Original U.S. WWII Identified 82nd Airborne Division M43 M1943 Field Jacket & Trousers with Period-Applied Patch - D-Day Veteran Melvin Merle Hancock, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment - Wounded Three Times

Original Items: Only One Set Available. Technician 5th Grade Melvin M. Hancock (ASN: 35042893) enlisted on March 14th, 1942 out of Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Upon his initial training and schooling, he was assigned to Company G, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He was wounded a staggering three times while overseas. The set includes his M43 Field Jacket & matching trousers. We only just acquired this after finding & listing his full uniform set last month, a shame it came to us so late after the fact.

The Jacket, Field, M1943 was a standardized field jacket issued to Army soldiers in WWII. It was longer than the M-1941 jacket, coming down to the upper thighs. It was made in a light olive-drab OD7, later a darker OD9 cotton sateen. It also had a detachable hood (not included), drawstring waist, two large breast pockets and two skirt pockets.

This set is offered in rough service-worn condition, but thanks to its identification, we know that the wear is absolutely service wear. The jacket has a hand-stitched 82nd Airborne patch & separately-stitched Airborne rocker. There is fraying in the material along the back of the collar, and on the cuffs. The jacket retains its faint size tag, 34L. There is what looks to be a stamped name or other information on the interior, but it’s too faint to read.

The trousers have the proper star buttons and certainly match the jacket in wear and fraying. The tag is retained under one of the pockets but it’s entirely washed out and unreadable. There are no buttons missing and no size marking we could find. The set is named via two hand-written tags attached to the jacket and pants separately.

Melvin Merle Hancock was born on January 24th, 1920 in Lafayette, Indiana. He first enlisted in the Army on March 14th, 1942 out of Fort Benjamin G of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He went overseas with the 325th and fought through every major campaign, being wounded three times. He returned to the U.S. and worked as a store supply manager at Purdue for 14 years. He passed away on February 15th, 2003, at the age of 83.

This is a tremendous set identified to a thrice-wounded Glider veteran. Sets like these don’t come up often, so don’t miss out.