walika Posted March 28, 2017 Share #1 Posted March 28, 2017 VF-19 WWII Established 15 Aug 1943VF-19 was established at NAAS Los Alamitos, California, on 15 August 1943. The squadron equipped with F6F-3 Hellcats and conducted carrier qualifications a¬board the USS Altamaha (CVE-18). The squadron left for Hawaii in February 1944 aboard the USS Lexington (CV-16).Once in Hawaii VF-19 disembarked for gunnery training and in June was ferried to Eniwetok where they rejoined the Lexington's Air Group 19 (CVG-19) on 9 July 1944. VF-19's war cruise only lasted until early November, but in that short period of time Fighting Nineteen had shot down 155 Japanese planes as well as nearly 200 on the ground. Air Group 19 boasted eleven air aces.The squadron's first mission was to fly straffing runs for the invasion of Guam. After that they flew many similar flights over Palau, Iwo Jima, Leyte, Formosa, and Okinawa.In February 1945 the squadron was based at Auxiliary Field Santa Rosa, California. From here the squadron went to Grumman's Bethpage factory to be the first Navy squadron to equip with the new F8F-1 Bearcat. Before the Bearcat could be fielded in combat the war ended. On 15 November 1946 the squadron was redesignated VF-19A and then on 24 August 1948, Satan's Kittens became VF-191.The original squadron insignia was created by Disney artist Hank Porter. Some years ago I was fortunate to acquire a grouping that included hundreds of photos mounted in a scrapbook with this mint condition patch in an glassine envelope carefully tucked inside. Pretty neat! A couple of the photos: More info here: http://www.satans-kittens.net/wwii.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted March 28, 2017 Share #2 Posted March 28, 2017 Aother great one. One of my favorites. That baby looks new condition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted March 28, 2017 Share #3 Posted March 28, 2017 Rick.....if you dont stop all of this....youre going to make me start collecting Navy again!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted March 28, 2017 Share #4 Posted March 28, 2017 Another great patch. One of my favorites! Thanks again for sharing! JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bebel Posted March 3, 2021 Share #5 Posted March 3, 2021 Hello all, Here's Lt Lawrence Cauble's patches: VF-19 and "Foo Cruise" from 1945. Franck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walika Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share #6 Posted November 5, 2022 Post #5 includes the Air Group-19 insignia, also shown below on scarf. The artwork incorporates the insignia of the component units. Hand-embroidered on silk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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