CBI Blood Chit

[USMCRECON]

Ladies and gentlemen: Here is something you won't find every day. This one is considerable smaller and of different style than the one often associated with the AVG and early CBI fliers. It was reportedly recovered folded up in a heavy flassine envelope from a crash site in the Himilayas along with a set of currently unidentified remains.

 

It's silk, period sewn to a piece of cotton or linen backing, measuring about 6" x 12", and is in pretty good shape for having lain in the frigid mountains for over 65 years. The Chinese star and blue background are still readily visible. Around that is a spotty red area that I believe was once the red background of the Chinese flag. It is numbered but I believe the first character or two are obscured.

 

OK, here's the $64,000 dollar question. Does anyone out there in forum land have, or know of anyone who might have, a list of CBI blood chit numbers and who they were issued to?

 

[USMCRECON]

This chit looks almost identical to, but with slightly different alingment of the Chinese characters, to the blood chit pictured on page 106, figure 7.35 of the book "Last Hope, The Blood Chit Story" by R. E. Baldwin & Thomas Wm. McGarry. The construction, silk on linen, looks more like the one on the top of page 88 but that one also has slightly different characters.

 

Being able to identify who this blood chit was issued to may help identify the remains. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Keystone]

Looks identical to the one inside my Father-in-law's jacket. I don't think his serial number was on this one. I'll take a closer look at it when I get home.

Tim

[Keystone]

Here's the link to the post on the jacket.

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...31&hl=eager

The chit pictured in this post is only one of two that were sewn into the jacket.

Tim

[USMCRECON]

Thanks for the info and the picture of your bloot chit. The one that was recovered with the remains looks identical except for the overstamped character and the additional character in the second row from the right but it could have faded out on this example. It's hard to see on yours but it looks like the chit serial number is stampes at an angle on yours but. Our example looks like it was hand-stamped with a stamp pad and ink so I suppose it was only as straignt as the hand of the guy stamping it.

 

Now if we could only find a roster of who got what chit number, we'd be taking a nice step toward an identification of the remains.

[Survival]

I think your chit is probably the one on page 88. The purple stamp is usually the first to fade away. As far as I know there is no complete guide to who was issued chits by number. Just a few lists here and there as shown in Bob's book. Having the info would probably narrow down the airman however its still not 100 per cent ID. Guys could have passed the chits down when they left the theatre and the info was not updated. Could have been wearing some elses jacket. Maybe a gift or souvenir. Anyway if it is the Chit on page 88 Bob Baldwin states it was probably issued late in 1944 on to the end of the war.....The black letters on your example seem so dark and crisp as compared to mine.

[Keystone]

I never noticed it before but you are correct. There is a serial number on my father-in-laws chit.

Looks like 14924. It bears no relationship to his serial number.

Tim

[Survival]

The serial number stamped on the blood chit would not have any relation to the airmans serial number. The squadron would get issued a number of chits probably in series and they would probably pass them out randomly noting which chit was issued to which airman. Not to many of those lists survived as far as anyone knows. I would think buried in the national archives would be a few of the issue chit lists. When the war ended they probably figured why keep them.

[USMCRECON]

You're correct. The serial number stamped on the bloot chit has nothing to do with a serviceman's military service number and was merely an accounting tool.

 

In actuality. I don't know for sure if these chit numbers were recorded or if they were signed out to a particular servicemember. I'm only supposing that based on my own experiences at SOCCENT during the Gulf War. Then, I was issued a blood chit, the number was recorded as issued to me, and I had to turn it in before departing theater after the war.

 

I know this is a long shot but we have to explore every possible avenue/lead in our attempt to identify this airman's remains. I'm hoping that these chits were documented and that any such document identifying the individual issued this particular chit, survives somewhere. With all the expertise on the forum, I figured that someone might be able to add a piece or two to the puzzle.

 

By the way, I'm not sure which moderator/administrator (FORUM ADMINISTRATOR, perhaps) did it but I owe a huge THANK YOU to you for making this issue a banner item! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[hawkdriver]

When we issued our blood chits, it was whomever walked in got the one off the top of the stack. The name is placed next to the number and that is maintained for recovery purposes. This list was maintained in a vault and as soon as all chits were turned in, the list was destroyed, you can't afford to let that list fall in the hands of the wrong people.

[Mr.Jerry]

Because there are the Airman's remains involved, I would think there would be more than the usual resources made available for this search. Have you contacted any government agency? I would think the US Airforce would be a place to start. ( and a letter to your congressman doesn't hurt either) Good luck.

[MWalsh]

Because there are the Airman's remains involved, I would think there would be more than the usual resources made available for this search. Have you contacted any government agency? I would think the US Airforce would be a place to start. ( and a letter to your congressman doesn't hurt either) Good luck.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking too... JPAC has a website and one can submit site info, etc. Obviously they have quick and easier access to much more info than the average researcher, but then again I do know too that they do at time rely on civilian experts in fields such as gear ID, as there are civilians out there (read COLLECTORS) that are subject matter experts.

