Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. Now this is a fantastic memento from an Airborne troopers time during WWII. This Seabag/Dufflebag was decorated on the side with a seductive pin up girl. armed with a “six-shooter” revolver. The pinup was modeled after actress Jane Russell in the 1943 movie "The Outlaw". Above her is the text “GREEK” PALAMIDAS with NEWBURGH NEW YORK below her. We have not been able to find the significance of the Palamidas and an American airborne unit, but the New York portion is most likely his home of record.

The cut section is framed in a lovely, weathered frame measuring 17” x 21” and protected the khaki section from any damage.

Truly a beautiful piece ready for further research and display.

In 1930, the U.S. Army experimented with the concept of parachuting three-man heavy-machine-gun teams. Nothing came of these early experiments.

The first U.S. airborne unit began as a test platoon formed from part of the 29th Infantry Regiment, in July 1940. The platoon leader was 1st Lieutenant William T. Ryder, who made the first jump on August 16, 1940, at Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Georgia, from a B-18 bomber. He was immediately followed by Private William N. King, the first enlisted soldier to make a parachute jump.

Although airborne units were not popular with the top U.S. Armed Forces commanders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the concept, and Major General William C. Lee organized the first paratroop platoon. This led to the Provisional Parachute Group, and then the United States Army Airborne Command. General Lee was the first commander at the new parachute school at Fort Benning, in west-central Georgia.

The U.S. Armed Forces regards Major General William C. Lee as the father of the Airborne.

The first U.S. combat jump was near Oran, Algeria, in North Africa on November 8, 1942, conducted by elements of the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment. For the role of paratroopers in the Normandy Landings see American airborne landings in Normandy.