ww2John wrote:
It is great to see pre-WWII era nose art.
Yes, indeed! The circular insignia is "Mr. Jiggs", the 11th Aero/Bomb Squadron's emblem.
The 11th, 20th, 49th and 96th Aero Squadrons were the initial four squadrons of the 1st Day Bombardment Group, America's first bomb droppers in the "first unpleasantness". In fact, the 96th to this day has as it's motto,
"First to Bomb".
After WW1, the 1 DBG was redesignated the 2nd Bombardment Group. They went on to become the first in the B-17 at Langley, etc, etc. Along the way, those four original squadrons got scattered to the four winds, as happened with many Groups/Squadrons.
The 2nd BG, now 2nd Bomb Wing, has resided at Barksdale AFB, La. (Barksdale has been HQ of the 8th Air Force since 1975) since 1963. In the mid-1990s, the Air Force decided to "reorganize" and many of the "old" squadrons came back into the fold of their former parent groups (now Wings). I was there at Barksdale when the 11th, 20th and 96th rejoined the 2nd as flying squadrons. The 49th rejoined as a test squadron. I worked at the base museum at the time, and I had the privilege of accepting and accounting for the accumulated memorabilia, much of it dating back to WW1 as part of the Air Force Museum collection.
Working directly for the Wing Commander, I and my fellow museum troops had the opportunity to interact with the Wing King (and the 8AF commander) "outside" the normal channels ... I was always impressed with the 2nd BW's guidon in the 2BW/CCs office - they almost didn't have enough room for all the accumulated campaign ribbons - many with French names.
Thx for the memories!
Wade
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