WWI US Pilot Wings

[Big Iron]

Several years ago, perhaps 20 or so, I was helping my mom's aunt move stuff from her apartment out as she had to go to an assisted living facility to recover from a stroke. 

 

Her father had served in the AEF and earned pilots wings as part of his service. 

 

I was fiddling around over by a wall picking up stuff and these wings had worked their way into the shag carpet that adorned the floors. My aunt's neighbor was helping clean up and she had placed the Son in Service banner in a box of what she called "crap" so I snagged that too. We found his discharge papers too.

 

Needless to say, I rescued a piece of family history from being a worthless trinket to someone who had no idea.

 

It is one of the prized pieces of my collection and I wanted to share it here. Thanks for looking!

[jeff41st]

Very nice. Glad you were able to save these items from being lost forever.

[manayunkman]

Beautiful wing.

[warguy]

Great save. That is a beautiful and scarce wing. 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Fantastic story. That is a lovely example of a Shreve pilot!

 

[Big Iron]

Thank you guys for the comments. It's the prize in my US collection due to family connections and how rare it is.

 

I'm beginning to get into woodworking and plan on building a nice wooden display case for it sometime.

[cwnorma]

A really nice piece.  

 

The Shreeve wing, with its distinct San Francisco style, is a centerpiece in any collection.  The family connection makes it that much more special.  

 

Congratulations on an amazing wing and preserving your family heritage!

 

Chris

[pfrost]

Beauty of a wing and great story.  I love this Shreve pattern wing, one of the finest made IMHO.  Like everyone else is saying... thank you for sharing.

[Tennessee]

That really is a cool wing!  I grew up with a WWI 82nd Div. officer vet across the street who died while I was in college. On my return the next weekend, I visited his widow who told me his children had just thrown away all his "junk". I asked where, found the dumpster, and threw out the green garbage bags, and on going through them finally found his stuff! That was 1979- I still treasure it! When you build the display, find a way to include the discharge!

[rustywings]

A terrific WWI era US Air Service relic!  Thank you for posting…

[blind pew]

I think Shreve and Haltom badges are the nicest looking of the available WW1 pilot wings. 

 

Thanks very much for posting!