Bidspirit auction | WW2 Gen Le May, US

WW2 Gen Le May, US Aces J Bolt, M Long signed Boeing B17 RAF flown bomber cover. 4 Oct 83 Washington DC Boeing B17 50th Anniversary. Flown in Flying Fortress B17 Sally B. Personally signed General Curtis Emerson Le May United States Air Force. He is credited with designing and implementing an effective, but also controversial, systematic strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theatre of WW11. During the war, he was known for planning and executing a massive bombing campaign against cities in Japan and a crippling minelaying campaign in Japan's internal waterways. After the war, he unintentionally initiated the Berlin Airlift, then reorganized the Strategic Air Command (SAC) into an effective instrument of nuclear war. He served as Chief of Staff of the U. S. Air Force from 1961 until his retirement in 1965. Air Commodore R Dick B17 Flying Fortress Pilot who flew the covers. Lt Cdr John F Bolt. John Franklin Bolt (19 May 1921 - 8 September 2004) was a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps and a decorated flying ace who served during World War II and the Korean War. He remains the only U. S. Marine to achieve ace status in two wars and was also the only Marine jet fighter ace. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during his military career. Born to a poor family in Laurens, South Carolina, Bolt was a self-described ”workaholic” and was involved in numerous groups and social activities throughout his life. After dropping out of the University of Florida for financial reasons in 1941, he joined the US Navy and trained as a Marine Corps pilot. Sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations, he flew an F4U Corsair during the campaigns in the Marshall Islands and New Guinea, claiming six victories against Japanese A6M Zeros. Bolt continued his service through the Korean War, entering combat through an exchange program with the United States Air Force (USAF) in late 1952. Over a period of several weeks in mid-1953, he led flights of F-86 Sabres into combat with MiG-15s of the Chinese Air Force, scoring six victories during fights along the northern border of North Korea, commonly known as ”MiG Alley, ” giving him a total of 12 victories over his career. Manny Long 354th Fighter Group was a highly distinguished US Army Air Forces unit during World War II, renowned as the ”Pioneer Mustang Group” for being the first to fly the long-range P-51B Mustang operationally in the European Theater. The 354th achieved the highest number of air-to-air kills of any American fighter group in the ETO. . Good condition Est.