Korean War USN M-716 Flight Jacket Owned by William A. Bedard (Shot Down 9/4/54)

This is a Korean War era United States Navy M-716 flight jacket that originally belonged to William A, Bedard of Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19), whose plane was shot down September 4, 1954 about forty miles off the coast of Siberia. Bedard was the aviation machinist's mate, and one of nine crew members to be rescued: the pilot went down with the plane as he attempted to push a large life raft away from the sinking craft. The Soviets defended their attack on the aircraft by claiming that the P2V Neptune had crossed into Soviet airspace and shot at at least one plane, an allegation denied by the US. The jacket has two fully embroidered patches and a VP-47 name strip.

Circa Korean War.

Size 38.

Cotton, fully embroidered patches in cotton/silk/polyester threads. Resin buttons, leather name strip.

Zipper, buttons on pockets.

JACKETS FLYING SUMMER TYPE-S SPECIFICATION M-716 SU AERO U.S. NAVY L.W. FOSTER SPORTSWEAR CO. INC. CONTRACT NO. N383 S-18637 SIZE 38 on label; TALON USA on zipper.

This is from a United States Navy collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months. KEZAR(rtn) MCEJX08 LGIEX3/11 HldEJJX1/16

7+ (Very Fine+): The jacket has some very small spots of wear and some spots of minor discoloration/staining, especially around the shoulder areas, and is in otherwise great shape.

As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.