BLOODSTAINED! Bringing a Paratrooper Jump Jacket Back to Normandy!!! | American Artifact Episode 95
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- On D-Day, the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne was tasked with securing their objectives in an area of Normandy codenamed Drop Zone A. In this episode, we're heading back to Drop Zone A with a rare bloodstained jump jacket from the collection of The Gettysburg Museum of History that belonged to one of the men who landed on French soil that day.
This episode was produced in partnership with The Gettysburg Museum of History. See how you can support history education & artifact preservation by visiting their website & store at www.gettysburg...
Support the effort to expand history education on PATREON: / historyunderground
Set yourself up with a 10% DISCOUNT on all Origin gear and nutritional products by entering the code "history10" at www.originmaine.com!
Other episodes that you might enjoy:
Purple Hearts & Paratrooper Brawls at The Bloody Gulch of Carentan | American Artifact Episode 94: • Purple Hearts & Paratr...
The Eagle's Nest: Looted Artifacts & Engine Rooms | American Artifact Episode 68: • Liberated Silver From ...
Exploring Hitler's Eagle's Nest!!! | History Traveler Episode 274: • Exploring Hitler's Eag...
War Souvenirs From Hitler's Berghof!!! | American Artifact Episode 66: • War Souvenirs From Hit...
The Heart of Hitler's Third Reich & What U.S. Soldiers Took From It | American Artifact Episode 61: • The Heart of Hitler's ...
I served in the 101st airborne and have always wanted to go see Normandy. Next year, my wife and I will be for the 80th anniversary
Thank you for your service 🇺🇸
Good for you guys , never forget !!
good d day anniversary from italy.
Thank you for your service ❤
Thank you for your service stay well and be safe
Blood on the Risers and Blood on the Jacket. "And he ain't gonna jump no more." Oh yes he can, and he did! Thank you for your bravery and service Stan Medaj.
Wow! This was a tearjerker. Thanks for posting. Thanks to these soldiers for their sacrifice. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Through your channel I was able to learn about the Gettysburg museum of history and luckily was able to take a trip up there last week with my father to visit the museum, we live near Winchester Va. It blew his mind to find out all these fascinating things were in Gettysburg and it was a crazy experience to see all these amazing historical pieces with my own eyes. I was even lucky enough to see Erik as he was walking about of the store to go take some pictures ( I over heard him say lol) and support the museum by purchasing some of the artifacts they had for sale. My father and I were able to purchase a 1939 reichsmark, a May Day pin, as well as an actual piece of the Berghof! Certainly recommend the museum to anyone within distance and wanted to thank you for supporting them and giving them the exposure they deserve.
Thanks JD. We all need to realize what the sacrifice was for being a soldier in war is. It’s a good reminder seeing a jump jacket with someone’s blood on it. I’m glad he made it home, as so many didn’t.
What a great piece of History Thank you Eric for bring the Jacket and showing us
Thank you to Erik and JD for showing us another amazing artifact from a D-Day Trooper.
What strikes me as particularly fascinating and amazing is that this honorable Trooper somehow managed to retain possession of his original-issue jump jacket. Broken foot upon landing, then caught by (this is just a guess) several pieces of an exploding enemy artillery shell, presumably bleeding significantly and probably in severe pain (Who wouldn’t be?). But at some point, perhaps on June 6th itself or shortly thereafter he had to have been Cas-evacuated to a Regimental Aid Station, then perhaps Field Hospital and on up to higher levels of care. I’ve read enough in war autobiographies from other wounded US Servicemen that their clothing, especially if it was bloodstained, torn or too soiled with blood and grime to be salvaged, that it was stripped off prior to what was so often the first of several surgeries and that the soldier never saw their clothing again. Possibly burned, buried or discarded who-knows-where, and if the Trooper’s wounds were not so severe as to earn a ticket home he’d be issued new clothing on discharge. To me, that makes this blood-stained garment all the more amazing. He somehow maintained possession. I am curious about one other thing: did he self-administer the morphine syrette every Trooper usually had in his IFAK, or did a medic get to him to provide aide? We’ll never know, but all those men and women (yes, many Army nurses were on French soil by June 6/7, setting up field hospitals) are heroes.
