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Wings from an AAF pilot's flying career


bschwartz
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I was recently able to acquire several wings and a bracelet all belong to one AAF pilot. They are representative of his career with the AAF. Unfortunately the woman I bought them from had very little information about them. She is 94 years old and found these in a box in the attic. They belonged to a cousin that she only met a few times and they were something that her husband had. Apparently they were wrapped up in some tissue and stuffed in an American Airlines pilot cap leading us to believe that the pilot may have flown for the airline after the war. The set didn't contain his basic pilot wings but it did contain two senior pilot wings, one looks like it may be his issue wing and an engraved wing. A Josten command pilot wing and a "chairborne" wing. The name on the bracelet is Joe Walker and he soloed on 8/23/1940 according the bracelet. And no, I don't think it's the astronaut Joe Walker but that would have been cool! I always like being able to keep a set like this together because it's representative of someone's military career. The sum to me is worth more than the parts. Now I need to do some research on who this Joe Walker was. Here's the items.

 

 

post-5185-0-21430100-1564246075_thumb.jpg

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The craftmanship bestowed on that CBI theater-made "Chairborne" wing is top-notch! And nice group all around!

 

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Gerradtgrant

Chairborbe wings?? This is something new to me. I will definitely have to research and get more details. Stunning group of wings you have Bob. I can only hope one day I will stumble across such a grouping. Thank you for sharing!

 

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

 

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Very nice Bob.

The Chairborne wing is very interesting, as I personally have never seen one from CBI.

Well done.

 

John

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The crazy thing about that wing is the chair actually swivels. Someone put some serious thought into how to design that. Cliff has an identical one on my site under the USAAF Miscellaneous section so clearly someone was making these in some number.

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Bob, I have encountered few collections of such linear sequential steppingstones of the pilot's career marked by each pilot rating wing (including the Chairborne wing!!) and period perfect engraving. This man dedicated most fruitful years of his life to accomplishing all required to set those steppingstones in place one after the other in diligent pursuit of a most honorable end to which men are specially equipped for to carry out their responsibilities as men, that and being the use of his strength and attributes and skills in the pursuit of the protection of his family, loved ones, community, state and nation as well as all those who share in the desire for freedom to live according to righteousness instead of slavery to man's evil machinations of selfish pursuit unto power and pride such as Hitler and Stalin visited upon entire peoples. It is clear that this man was a natural leader in that those who he served with made sure he had a reminder of their brotherly respect and love for the man, forged in the venue of soldiery, especially during wartime, bonds that are of a glorious nature all their own in the revelation of the strength of those bonds and the dedication each to the other in a venue where life and death, one for the other is often determined in the mettle of the bond between brothers.

Bob I can't think of an individual who it brings me more joy to congratulate in finding this most excellent timeline of a man's career as a warrior, a Sky Knight, who flew still in the time of forging an understanding of the tactics and strategies of the new battleground in the firmament. I think every wing collector on this forum joins me in congratulating you on this find from hearts of gratitude for all of your gargantuan efforts to maintain a well of information, wisdom and experience on the site all of us have benefited from exponentially. Please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed and your name is carried at the forefront of that place in our hearts which makes us historian collectors with an unseen yet very evident impetus to preserve these tiny monuments to military aviation history. Thank you for everything that you've done for us Bob, to keep us safe from those unscrupulous thieves who would try to deceive us with counterfeit insignia so as to steal a buck as well as opening the eyes to thousands of nascent collectors as they drink deep from the well of information which you dug and continue to maintain with fresh finds for us to peruse.

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Amen to everything mtnman said.

As a newbie I've imposed on Bob for advice more than once and his guidance has always steered me right. Aside from personal contact, his site has proved 100 times more valuable than ANY of the books I've acquired. I can't even imagine the time and energy it requires.

 

PS Great group Bob, I hope you can dig up some info on Joe Walker

 

Art

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rathbonemuseum.com

Really nice set Bob. Tried to hunt the name but very common. Joe or Joseph. Soloing in August of 1940 makes it a little better as a much smaller force then. Best bet would be hunt through army air corps basic flight books, I would think Randoph Field for basic training. Thanks for sharing.

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Bob I can't think of an individual who it brings me more joy to congratulate in finding this most excellent timeline of a man's career as a warrior, a Sky Knight, who flew still in the time of forging an understanding of the tactics and strategies of the new battleground in the firmament. I think every wing collector on this forum joins me in congratulating you on this find from hearts of gratitude for all of your gargantuan efforts to maintain a well of information, wisdom and experience on the site all of us have benefited from exponentially. Please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed and your name is carried at the forefront of that place in our hearts which makes us historian collectors with an unseen yet very evident impetus to preserve these tiny monuments to military aviation history. Thank you for everything that you've done for us Bob, to keep us safe from those unscrupulous thieves who would try to deceive us with counterfeit insignia so as to steal a buck as well as opening the eyes to thousands of nascent collectors as they drink deep from the well of information which you dug and continue to maintain with fresh finds for us to peruse.

 

You said everything and you said it with style.

Every wing collector is indebted to Bob.

Also many thanks to Patrick , Allan , Mel , Russ & a few others who take a lot of time to help uneducated strangers.

I am most grateful to them all for their kindness & patience !

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  • 1 month later...

And we can't be sure due to the quality of the paper scan but it appears he may be wearing his "Chairborne" wings in this photo:

 

post-5185-0-71256800-1567459885_thumb.jpg

 

 

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