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Estate sale find, vintage original photo of a soldier "Mickey" wearing a leather jacket with a painted Aviation Engineer Patch.
The vital role that engineers played was in the construction undertaken by combat engineer units in support of Army Air Forces flying operations in all theaters of the war.
General Arnold knew first-hand the importance for Airmen to have engineers
who trained with them, spoke their language, and understood their needs. He pushed for the creation of aviation engineer regiments within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide dedicated construction support to the Air Forces.
In all, 157 Engineer Aviation Battalions saw duty during the war, 48 of which were segregated units composed of African-American troops. In addition, 16 Airborne
Engineer Aviation Battalions were trained to parachute in, near, or behind enemy lines with specialized small-scale equipment.
They also trained in preparing landing fields for forward operations. Their equipment was transported by C-47s or a combination of C-47s and CG-4A Waco gliders. Nearly
120,000 Aviation Engineers saw action in all theaters during the war. Together they built or improved 1,000 airfields around the world.
The Aviation Engineer’s “Bucking Bulldozer” first appeared in the summer of 1943
and represented the essence of engineering support to the Army Air Forces during World War II.
A rather ferocious-looking bulldozer, with eyes, teeth, and wings, holds a piece of pierced steel planking, the material used to construct hundreds of runways, taxiways, and parking aprons around the world.
The engineer riding the bulldozer wears a shovel on his back and is ready to fire his weapon. This was clearly a prototype for the RED HORSE emblem adopted
in the 1960s.
The last image is for reference only and is not included in the listing.
PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTION AND PHOTOS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS - The photo is in overall Poor to Fair used condition, signs of wear, creases, fading, sunning and age toning, soiling, stains, no writing, no odors, please see images.
(C1A19-103)