one flag looks to be a Nationalist Chinese flag, not a Korean war related item.

[MAP]

To add, the Kanji is Chinese and not Korean characters. So I would not think it is Korean war era

[08SMLE48]

The insignia on the bottom left is for the III Amphibious Corps. It’s a dragon with the Roman numeral III above but that has worn away it looks like.

III Amphib Corps was active from 1944-1946. In 1965 it was reactivated as III MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force).

[Luftwaffe 1941]

The insignia on the bottom left is for the III Amphibious Corps. It’s a dragon with the Roman numeral III above but that has worn away it looks like.

III Amphib Corps was active from 1944-1946. In 1965 it was reactivated as III MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force).

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. It was killing me not knowing what that insignia was. After closer inspection I can see the Roman numeral III, it's just extremely faded.

A quick search online led me the the III Amphibious corps Wikipedia page. It states they saw heavy combat in the pacific theater during the war, and then were redeployed to Tientsin China from September 1945 - June 1946 for occupation duty. This would explain the Chinese theme of the vest. This is a very exciting discovery for me, as I really like early post war stuff. It's just a shame there's no name to the inside. I would love to learn more about this vet. Nevertheless this example will have a permanent spot in my collection.

Thanks again for the tremendous help! I greatly appreciate it.

[Anderson]

A good find.