August 12, 201312 yr #1 Had a great find recently. Some of you may have seen a pre WWII pattern Meyer Navy wing badge on ebay recently that was advertised as an NAO wing because it was silver in color (albeit heavily tarnished) and marked Sterling. I won the auction and upon receipt, it appeared to have either a clear coat, or remains of a gilt finish. I decided to clean the wing and examine it closer. It turned out to be an Aviator wing badge, with maybe only a third of the finish left, and the initials ACC Jr scratched on the back. A line by line search of USN Aviators with those initials turned up Arthur Caldwell Cason Jr. I found his history and he was winged in 1941, and served from 1941-1972. The bombshell is that he he was flying SBD's with VB-8 off the USS Hornet at the battle of Midway (thanks for the roster Kurt)! I am still doing research but it seems he was at Corral Sea, Midway, and the Solomons Campaigns. Wing is standard Meyer pre WWII pattern with a Meyer shield and sterling mark. More to follow. John
August 12, 201312 yr Author #4 Initials and hallmark close-up. Also, I have not seen this pattern of wing with semi-closed flukes and sterling marked. I have four other 1920'-1930's pattern Meyer wings with full open flukes, Meyer shield, and marked; Meyer Metal, Myrgold, Rolled Gold, and Rolled Plate. This is the first time I have seen sterling marked with what appears to be a gilt coat on a pre WWII Meyer Aviator wing badge. John
August 12, 201312 yr #8 The initials bring the wing into a smaller group of pilots, but how do the initials drop this wing onto a certain man's chest? Is there more compelling evidence? I'm only playing the devil's advocate.
April 20Apr 20 #10 Good morning all! To B-17 guy, wondering if you still have these wings? Arthur Cason, “Casey” as we all know him, was my wife’s grandfather. He was an amazing man with lots of great stories. He passed in 2005. I’m not sure how his wings ended up for sale on eBay, but was wondering if you’d consider selling them back to the family. We would happy pay a market price to keep them within the family. I’d be happy to privately share proof of the relation to Casey and share some of his stories as well. Thanks!
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