Vet reunited with A2 Jacket - a $17 Goodwill purchase!

[Mr. Scratch]

Guy buys an original WWII A-2 at GOODWILL for $17, and tracks down it's original owner to give back to him.

Heartwarming tale and all, I have to admit though, this line from the vet makes me a bit nervous:
“I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want the jacket after all these years,” he said."

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/luck-goodwill-reuniting-wwii-vet-with-bomber-jacket-1.218471

Looking at the jacket in question, and being a selfish ba***rd, I think I'd have a hard time letting that one go.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Can't help thinking that he should have given the charity shop more than $17 for it when he realised what it was. They make good use of the money they earn for good causes.

 

[B-24J]

Amazing condition and story!

I too would want to track down the owner for the story behind the jacket. But unless he specifically requested the jacket returned, I would probably keep it. And yes, I would give the Goodwill a hefty contribution.

John

 

[frussell]

Nice to see that kind of story. We had a similar, non-military circumstance happen in my family a few years ago. A local collector found a pair of my great grandfather's (guy in my icon) spurs at a flea market, and gave them back to my grandfather, who was thrilled to see them again. They are still in the family collection, along with his 1880s Miles City saddle and bridle. Thankfully, my great grandfather was a bit of a freak about labeling his stuff with his name, even all his tools. Frank

 

[MrBern]

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

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-upbeat/man-finds-wwii-jacket-goodwill-mails-back-vet-195713641.html

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.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Thanks, Bern. Just plain nice story!

 

[p51]

Probably the only WW2 flight jacket to go for that little in generations. Most Goodwill stores have a few collectors that military stuff automatically gets filtered to and the public never sees it..

 

[HOP UP]

Great story, damn I love original A2s.

$17 clams for a jacket like that...WOW !

HOP UP

 

[CISO1969]

Probably the only WW2 flight jacket to go for that little in generations. Most Goodwill stores have a few collectors that military stuff automatically gets filtered to and the public never sees it..

When I was in grad school I'd check all the thrifts regularly in my area of Philly and a few of the larger rag mills in brooklyn. I scored a huge M43 Field jacket I used in re-eancting as well as other bits and pieces. One score in Philly was a Pacific theater , khaki cotton Navy flieght jacket. Un named but had teh Buraero label in it. Alas I wasnt as up on my flight jackets and was into Vietnam war items and traded it for far less then it was worth i am sure. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Yep, people getting "insider" help at these places was just starting then. Guys would grab one of the workers and pay him a set rate for all the military stuff he squirreld away in theback for them. Yep and it takes the fun out of checking out Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. That was half the fun, the search and the hunt and then ACTUALLY finding something.

Thankfully my searches are for items I know I can resell for more money or for vintage and other items I want for myself. I am finding pieces but also find the shops are now hugely crowded with "American Picker" wannabes and potential "Ebay Millionaires" ... so where's the next frontier? who knows

Ciso

 

[Trotsky]

Last year I had SOME luck at the thrifts. Found a USAAF Survival vest, the one with the integral .45 holster, for $10. Same shop also had ARVN Para camo shirts and a unissued US made Tiger stripe shirt.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Some decent Vietnam stuff here and there. Gotta know what you're looking for and what you're looking at. Two weeks ago, I found a minty 1971 jungle shirt in 3XL at the swap meet, knew that it would get over a hundred just because of the size, and for 5 bucks was worth grabbing anyway. But then a week ago I picked up what I thought was three m1967 USMC butt packs for 5 bucks each. If they were the valuable ones they'd be a couple hundred each, but they turned out to be 5 dollar training packs. The only difference is that the training packs are missing eyelets on one side, otherwise the spitting image of the high priced one. But along with those packs I also bought an M1967 USMC Field Pack for 5 bucks and it sold for $204.00 If it had the harness straps it would have fetched around 500 bucks.

So as expected, I think the new frontier is Vietnam stuff. The nylon, colors, etc. seem to blend in with the worthless 70's and 80's stuff and one needs to cherry pick the rare items.

 

[p51]

There's no point in going to any thrift store in my area for stuff like this. All of them already have collectors or dealers on call for any military stuff. The only things that ever get out to the public are old woodland BDUs...
I knew someone in charge of a Goodwill in the area and he confirmed all of the regional stores have folks on call for certain types of items, and they get the call when an item is donated. I don't see how that's even remotely fair, but it's going on. I checked with the other similar stores in the immediate area, all of them confirmed they have similar things going on. That's why I never waste my time in thrift stores anymore.
Good to hear that apparently isn't SOP everywhere, though.