Named WWII Tunic of USAAF Lieut Gen’l George C. Kenney with Navy Relief Fund Auction – Signature Card

The four pocket belted uniform tunic was tailored for General George Kenney in July of 1942 when he held the rank of Brigadier General. He subsequently donated the tunic to a fundraising auction for the Navy Relief Fund. The tunic is accompanied by a 3 inch by 5 inch card bearing the auction details and it was signed by General Kenney. The tunic itself bears the rank isignia of a Lieutenant General, with three individual stars pinned to each shoulder. On the upper left breast is a silver bullion Command Pilot wing which was created in the style of the aviator wing that was worn by pilots of the Army Air Service in the First World War. Sewn on the tunic below the wing are the ribbons for three of General Kenney’s many decorations, these being the Distinguished Service Cross with an oak leaf cluster; the Army Distinguished Service Medal with an oak leaf cluster; and the Silver Star. General Kenney’s silver star and one of his Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded for his service as a combat pilot in World War I, while his second Distinguished Service Cross was awarded to him during World War II for his command of the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific. In early 1940, Kenney had become Assistant Military Attaché for Air in France. As a result of his observations of German and Allied air operations during the early stages of World War II, he recommended significant changes to U.S. Army Air Corps equipment and tactics. In July 1942, he assumed command of the Allied Air Forces and Fifth Air Force in General Douglas MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Area. Under Kenney’s command, the Allied Air Forces developed innovative command structures, weapons, and tactics that reflected Kenney’s orientation towards attack aviation. The new weapons and tactics won perhaps his greatest victory, the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, in March 1943. Two other significant bombing raids that ultimately led to complete air supremacy in the New Guinea campaign, at Wewak (174 planes destroyed) in August 1943 and at Hollandia (400 planes destroyed) in March to April 1944, also were due to Kenney and his command. In June 1944 he was appointed commander of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF), which came to include the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh Air Forces.General Kenney would go on to become the first commander of the Strategic Air Command and then the Air University. The tunic is in excellent condition, while the signed card is a bit wrinkled but intact.