Collections record Beta

Jacket

2011-140-1

Tan khaki wool jacket. Four gold buttons with eagles down front. Two button close patch pockets with gold buttons on either breast. Two button close pockets at waist. Long sleeves. Tan nylon lining. One interior pocket with patch reading "Fashioned By/ Irvin Vee-der/ Real Tailors/ Preston At Milam/ Houston, Texas". Black patch with "R.P.H." embroidered in gold above interior pocket. Army Air Corps round shoulder insignia on left sleeve, made from bullion. Rectangular pin on either shoulder. Army Air Corps officer collar brass badges on lapels (gold wings with silver propeller). Army Air Corps service wings above left breast pocket; insignia on wings indicates that Hinchman served as a navigator. Underneath wings are four ribbon bars: Air Medal (top, with three oak leaf clusters), American Campaign Medal (bottom left), European-African-Middle Easter Campaign Medal (bottom middle, with five service stars denoting campaigns participated in), and WWII Victory Medal (bottom right). Presidential Unit Citation bar above right breast pocket.

Worn by Ralph P. Hinchman during his service in the United States Army Air Corps during WWII.

This military uniform was worn by Ralph P. Hinchman III as a member of the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He was the son of Ralph Hinchman Jr. and Gertrude Saunders Hinchman. In 1939 or 1940 Ralph P Hinchman III graduated from The Hill School and then attended Bard College for a couple of years before enlisting in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. He trained as a navigator and served on a B-17 out of Fogia, Italy. He completed fifty missions. On one such mission he was shot down, but he and his whole crew were able to return to their base safely due to underground forces. After the war Ralph P. Hinchman III attended Cooper Union where he studied art. In the 1950s Ralph P. Hinchman III moved to Litchfield and took up residence at his family's home on Fern Avenue known as "Lilac Hedges". Using the same name, Hinchman opened a greeting card company on the property that produced cards during the 1950s and 1960s. A large majority of the cards were designed and created by Hinchman himself, with additional cards created by various artists including Jac Venza, Hilary Knight, Donn Sheets, Henry Bowman, and Andy Warhol.

• Irvin Vee-der

1945

• wool