About this Item
Scrapbook: 47 leaves (1 blank) containing a variety of material, usually to both recto and verso; ~80 total pages utilized, with additional material laid in. Yearbook: 26 unnumbered pages. Several published items included in scrapbook and among loose material, pagination varying from 6 - 92 pp. Illustrations include 21 b/w photographs from Lucchina's army training in Colorado and his unit's headquarters in Pantanella, Italy, ranging in size from 2-1/4" x 1-3/4" to ~3" x 5"; five 10" x 8" b/w photos of aerial photos taken during bombing runs (incl. one duplicate); two target photo charts/ maps, 22-1/4" x 19-3/4"; 10 b/w souvenir RPPCs; 8 half-tone postcards; etc. Sizes vary. Scrapbook 12-3/4" x 10-1/4". Uniform fits an ~5'10" man (33" x 31" trousers, 38L jacket). The WWII service archive of Evo Alexander Lucchina, an Italian-American from Barre, Vermont, who served in the headquarters of the 464th Bombardment Group, 776th Squadron, in Italy from 1944 - 1945. The archive offers a detailed portrait of one enlisted soldier's military career, from his 1943 induction order to his 1945 discharge papers, in a variety of media. Among the items included are: Lucchina's full army uniform and insignia; target photo charts for Breslau and Bratislava, dated September and October 1944, respectively; a typed list of "Important Dates," presumably compiled himself; photographs of the unit's snowy headquarters in Pantanella, Italy, many captioned on the back; a mimeographed 14 pp "History of the 464th Bombardment Group from Activation until VE-Day" written entirely in rhymed couplets, and of which we find no other record; the yearbook for Lucchina's 1944 Army training class at Colorado State College of Education, autographed by his fellow classmates and the school's canine mascot, Queenie; a matchbook cover from the Army training center in Pocotella, ID; Allied Military currency; a small personal mirror; three dog tags; various military identification and ration cards; HQ memos; a variety of sightseeing material; five V-mails and seven telegraphs sent to his wife, Alice; and two reunion booklets for the 464th from 1982 and 1986. Evo Lucchina grew up in Barre, VT, and owned a granite company there as well as part of his father's company by the time he was inducted into the Army. Thirty-seven years old at the time, Lucchina was one of the "old men" in Class 6A-44 at CSCE in Greeley, CO, with a droll sense of humor (his occupation in the yearbook is listed as "fish monger"); he was sent to CSCE after he fractured his left fibula during Basic Training in Atlantic City, and graduated from a clerical course in engineering and operations in October of 1943. He arrived at the Army airfield at Pantanella -- "a wheat farm between Canosa di Puglia and Lavello (Lucania)" [from list of "Important Dates" in scrapbook] -- in March 1944, where he served until May 1945. Occasional chipping and short tears to scrapbook leaves; light general wear and some fold lines to paper material; one leaf of a longer piece of material detached and laid in; very occasional areas where a photograph or other item is missing. Tiny hole to uniform trouser leg, minor soil to one hat, else uniform in exceptionally nice shape. VG or better condition overall. Scrapbook bound in brown embossed boards tied with a cord, two 15th Army Air Force patches affixed to front board; tan construction paper leaves. Standard army issue uniform of dark green wool jacket, shirt, trousers, tan tie, and two hats, insignia sewn or pinned to jacket. Seller Inventory # 44112
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