If this is the wrong subreddit : Please let me know and link me to a better one!
So a friend of mine got a US military coat, and gave it to me 'cause it didn't fit him well. he says it's from World War One. I don't doubt him, but I can't find anything like it really through Google searching. I have not tried reverse image searching yet though. Guess I should. He also said it was from a crewman or an engineer on a tank. I dunno though. That's why I'm here asking!
Anyways, I want a few questions answered:
What war, if any, is it from?
What exactly are these patches signifying?
Where can I figure out who this Erickson guy is?
Is it worth anything? (I'm not planning on ever getting rid of it; I love it. Just curious.
Here's pictures: http://imgur.com/a/NngTb
Danke sehr!
What you have in your possession is an American Class A tunic, more known as a dress jacket (or tunic). He would not have worn this in action. The patch on the right chest signified a honorable discharge from the Armed Forces and it is very likely that the uniform was worn by the veteran at reunions.
The two patches, the blue triangle on the sleeve and the shoulder patch, identifies the jacket as belonging to someone who was in the US Army Air Force. The blue triangle patch (known as a specialty patch) means that he was a trained mechanic. The circular patch is the patch of the USAAF and unfortunately does not give us any idea of where he served.
Finding who Erickson actually was will be the hard part. Without a name, it will be close to impossible. I made a quick search to see if I couldn't find an Erickson in the USAAF during this time and sure enough, there were 322 Ericksons!