Remarkable archive of material from B-24 bomber pilot 1st Lieutenant Theodore A. McConnell, who fought in the China Burma India (CBI) Theater during World War II, tallying 406 combat hours and 46 missions. The highlight is McConnell's high-quality regulation officer's tunic, size 36R, with stunning theater-made bullion CBI and 10th Air Force shoulder patches, theater-made ribbon bar and unit citation bar, and silver pilot's wings. Additionally includes a piped enlisted man's overseas hat, and a thick leather folder stamped "Pilot's Navigation Kit, Air Corps, United States Army," containing a vast assortment of ephemera related to McConnell's military service.
Among the items contained inside the kit are: his cased Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster; McConnell's 1942 "Service Yearbook" diary, with daily entries made throughout his training; two CBI blood chits (one on cotton and one on silk, the latter torn and frayed); several short snorters taped together; two folders filled with McConnell's military flight records; several candid photographs; identification cards; an "Ellington Field, Class 43-1" yearbook; a disbound "Pilots' Information File," marked "Restricted"; an "Air Power: Key to Survival" softcover manual; a typed notebook from his time as a flight instructor in the 1950s; and various other documents, letters describing his missions, and assorted ephemera. In overall very good to fine condition, with one button replaced on the tunic.
