Or, to be more specific, a Naval Aviator's leather flight jacket given to my dad, as a gift from the flight crew, when he served on the USS Columbus, CG-12...the ship I was Baptized on.
This coat's journey holds mystery. The last time I remember seeing it, prior to just a few years ago, was in the early 1980s. After that it seemed to vanish.
Halloween a few years ago two of my little sister's sons stopped by. Th older nephew was wearing a leather jacket I instantly recognized. "Jack, where did you get that?" "It's been laying around the house as long as I can remember." After I explained its significance and that I'd been looking for it for over 30 years, he took it off and said, "You should have it!"
I had bought, years earlier, a new, genuine, G1 jacket. As much as I loved it, I seldom wore it. I offered it in trade to Jack. Done deal. Both of us happy, as I had my dad's jacket, and Jack had the same style with intact cuffs and waistband.
Ah, the cuffs. They were long gone. In such disrepair, my nephew had cut them entirely off. The leather was dry, tired and wrinkled. Some of it missing its outer layer. For a few years I debated to repair it or allow it its story.
Finally, I decided to replace the cuffs, waist band, and leather zipper pull. I made the right decision. Now I am investigating getting the leather repaired.
Must have been meant to be, the jacket fits me perfectly...