One more amazing example of what these people did to ensure what we all enjoy today. My heart breaks for each of them. Thanks for bringing that message home.
Wonder what those brave Americans would think about the unbridled flood of immigrants, 22 years after the 9-11 attacks.
Loving your Normandy vids dude. My great uncle landed on Gold on D Day, then linked up with Americans from Omaha. So many incredible stories. That jacket being returned to the drop zone is something else!
Bring artifacts back to the original spot helps visually imagine what happened & makes learning rememberable. ❤️
👍🏻
Very cool. And glad he rebounded to pursue the cause. Wish we have more like him today.
This is a great documentary. I was lucky enough to be a Paratrooper actually assigned to the 101st Pathfinders in the late 80's. It was quite the honor to be carrying the torch in the shadows of these guys who were legends. A proud period in my life due to the history of this unit and these men. FILO!
Another fantastic relic with a great story to go with it 👍 Thanks for sharing Erik and JD
Man you are so lucky to hang with Eric he must be a wonderful guy and friend he seems to have immeasurable knowledge and things to talk about. I wish I had his job.
G’day thank you for showing the drop zone and explaining the history, the memorial for the troops is really beautiful. Thank you John
These men gave such an incredible sacrifice for the entire world. Fought like hell and left with tremendous physical and emotional scars. We are all forever indebted.
I have to say this, as a Former Naval Flightdeck Plane Captian AND a 100% P&T VA Rated Disabled Veteran I can honestly say You Guys ( Yourself & Eric) " Get IT", Thank YOU for YOUR Service!
I always look forward to seeing your videos. I learn more about D-Day than I thought I knew. Thanks for the continuing history lessons.😊
Absolutely adore this series and channel. Must admit, I'm envious that you're able to travel to these places and see these pieces of history tied to them as well. But thank you for sharing your journeys. Someday I'll get there
Really humbling to see. My grandfather was in the 507th PIR, and was supposed to be there, but broke his legs landing in a rocky field on a night training jump. None of his group survived.
As a 101st Airborne Division veteran myself (2016-2022) thank you for keeping our history alive!!!
🇺🇸
You & Erik never disappoint. I’ve studied WW2 history for decades and there’s always another story to be told. Thank you!
Amazing return of an incredible bloodied artifact. Thanks for sharing with us all.
That’s a really good “feels” especially knowing our Papa was there too. Jerrell Marcom 101st 377th PFAB. He survived all of it too. From Normandy to the end. Miss him.
Impressive! Do you know what battery he was in? I have the uniforms of Lt Thomas Swirczynski, who also was 377th. They dropped near st germain de varreville but lost their guns. Tom gathered some men of the 101st as they couldnt do their artillery job without the Guns and attacked a german bunker complex. This story can also be seen on among others the 377th Wikipedia.
@@teun2261 I’m looking it back up…I’ll get back to you. Either B, C, or D. I know he got moved around by the time Bastogne took place.
@@teun2261 c battery
@@bngbraz2 thanks!
@@teun2261 papa used to talk about how dark and scary it was during the Normandy drop. He did say they had to fight as infantry, but he didn’t talk much. At Best, Holland he thought it was a waste of time. At Bastogne he said he’d never been so cold and fired their howitzers as rifles at the Germans as they were so close. Especially the panzer tanks.
These men of the 101st were amazing ive read many books about them and visited the D day beaches .. great respect to the screaming eagles 👌 regards Glyn uk 🇬🇧
These fantastic artifacts really put the human part of war into perspective....another great story on this fantastic channel 👍🏻
Served in the 101st. Those were large boots to fill, and honestly i knew i never could've walked a click in their boots ! To the greatest generation i salute 🫡 you. A salute from one soldier to another. I served about 8 months before i washed out of a Pathfinder unit in the 101st so i know how hard these men were and continue to be. I was a good Infantryman and soldier but Pathfinders are a cut above the rest !! Truly hard men 💪
🇺🇸
When were you at the Pathfinder Detachment?
@@LJeffery101 - late July
Awesome. I was with them in 87&88. It was hard to get a chance to even get to selection for the unit. When I was there, the only units on jump status in the 101st were us, the LRRPs, and Div jump team. Once selected for a team, it was challenging duty. Old fart now. 🤣
JD this has been a phenomenal series, wow great work
First Special Services Force…predecessor to all modern day special forces. Would love to see you do something about these guys!
