In August 1944 Hensinger was a B-29 pilot who bailed and used his bloodied parachute as a pillow and blanket as he waited to be rescued. Upon returning home he proposed to his girlfriend Ruth in 1947 by offering the parachute to her so she could make a wedding dress from it.

From: http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/parachute-wedding-dress

How the times have changed