vincent p. norris wrote:

We had nothing like that when I was in. We had ankle-high "field
shoes," which we called "boondockers," that were made of inside-out
(suede) leather that was very light brown when new. I can't recall
ever hearing them called "boots."

They were nice in a cold drafty airplane in winter; we could tuck the
legs of the flight suit into them.

vince norris


That doesn't make sense, because somehow, the first sentence of the
second paragraph got lost in the shuffle. It should read:

Some of us (pilots) wore half-Wellingtons, which we did call "boots."
They were nice in a cold drafty airplane in winter; we could tuck the
legs of the flight suit into them.

vince norris

Vince: I flew crew on transports in 1958-1959 for the Navy and we all
wore "half-Wellingtons". They were bought at the Navy Exchange, were
made by Frye, and were called "Jet Boots." Not an official uniform item
but a whole lot better in unpressurized prop transports than the
official low quarter shoes. Shore Patrol just loved to catch us going
ashore at the bases we landed at with those boots on and would usually
write us up. Once the write up got back to the squadron the skipper
would send them an acknowledgement and then tear the citation up. Sort
of unofficial approval to wear the boots. But, hey, we weren't allowed
to wear jeans ashore back then either. You had to wear "trousers with a
crease on the front of the leg" or the Marines at the gate wouldn't let
you out.

Never saw an officer or enlisted going off base in a flight suit, just
wasn't allowed. You had to wear the uniform of the day to get out. This
was at Pax River, MD. Flight suits, flight jackets and boots went in
your flight locker at the hangar.

George