Air Medal to WW2 CAP

[wrpawson]

I am still working on an artilce about Wynant C. Farr, who dropped the depth charge on the first German sub sunk by CAP.

His granddaughter let me photograph his medals. He was awarded an Air Medal for his Coastal Patrol flying service (minimum 200 hours were required), as were several hundred other CAP members.

Farr's Air Medal is not engraved with any details.

Has anyone seen a named example of a CAP Coastal Patrol Air Medal?

Does anyone have access to an example?

If so, would you be willing to photograph the reverse for me (300 dpi resolution) and grant permission for publication when the article is ready (It will be published in the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America sometime next year)? e-mail address is below.

Does anyone have an example of a CAP Coastal Patrol Air Medal certifcate?

With the medals for CPU's 1-4 none were given at the award ceremony (so says the newspaper article from Farr's scrapbook) but they were promised for later delivery. Farr's granddaughter says she has never seen it, but then, that does not necessarily mean it was not issued later.

If an example is available, would you scan it (again, 300 dpi) and e-mail it to me for publication?

Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

Chap. Bill Pawson
Canton OH

wrpawsoff(at)aol.com

[AlphaSigOU]

The reverse of the Air Medal has room for personal engraving at the recipient's expense. Few US medals, except for the Medal of Honor are engraved with the recipient's name and date of award.

[BillB]

The Air Medal issued by the USAAF was not a CAP award, it was the standard military Air Medal issued. There was never such a thing as the Coastal Patrol Air Medal specifically for CAP. Normally the Air Medals were issued on USAAF orders and there may not have been a certificate. The Air Medals were issued after the Coastal Patrol ended. Check the book "From Maine to Mexico" for details on the Air Medal Awards.  The only other award was the Coastal Patrol patch worn on the sleeve just above the cuff.

[JohnKachenmeister]

And CAP officers were actually the first to receive the Air Medal after it was authorized.

[wrpawson]

I appreciate all your responses.

Some 800+ Air Medals were awarded to members of the Coastal Patrol -- two for heroic action in rescuing a downed CAP crew and all the rest for completing at least 200 hours of patrol in the air.

I have several books on CAP in WW2 including From Maine to Mexico. Some of the interviews in From Maine to Mexico refer to the Air Medal being engraved with the member's details. So obviously, SOME of the Air Medals for Coastal Patrol duty WERE engraved -- perhaps at the recipient's expense, but also perhaps they were awarded already engraved -- who knows until we examine one or more examples that are engraved.

There were several different award ceremonies around the country and GO's covering the awards (I am in possession of a copy of the GO's for CPU's 1 - 4 and a newspaper article concerning the award ceremony to CPU 1 (and possibly others) in New York. Since Farr got his at the NY ceremony I am assuming that all these were unnamed, just like his which I have physically examined. But what about for the rest of the Coastal Patrol ceremonies in other parts of the country?

This posting is a request to anyone who has access to one of the Air Medals for Coastal Patrol duty that has an engraved reverse to permit me to see what it looks like so that I can comment on these awards generally in an article I am writing about one particular recipient -- Wynant C Farr -- and to use the photo to illustrate the article.

The same goes for the award certificate. That certificates were promised is a matter of record -- at least in the newspaper article on the award ceremony. Whether or not they ever were issued is another issue. Let us assume that the certificates were NOT lost in the shuffle of military paperwork. Has anyone seen an example and have access a certificate forr someone from Coastal Patrol? If so, I would appreciate seeing what it says for the sake of the article. Again, a scan of the certificate in 300 dpi would be very helpful and make a great illustration for the magazine article.

Thank you all for your help.

Chap. Bill Pawson

[cnitas]

In WW2, medals were only 'oficially' engraved with a name if they were being awarded posthumously.  Otherwise, they were awarded without any engraving.
 
Sometimes, the individuals would have them privately engraved, and the style, font, and information contained in the engraving text varies greatly.

As has already been mentioned, certificates were rarely presented.  Awards of this type were usually issued by way of a typed order which was read aloud during the presentation of the medal.  I have in fact never seen a genuine ww2 era certificate for an Air Medal.

[James Shaw]

You need to contact Lt. Col. Bill Schell. He has some of the original Air Medals and Certificates I believe. He may be able to provide those images.

[wrpawson]

Thank you for the lead, caphistorian.

Do you have contact information for Lt. Col. Bill Schell? Or could you pass along to him my contact information? That would be helpful.

For others trying to help:

(1) Some CAP Coastal Patrol members interviewed in From Maine to Mexico  refer to the engraving on their Air Medals -- so some medals were either (a) issued engraved or (b) privately engraved. It would be helpful to know what information was engraved on these medals and what style was used.

(2) According to the newspaper article from Col. Farr's scrapbook -- CERTIFICATES WERE PROMISED (whether delivered or not) and what we are trying to determine here is whether or not anyone has seen one or is in possession of one that can be scanned and used as an illustration in a magazine article.

I've been in the medal collecting and researching hobby for almost 50 years and am always amazed at stuff that comes up that nobody has seen before or that defies what everyone knows is supposed to be the case officially or otherwise. This is what makes things interesting and worth writing about.

Chap. Bill Pawson