I was at this memorial a few weeks ago in July 23. Great to see that story with the jacket bringing some more history to this special place👌
Glad you enjoyed it
Happy to hear he made it .
Love your videos and how you pay homage to these great men and keep their memories alive.
I appreciate that
I just recently learned S.Spilberg and T.Hanks after Band od Brothers and The Pacific working on third TV series, Masters of Sky, about US WW2 airman's. Can't wait to see how that will turn out. We all love Band of Brothers, unfortunately The Pacific stayed in shadow of BofB, too bad, Marine Corp had rough time in Pacific theatre of WW2, their story is not heard enough. I'm intrigued how will Spilberg and Hanks make this one with just handful of WW2 veterans left.
Wow!! thanks J.D. and Eric so super cool!!✌️🇺🇲
Our pleasure!
You're at 506 likes... I don't have it in me to give you a 👍 and ruin the look lol.
JD, I hope you, Eric and everyone at the GMoH never stop putting out AWESOME content, like this!! Through you I am able to "visit" all these sites I've grown up reading about.
I love your videos. And what an artifact to bring back to the scene where if all happened . Glad he made survived the war. Must have been a hell of a ride, Market Garden, Bastogne. 🙏🍀
Jeff a real interesting Jump Jacket. Thanks JD for bringing this to us. 💯👍
Glad you enjoyed it
I was in the 101st airborne and I was a part of the 502 so this is really cool to see!
🇺🇸
Great videos mate, I've been watching all your back log of vids. Very good indeed. I visited Omaha and all the other beaches in 08. Camped out there. Former ex soldier myself British Army. Look forward to the next video. Thank you. 😊
I’m going to Germany next year with my stepmother she’s German. I will use your videos to help me find some other places that I really want to see. Thank you for making these great videos
So glad you were able to get your channel back up and running so quickly after your unfortunate experience having your equipment stolen, JD! It's a testament to the quality of your content that your fans were so eager to help. Keep up the excellent work sir, safe travels! 🎉
🙏🏼
Absolutley brilliant channel. Thankyou. So well done
Thank you kindly!
Incredible video. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Best history channel on YT
Satisfying in a very parallel way to seeing a Lemans car brought back decades later for exhibition laps.
I guess I'd call it living history. And superbly well done. Only thing I'd suggest being a big time military knife enthusiast is tell us a bit more about the knife.
Good thing I checked today. I didn't get any notification for this.
Hmmm…..
Thank you for another wonderful episode!
Absolutely amazing. Great work, guys
Great video. You are the best ! Thanks for providing this really informative video. Keep up the good work.
History at its best! Thank you.😊
Loving this series of videos, keep up the good work! 🙂
Gratitude for the men who fought in WW11, especially these guys who jumped out on this hornets nest of Germans, my thanks from the bottom of my heart, born in 1960 Boston we'd pledge allegiance to the USA and I meant every word of it, my realities fought in WW1 and 2, Korea, Vietnam my uncle Jack piloted the F4 phantom when I was a kid, I was in awe. God bless all who serve this great country. 🇺🇸🙏
JD Outstanding video thank you for sharing
My grandfather (92) his best friend who passed away many years ago was first wave at Utah, and if it wasn’t for these guys clearing out the enemy presence behind the lines, who knows if he would have made it
Fantastic videos, I watch all of them. Semper -Fi
Powerful moment...Great video guys!
Really enjoyed the video mate love learning about 101st airborne Division been reading about the band of brothers
I’m in complete awe of what those brave men did to bring liberty back to France and to save the world from oppression.
🇺🇸
What an EXCELLENT story,,,,THANK YOU!!
More very cool stuff. Humbled. Thanks.
Thanks to those brave young men who just never stopped fighting for our freedom. To know how injured but then he was back to see it through to the end.
I was in Latvia for a NATO mission. I wanted to go see Normandy Beach (as a Canadian) they wouldn't let us leave the country. I was super choked guess I'll have to visit on my own dime.
It will be worth it!!!
It is a very humbling experiance to visit Normandy. I was there in July of 2019.
Amazing story about another hero. Thanks for sharing this.
Love ❤️ this channel!!!
