WWII parachute christening gown returns
Warwick. The parachute that carried Neil McNeil to safety on Corregidor Island in the Philippines 80 years ago has survived to carry 54 babies to the safety and comfort of God’s church to celebrate new life.
Brooklyn /
| 06 Apr 2025 | 09:42
Katlyn Balslov with her daughter Keegan Josephine at the child’s baptism March 30 at St. Stephen’s Church in Warwick, N.Y. Keegan is wearing the same christening gown that her mother wore at her baptism. The gown is made from the silk of a parachute worn in World War II by her great-grandfather. (Photos provided by Denise Cutrona and other members of Camille and Neil McNeil’s family)
From left are baby Keegan’s father, Kevin Balslov; godfather Neil McNeil; godmother Kimberly Meyers; and her mother, Katlyn Balslov.
Godparents Kimberly Meyers and Neil McNeil Jr. with Katlyn Balslov, second from right, and her baby Keegan.
Camille and Neil McNeil on their wedding day, Sept. 14, 1944, at St. Joseph’s Parish in Brooklyn. His family said he loved the photo because his combat boots were showing.
This photo from a long-forgotten newspaper details the recapture of the island of Corregidor in the Philippines from the Japanese in February 1945, showing the descent of the 503rd Parachute Infantry.
The christening gown was created from the silk parachute used by Paratrooper Neil McNeil, who was among the Americans who recaptured the island of Corregidor in the Philippines from the Japanese in February 1945. It’s unclear how the parachute arrived in Brooklyn after the war. McNeil’s mother-in-law, wife and sister-in-law created a christening gown for the McNeils’ first child in 1947. And a family tradition began. (
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Neil and Camille McNeil baptized their first child, Patricia, in 1947 at St. Joseph’s Church on Pacific Street in Brooklyn.
In February 1945, members of the 503rd Parachute Infantry jumped onto the island of Corregidor in the Philippines to retake the fortress that had been captured by the Japanese in 1942.
Neil McNeil of Brooklyn was one of those paratroopers and later was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
He survived the battle that fulfilled Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s promise to the Filipino people: “I shall return.”
When he was sent back to the United States, McNeil went directly to an Army hospital in North Carolina, where he was treated for malaria.
Somehow, the parachute he wore in combat found its way to his wife, Camille. With the help of her sister Fanny and her mother, Sarah Cuccurullo, something special was in the works.
With her mother’s sewing skills, a christening gown was created from the silk parachute.
In July 1947, the McNeils welcomed the first of their six children, Patricia.
She was the first to wear the gown.
The journey
The christening gown started its journey in Brooklyn in 1947 and has been be worn at baptisms on Long Island, Staten Island, Rockaway Beach, Bronxville, Colorado, Alaska, even across the pond in England.
In December 2004, the treasured heirloom made its first trip to Warwick, where it was worn by John Cutrona. Melissa Cutrona, Kevin Balslov and Kieran Balslov all followed.
On March 30, the parachute christening gown made its way back to Warwick, where Keegan Josephine Balslov was christened at St. Stephen the First Martyr Church.
She is the 54th baby to be welcomed into God’s church wearing the treasured family heirloom made from her great-grandfather’s parachute. Keegan’s mother, Katlyn, and both her godparents, Kimberly Meyers and Neil McNeil Jr., also were christened in the family heirloom.
Kept on display
Camille McNeil was the custodian of the gown until she died in 2012 at age 90.
Today that task falls to Patricia (McNeil) Tripo, the first child to be christened in it.
After each use, the gown is hand-washed, then wrapped in a blue tissue paper. Tripo keeps it on display in a shadowbox in her home on Staten Island until it is needed again.
Neil McNeil Sr. died at age 45. He saw all his children christened in the gown, but he never saw any of his grandchildren or great-grandchildren wearing it.
At every family christening, the paratrooper is there in spirit. And his spirit lives on.
Corregidor
The battle for the recapture of Corregidor, an island at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, took place from Feb. 16 to 26, 1945.
The Japanese had captured the garrison from the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East during their 1942 invasion.
The retaking of the island, along with the two earlier battles, marked the redemption of the American and Filipino surrender May 6, 1942, and the subsequent fall of the Philippines.
The surrender of Corregidor and the ensuing fate of its 11,000 American and Filipino defenders led to a particular sense of moral purpose in Gen. Douglas MacArthur. As he left the Philippines, MacArthur made a vow to the Filipino people: “I shall return.”
To the American soldier, Corregidor was more than a military objective. Long before the campaign to recapture it, the island had become an important symbol in U.S. history as the last Pacific outpost of any size to fall to the enemy in the early stages of the Pacific War.
Source: Wikipedia