Antelope Valley Press, 5unday, ruly l5f zu I v -rv
After 30 years, stolen jacket makes its way home( ffih'e
last.time t saw the .
I tacket lt was hangrng mI a closet at my gralril-
Darents' house," Dan Potter;aid. "That was 1980, maybe'81.',
Not long after that, theWoild War II Army jacket,known as
an'TisenhowerJacket' or "lke Jacket'becauseit was introduced under
Gen.Dwisht D.'Ike' EiseDhower,wasitolen in a break-in at
thegrandparents' home.
"I was deployed for a timewith the Marines as a civilianand when
I returned in 1985,the entire uniform was gone.So I ditln't think
I'd ever see
vWilliam P.WarfordColumnlstAnteloDe Valhv Prcss
-r'--- ewar Io t@ av Dress.cam
orhted an account ofGeorgePottels first parachute jump Itouoted
ertensively fiom his letterhome, very much the gu:rg-hoyoung
paratrooper.
He would go on to see andexperience th-ilgs that a kid justout
of high school - or anYone, forthat matter - shoulil never see
orexoerience, He joined E ComPanY'Ute" - on Feb. 22, 1943, andfelt
a bit slishted bv others foruot being one of thi originals. Hemade
the jump with E ComPanYin Normandy and also in Hol-lanil, where he
was wounded inthe fighting and earned a BmnzeStar. He fought at
Bastogne inthe Battle ofthe Bulge, suffering
Dan Potter neverthought he'd see hisIate fathels'Band ofB roth
eis' iacket again.
that jacket again," said Po_tter, _
who lives in Lancaster and works rn aerospaceThat year, 1985,
was the same year his father
- Georse L. Potter, Jr - died. So it was even moremeaniaifrrl to
have lost this svmbol of a ri'ar thatplaved zuch a maior role in
his dad's life and theiives oftens of millions ofAmericans.
There was no reason to expeci that the jacket oranvthine else
that was taken from his grandpar-en[s'hoire in Dinuba would ever be
found
But then again, he ilitln't have the Internet in1985.
Georse L, Potter Jr. servetl in the famous EasyComoanlv. 506th
Renment, 101st Airborne' which*as ieatured in Stephen Ambrose's
1992 bookTand of Brothers" ind the subsequent HBO mini-series ofthe
same name.
Wllile Potter was not featured in the book, he isthe subiect ofa
chapler in'A Company ofHeroes"bv Marius Brotherton Thetook tells
the storiesoithe men who served in Easy Company, and thechapter is
based on the authols interview with DanPotter
George Potter was a military man from day one.Born at-Fort
Benning, Ga., in 1923. he was the sonof a World War I officer.
Growing up, his family lived in Cal ifornia, Ari-zona.
Washington state and finally Oregon. wherehe lived when he enlisted
in 1942 at age 18 Heioined the Army while still a senior at Hood
RiverHieh School, and received his diploma as pafl ofhiseniistment.
An athlete, he beld the state record forthe ouarter-mile.
on Msrch 6. 19411. the llood River newepaper
frostbitten feet that would botherhim the rest ofhis life.
Geore Potter survived the war physically, hisson said: but it
haunted hin p-sychologically for theremainder ofhis tlays fie never
talked about hisexperiences." Daa Potter said.
And. like manv ofhis generation, he tried hisbest to
ielf-nediiate with alcohol, and it took overhis life. fie never lot
over iti his son said.
In iA Coupanv of Heroes," Dan Potter recountsthe iime his dad.
under the influence, barricadedthe door of a winter cabin they were
staying in andinsisted the Grmans were just outside.
He married four times, and divorced three. Hemade a career in
television news in San Diego,workins as a cameraman, who in those
days did afai r am"ount of reporting whicb would then be readby the
anchor, narral,ing the film footage.: lt was onlv after his dad's
death that Dan Potter
Iearned so much about the war experiences The"Band ofBrothers"
book cane out and Dan beganresearchina on his own, ultimately
ialking withauthor Amlrose and attending company reunions.He met
his dail's fiiends - the ones who survived.
So now we fast-forward to 2010. And, out oftheblue. a couple
ofweeks ago, Dan Potter and hisbrotLerTom started getting calJs
from a militarycollector in the Netherlands about a jacket he
wasconsiderine businq on eBay
"He waited-to know if it was genuine,'Dan Pol-ler sa1q.. Potter
had no idea what the man lias talking
about. E Company equipment goes fo-r a good price.and there's a
iemptaaion for fakery He thought
said.The collector mailed the jacket to Dan Potter,
and he will keeD it until t}e next Easy Companyreunion later
this year ard then pass it along to hisbrother Tom.
It was hard to describe the emotion of open-ins that Dackase.
'It was kind of an unbelievableeierience." Potter said. "lt was so
long ago andwe never imagined we would see thatjacket againThroueh
'Band of Brol"hers' we leamed a lot, butthere iere pieces
missing.",-
Noq 30 vears latr, they have one more piece ofthe historv bf the
life of their dad, George Potter
WiUia; P. Warford's column appears euery Tlies'duv. Thurs(Lar,
hid av and S und ay. Conto ct him at(66b 267-4166; P.o. Box 4050.
Palmdsle. CA,93590'40 5 0 ; or ww arfor' d @uu pre s s' c onx.
GHRISTIIiA RAM0SllalleY Press
PIEcE oF HlsToRY - George Potter, above left, in his world war
ll Army unifolm Potter served in the.Band of Brothers" made famous
bt historian Stephen Ambrose: Company E of the 506th Parachute
Inlanlryn.giirni.iiil loiiiniroorne Division. Above right, Dan
Polter look*own at his dad's World War ll lkeJac"ket. The jackei
was stolen years ago, but was lound and leturned to Dan
Potter'mavbe someone had a trench coat up for sale andwai claiming
it bad belonged to his dad "It neveroccured to;e that it would be
the Ike Jacket."
But it was.The auction had:iust closed, but Polter contacted
the setler, who lives'in Los Angeles, and erplainedthat the
iicket was indeed his fathe/s - but it hadbeen stoien. At the first
the fellow was reluctant,thinkina that Potter might be a phony, but
ulti-mately he agreed to send it back. Potter sent him afinder's
fee.
It tums out that the seller is a collector who goesto "rag
shops,' which amass bundles ofunsold cloth-ine from thrift stores
and separate the materialsorit to oroduce filling for mattresses.
'lt was lhere,in a bii pile, that he found it, about to be
choppedup. It wis this close to being gone forevei'Potter
