WW2 US ARMY SPECIAL SERVICES catchers chest protector med co. With 101st AB

Here we have a very rare US Army Special Se vices Rawlings ACP Pro Model chest protector. In an of itself a very collectible 1943 era issued sports gear.

However it is also inscribed in 3 places to the 429th medical company. THis unit was attached to the 101st airborne during the Battle of the Bulge. And its connection is widely documented. The protector is is very good condition although the word ARMY is not clearly stamped The rest of the nomenclature is quite clear. The Rawlings catalog designation ACP Pro-Model Catchers Body Protector features fine water repellent tan color 9 oz. Cross stitched to form parallel ribs which is firmly stuffed with kapok fiber, and leather bound.

The protection comes well up over shoulders and fits the body perfectly. Adjustable back and body straps. Will resist the hardest blow. Along with the Rawlings manufacture markings on the backside has the Special Services U.

Army" stamping, which ties it to the WWII "Baseball Equipment Fund. With the onset of the U. Baseball was considered essential to morale.

Since its inception in 1933, All-Star game profits were funneled to a relief fund benefiting retired indigent ballplayers. Four days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, baseball executives established the WWII version of the Bat & Ball Fund, renamed the "Baseball Equipment Fund" Once again Clark Griffith took charge along with National League President Ford Frick. Griffith obtained a discounted price for equipment from Louisville Slugger, Goldsmith, Spalding and the Wilson Sporting Goods Companies. The first order was for 18,000 baseballs and 4,500 bats. The equipment was to be distributed among military camps at the discretion of the joint Army and Navy Committee on welfare and Recreation.

There were two types of Kits put together during WWII. Kit-A included a dozen baseballs and three bats; Kit-B contained the catchers gear, a mitt, mask, chest protector and shin guards. This is from the 101st Airborne memories of the Bttle of the bulge. The 429th Medical Collecting Company was attached to the 101st Airborne Division to replace the 326th Airborne Medical Company which had been captured.

We evacuated and operated an ambulance relay point between the 429th Medical Collecting Company. During the night the 101st Airborne was completely cut off from all the outside reach and above arrangements ceased to function. Meanwhile, two men, S/Sergeant Morrison House of Ticonderoga, New York and Private Edward Kelleher from Brockton, Massachusetts were attached to a stragglers point, operated by the 818th Military Polices and one officer Captain Fred Jameson and four men, Sergeant Orville Kramer, Sergeant Eddy Wydra, Pfc Matthew Burty and Private John Dance on detached service to VIII Corps, started out for Bastogne late in the day feeling comfortable in the company of many tanks. This protective assurance disappeared when the tanks left the road and moved into the woods. Darkness came and Military Polices guided them under black-out toward Bastogne. A sentry halted them and wanted the password. Our officers response was black widow did not satisfy him but eventually he let them pass.

Officers in Bastogne expressed surprise that they were able to get there. They were surrounded on three and a third sides and had to move.

They ended up in Sibret, roadblocks, German tanks in town unable to get out of trap set up aid station in chateau. Eating nothing, we burned letter, papers, etc. Tank knocked out but five men all got out. Jeep hit and one man killed, others escaped. All medics stayed in Sibre.

The item "WW2 US ARMY SPECIAL SERVICES catchers chest protector med co. With 101st AB" is in sale since Tuesday, October 2, 2018. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\United States\Patches".

The seller is "bob487thbg" and is located in New Fairfield, Connecticut. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica.