Man buys WWII jacket at Goodwill, returns it to grateful vet

By Mike Krumboltz | The Upbeat – Fri, May 3, 2013
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-upbeat/man-finds-wwii-jacket-goodwill-mails-back-vet-195713641.html

The military newspaper Stars and Stripes reports that Pentagon employee and military history enthusiast John Dodds was browsing the racks at a Washington Goodwill when his daughter called him over. Her find: an authentic WWII leather bomber jacket.

From Stars and Stripes:

"The leather was a little stiff, but the jacket was still in good shape. On the back was a bearded, red-headed man with a winged helmet, along with the words 'Red Raiders' and '22nd Bomb Group.' The label inside had the model and order number. The lieutenant bars were in place on the shoulders.
The jacket even had a leather name tag sewed on the front: Robert G. Arand."

Dodds bought the jacket for $17 and then made some calls. A day later, he had 90-year-old veteran Robert Arand on the phone. Dodds told Stars and Stripes that once he spoke with Arand, he knew he wanted to return it to the veteran instead of keeping it for himself.

Arand told the paper that the jacket was most likely given away by his wife, who he thinks donated it to a Cincinnati charity sometime around 1950. The Red Raiders, Arand said, were named after a commander with red hair, Col. Richard Robinson.

Via Stars and Stripes:

"Arand had flown B-25s in the United States, but flew more than 40 missions in B-24s overseas—from New Guinea, the Philippines and Okinawa. He flew the 22nd Bomb Group’s final bombing attack, a strike on the Kiangwan Airdrome in China. His last mission was a reconnaissance flight from Okinawa to Tokyo and back on Sept. 2, 1945, the day the Japanese signed the surrender in Tokyo Bay."

Arand retired from the Air Force in 1982 as a major. He has five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He told Stars and Stripes that he's looking forward to showing the jacket to his family.

Great story, thanks.

Thats amazing, thanks for sharing.

this uplifting story has four thumbs up and still doesn't feature in recommended threads...lets see what happens if we post again in it.

nothing happened...

Originally posted by Ponderable
this uplifting story has four thumbs up and still doesn't feature in recommended threads...lets see what happens if we post again in it.

nothing happened...

Originally posted by divegeester
The OP is quite old. Recommended posts are updated every day and only last for a week so posting or thumbing now will make no difference.

Totally made this up, but I bet it's true.

Originally posted by kevcvs57
I shall give it a thumbs down, perhaps the the rec gods like a bit of controversy in their threads.

Originally posted by Great Big Stees
Say, you are a rebel you.

Originally posted by kevcvs57
I was thinking outside the box, at the very least I got to thumb down a perfectly good post without feeling guilty.🙂

Lovely Suzi. Thank you.

That's nice Suzi. Thanks. I enjoyed this, as my boss (new boss) is Viet served colonel. He has lived ever since the Viet war in Thailand, and has taught for 30 years - just about to retire. He told me only yesterday, that he was shot, and an Aussie SAS guy picked him up and carried him, as he was bleeding to death, for 7Km running!!! He kept shouting to his shoulder, "Don't die on me, you bastard!"... and my boss heard him all they way. He passed out, but woke up alive, and the guy was sitting with him. They were best friends for years, until the Oz bloke passed recently. Even a small memoire like a jacket, and what this man went thru will inspire him. Bill said about Oz, NZ, US and UK SAS, for that matter, were just the best in Vietnam....

Be it any war.... old momentos matter a lot.

😀

Truth.

-m. and, thank you.