Another great video JD!
Wow! Great story!
Hey. Love this channel. In every video i learn something. Wondering if u guys are planning any visits to vietnam. Would love to learn more about the vietnam war
Jump jacket is in pristine condition with blood stains. Amazing
Thank you for your efforts on remembering and never forgetting our WW II heroes!!
Good video JD. like all of your other ones THANK YOU FRANK FROM MONTANA.....
amazing video. Thanks again.
Absolutely Awesome!!!!
Well done!
Another quality video JD! Hope there’s more WW2 stuff to come!
Much more. 🙂
Thank you.
Great video man🫡
Appreciate it
Great work to all involved!
Great new video boys!!
Love this Channel
Thanks
Outstanding video.
Hell yea 502nd! I was B co 1-502 from 06 to 10
👊🏻🇺🇸
1-502 Infantry (First Strike) and 2-502 Infantry (Strike Force) still exist as members of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. Perhaps the most notable battalion that was part of the original Five-Oh-Deuce (3-502, Strike and Kill) no longer exists. The only members of the 101st Airborne Division to be awarded the Medal of Honor in WW2 came from the Deuce. They were LTC Robert Cole and PVT Joe Mann.
There is still a lot of history that can be studied from the exploits of the 101st in WW2. I feel that the 502d is often overlooked.
Very intresting!
Very cool video
Land of the Free & Home of the Brave!
Amazing
🏆🙏🇺🇲🤗
Thank you for sharing
Really wish someone would do a focus piece on 2/505 PIR. In before all others. Thats how they earned the unit motto H-Minus! They went in before H hour to guide all others. Later they met the Russians at the Elbe River. Which is how I came to be in the 2/505. CSM saw my name tag, ripped my orders to the 307th up and said "Im CSM Behr, you're a Panther now"
What I find interesting is that, as we know the paratrooper who jumped into Normandy were ordered to CC2 there uniforms. It is documented well enough that some of these men when returning from Normandy boiled the CC2 out of there uniforms. What truck me was that the blood stains are still to this day very visible. Witch made me think maybe this man didn’t CC2 his uniform as ordered. Because if he did, you would think that the blood would be e on top of the CC2 and when boiled that the blood with boil out with the CC2?? Now I have read accounts of men that didn’t want to give there uniforms the CC2 treatment and found other ways of imitating the CC2 treatment.
Cool video, enjoy all of them. Have you ever considered doing something on the Pathfinders they seem to be the forgotten heroes of D Day.
And wow!
what a generation 👏👏👏
great jacket and story from dday/ those m42 jackets are hard tp find original in any condition. most were taken from the troops and m43 field jackets were issued. a welcome thing for the soldiers. great video JD. are these videos you shot before your cameras and items were stolen or did you go back and refilm stories. thanks for the history lessons
No, that stuff is all gone forever. So everything that you’re seeing was reshot.
So shrapnel wounds in the face only which caused all the blood stains? Weird seeing that big blotch on the lower back caused by a face wound. Especially since there are no tears in the jacket from being hit anywhere. The stains look to be on the outer surface and not soaked through. So either he wiped his hands on his jacket or somebody else did helping him. Cool stuff!
JD it wasn't addressed in the video, but I am assuming that there wasn't a photo of him wearing the jacket? Great video as usual man. Nice work!
Me personally I think his family would love to have his jacket. To have sealed and display. I wish I had some of my dad's WWII uniforms. I would think his family deserves this jacket more than your museum, (unless it was donated) to you.
There’s a reason that items like this aren’t with the family. It’s because somewhere down the line, it was sold or donated. I have things in my collection that were literally pulled out of a dumpster. Others that were headed there because the family “didn’t want that old stuff.”
@TheHistoryUnderground call me nostalgic, I just stated my opinion as to what I would love to have, one of my bads WWII uniforms. He is a WWII and Korean War veteran. I think he turned his all his uniforms in when he got back from the Korean War.
How about Eric’s watch a Rolex Day Date Presidential gold. Dude is a baller.
Heros, ALL
Great Video again, Eric and JD. But I am really sceptic about the Jacket. Why should it still excist with all the blood on it?
Think about the troopers in the old film sanding and walking toward their destinies. A lot of these men were dead or wounded within the next 24 hours.