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ABSOLUTELY AUTHENTIC US 8th AIR FORCE THEATER NAMED & PAINTED WW2 B-17 'MISSION BELLE' A-2 LEATHER FLIGHT JACKET

100% AUTHENTIC IN-THEATER NAMED, PAINTED & COMBAT WORN WORLD WAR II UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCE A-2 LEATHER FLIGHT JACKET FROM THE B-17 MISSION BELLE

This is an authentic WW2 United States Army Air Force 29-mission A2 leather flight jacket bearing the name and identity of the man who owned and wore it in combat during the war. That, along with his unit insignia, and the identification by name of his B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft (Mission Belle), puts it among the rarest and most sought after pieces of World War II Americancombat flight gear that exist 25 years into the 21st century and 80 years after the fact. To find such a jacket with plenty of reliable provenance and in anything like very good used condition today is astonishing!

Napoli, born 23 August 1920 in Washington DC, was one of two boys of Sam and Mary Napoli, both of whom were born in Italy. Louis Napoli joined the Army during World War II, and died 20 October 1996.

Few other WW2 items evoke memories of the gallantry, duty, determination, and selfless disregard for personal safety of the flying heroes of 80+ years ago, like this used but sturdy personalized, identifiable American USAAF A2 leather flight jacket. It has not been displayed, or bought and sold at militaria shows; it has not been “messed” with to add ANY desirable details, and it has NOT been damaged and repaired.

The combat worn but not abused size 40 Perry Sportswear Contract W535AC-23377 leather type A-2 jacket we offer here bears the family name, nickname and the four digit laundry number (last 4 of the owner’s army serial number) near the hanging loop in the neck of the back of the inside. The name of the 29 mission B-17 crewman written in ink in capital letters above the hanging loop can be read and is NAPOLI. Below the size 40 tag sewn below the manufacturer’s label in the same neck area are the last four digits (3665) of Louis Francis Napoli’s US Army Air Force serial number 33193665 handwritten in black ink.

Hand-painted on the front outside surface of Napoli’s A2 jacket above the left pocket flap are his nickname ”Nap” in yellow just above the 3-7/8 inch diameter hand-painted “Bomb in the Barrel” insignia of the 338th Bomb Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Division of the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (H), 96th Bomb Group of the US 8th Air Force, according to reliable historical information.

On the back side of Louis Napoli’s combat worn 29 mission A2 jacket is a wonderful example of authentic theater painted artwork that real World War II historians regard as something sacred: 29 little black “mission bombs” in an arc on a blue sky around the steeple of a white Mission Church building, with the nose and left inboard prop and engine of a B-17 bomber just behind it. Spelled out in clouds beneath the Mission church is the name of the B-17, Mission Belle (IMPORTANT! Louis Napoli’s wife’s middle name and the name she went by was BELLE). Do not confuse this Mission Belle jacket with anything from the Memphis Belle. The two are very similar but different B-17 aircraft.

NOTHING has been added to this jacket or the jacket artwork since World War II and nothing has been “touched up” to make it look better. What you see in our pictures is natural wartime wear to the original WW2 artwork and to the jacket.