 

Where is this request actually coming in from?

 

MW

[Chris_B]

Mr. Chuck Baisden may be able to assist:

 

http://forums.flyingtigersavg.com/

[Bill Scott]

I would think that the Air squadrons or even the groups may have recorded the numbers of the blood chits. But after the guys made their mission counts and rotated out I would think those records would not be needed and destroyed.The chits were issued in white manila envelopes with the numbers written on the front and the matching blood chit inside.I have ten or twelve 1951 dated chits still sealed in their original envelopes see the scans.I bought over the years in my shop four or five WW2 blood Chits packaged the same way.I think the matching of the number to the man will be a matter of pure luck and a lot of digging in old records.Scotty

[Bill Scott]

Scan of one of the chits out of the envelope.Scotty

[Bill Scott]

Envelope with numbers.PS they are standard business size envelopes.Scotty

[USMCRECON]

Because there are the Airman's remains involved, I would think there would be more than the usual resources made available for this search. Have you contacted any government agency? I would think the US Airforce would be a place to start. ( and a letter to your congressman doesn't hurt either) Good luck.

I am that government agency. Well I work for it, anyway.

 

Please don't misunderstand. We're not putting "all our eggs in this one basket on this. We're working many avenues on this issue. Thus far, we've found no list of chit numbers with name associations and I felt that the knowledge base on the forum was an untapped source of information on the blood chit. Ya' never know what members have squirreled away somewhere. At this point, we don't know what we don't know. We also don't know whether even smapp bits of informatoion collected from every source available might later prove important and I did not want to leave any possible stone unturned.

 

That's what this post was all about.

[KASTAUFFER]

I am that government agency. Well I work for it, anyway.

 

Please don't misunderstand. We're not putting "all our eggs in this one basket on this. We're working many avenues on this issue. Thus far, we've found no list of chit numbers with name associations and I felt that the knowledge base on the forum was an untapped source of information on the blood chit. Ya' never know what members have squirreled away somewhere. At this point, we don't know what we don't know. We also don't know whether even smapp bits of informatoion collected from every source available might later prove important and I did not want to leave any possible stone unturned.

 

That's what this post was all about.

 

Rich Wills at JAPAC has quite a few historical resources at his fingers too. Im not sure if he has any Chit numbers in his archive.

 

Kurt

[Cobrahistorian]

Bill,

 

I pinged the AF History office over at Bolling to see if they had any blood chit issuing records. It's been passed on there, so I'll post any positive response I get from them. There may be something in RG18 at NARA-College Park too. Probably a needle in a haystack as far as NARA goes, but it might work. I'll be over there again on Tuesday and will see if the archivists there have any ideas.

 

Jon

[USMCRECON]

Rich Wills at JAPAC has quite a few historical resources at his fingers too. Im not sure if he has any Chit numbers in his archive.

 

Kurt

Thanks. Our WW-II guys are working with folks at JPAC as well. I normally don't do WW-II cases but since I belong to the forum, I offered to post it here to see if anyone might have any aditional info related to it.

[USMCRECON]

Bill,

 

I pinged the AF History office over at Bolling to see if they had any blood chit issuing records. It's been passed on there, so I'll post any positive response I get from them. There may be something in RG18 at NARA-College Park too. Probably a needle in a haystack as far as NARA goes, but it might work. I'll be over there again on Tuesday and will see if the archivists there have any ideas.

 

Jon

Thanks Jon. I'm pretty sure the WW-II guys will be heading up to NARA as well. I don't know if the blood chit will lead us anywhere but they so seldome are recovered in readable condition after being out in the elements for 6 1/2 decades or more. Luckily, this guy kept his folded up in a heavy glassine envelope which protected it fairly well from the snow, cold, and other elements.

[kanemono]

Bill,

Thank you for the difficult job you do to bring our loved ones home.

Dick

[USMCRECON]

Bill,

Thank you for the difficult job you do to bring our loved ones home.

Dick

Thank you for the kind words Dick.

 

I appreciate all the information that forum members have provided to date. Every bit of info we get on this issue is useful.

[mfp4073]

Been lurking for quite some time, but never had anything to post. Just kinda reading and researching. But now I need help.

 

This ended up in my hands recently, still a little dumbfounded by it as it almost ended up going in a dumpster and a friend grabbed it for me because she thought I might like it....... check and check there.

 

 

Its a second run, issued by washington. But its a very low number too 5441. The downside is that someone many years ago laminated it. Probably why it was headed to the dumpster, someone thought it was just a picture or something.

 

Its obviously too late a number to be flying tiger. Any way of knowing/guessing where/when it was assigned?

[mfp4073]

Bump? Did I chase everyone away?