I wanted to start a thread to show some of my 187th/11th Airborne uniforms in my collection. I served in the 187th and I have relatives that also served in the regiment, one making both combat jumps in Korea. I am proud to be a member of the Rakkasan Association and one of my main collecting interests for US Militaria is the 187th and the 502nd Infantry, both units I served in during my 22 year career as an Infantryman. I have been asked by a few forum members to post some of the uniforms I have. Most of these are named, but to respect their privacy I will not mention them here. I take great pride in owning these uniforms and honoring the requests of these veterans. I have several that I will be posting as I take them out of storage and photograph them I will post them.

I will also add that these uniforms have not been altered or touched since they have been given to me, so many of the uniform police may see some items that are incorrect as far as placement of ribbons, awards, etc. The last person to touch this uniform prior to me receiving it was the veteran himself. I do not want to alter their history by making corrections to the uniforms..

The first uniform belonged to a paratrooper assigned to the 11th Airborne Medical Battalion. The trooper has a Korean made 187th patch as a combat patch (right sleeve) The wings are Sterling LGB (Lloyd Garfield Balfour) pin back wings. The ribbons are the Army good conduct ribbon, the National Defense Ribbon and the United Nations Ribbon. The trooper also was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

The green shoulder epaulets indicate that he was a combat leader, and these may have been authorized for wear by the Corporal in a July 1948 DA Circular authorizing the wear to members assigned to Infantry, Airborne, Armor, Cavalry, and Artillery units.

The Garrison cap has the enlisted glider/parachute patch and the piping is crimson/white for the medical branch of service.

Smitty

Click to enlarge the picture