Eisenhower remembered Army tailor

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 39

Eisenhower remembered Army tailor

By

JOHN PLATERO,

of the Associated Press through NZPA Delray Beach, Florida Probably the most famous garment to come out of World War II was the Eisenhower jacket, worn by General Dwight Eisenhower, who later became the thirty-fourth President of the United States. However, if the snug, waist-length jacket had been named for its designer, it would have been called the Morris or Pinter jacket, after the Army corporal from new York City who rrAnfpri it At 64, Morris Pinter has put on a few pounds and lost a little hair since he was a soldier, but he continues his profession as a tailor. “I was a tailor before I was born,” he joked in . the custom shop he has run since moving to Delray

Beach from New York City in 1980.” Mr Pinter relishes the four years he served in the Army and he is particularly proud of his service in the 30th Infantry Division, which took part in the 1944 invasion of Normandy. Soon after joining the 30th in England in early 1942, he was appointed a tailor.

“I was the only regimental tailor in the United States Army,” he said, showing a photo of his pup tent with its official tailor’s sign in front. Mr Pinter made uniforms for the officer corps, , including Major General L. S. Hobbs, division commander. “General Hobbs introduced me to General Eisenhower. I took his measurements because he wanted a different uniform,” Mr Pinter said. That was when Mr Pinter

created the jacket Eisenhower wore for the rest of the his military career. Mr Pinter, however, would not take full credit for the garment that gained such popularity. He says he simply embellished the design of a short jacket worn by the British military. Eisenhower was so pleased with the jacket that when he was re-elected President, he remembered the Polish immigrant tailor and invited him to his inauguration in 1957. The invitation remains prominently displayed at Pinter’s shop. Despite his success with the Eisenhower or Ike Jacket, Mr Pinter says another piece of cothing he designed later in the war means more to him. When Allied troops fighting on European battlefields were crippled by frostbite,

Hobbs asked Pinter to design something to protect the feet of fighting men at the front. Using discarded army blankets, he sewed several thicknesses together and designed what became known as Pinter’s booties. The oversized sock-like item went halfway to the ■'knee and could be worn inside or over combat boots. “they would carry them under their jackets and put them on before going into battle,” Mr Pinter said, adding that the british Army saw the advantages of his creation and adopted it for their foot soldiers. Mr Pinter was discharged in 1945 and established Pinters Tailors, Inc, in New York City. After 34 years at the same site, high rent forced him out and he moved to Florida. Over the years, he has

kept in touch with wartime buddies and attended annual reunions of the 30th Infantry Division. This year, he returned to France, Holland and Belgium for the fourtieth anniversary of the Allied invasion of France.

He happily displays a wartime scrapbook filled with photos and mementos, but in the back room, there is a large photo of a small boy that customers don’t see. It is a picture of his son, who died in a Nazi gas chamber with his first wife and more than three dozen members of his family.

Mr Pinter was born in Lukow, Poland. He arrived alone in the United States in 1937 and was drafted in 1941.

He says he lives by a basic philosophy: If you do the right thing,’ you can handle anything. The secret is patience.