There's was a press release, which I can't seem to find now, that said something about CAP's WWII volunteers being promised some government benefits after the war's end that never happen.
Are there any historical documents that specifically stated this ???
RM
Not that I've ever seen.
Immediately after WWII there was a big push to get some recognition of the "active service" CAP members (sub patrol, border patrol, tow target, etc.) but it didn't get far. I don't recall seeing anything relating to that saying that any promises were ever made to them.
I would like to see a press release that made any such claim.
Sounds like yet another TROLL. Do you ever get tired of doing this RM?
Myself and another CAP Officer interviewed a ww2 CAP member, and asked him this question. He said no right away. In fact, he said they made it clear it was volunteer only. He went on to say that, during that time, it did not matter if they got benefits or not, they were considered hero's defending the homeland by the local population.
He also said, that when he joined the army, during 1943, his rank (as a Sgt) carried over. The OIC of the recruitment depot where he went said they were in desperate need of men with any leadership experience. He even had the promotion paperwork to prove it. It read in a block titled reason for promotion as, "prior leadership ability shown through civil air patrol services as a Sargent". It amazed me.
The definitive documentation to this question has been supplied from the Marvelous Mark Hess Collection at TeamCap.org:
http://forum.teamcap.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2811
http://forum.teamcap.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2814
http://forum.teamcap.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3093
CAP was never promised any type of wartime benefits from the OCD, they were however insured by CAP individually. The families could receive compensation at a specific rate for a short period of time. I have documents that show that some families received the per-diem for that family member for a short period of time, they even received some money for the children of those who died while on CAP duty. As Ed and Mark have shown it was an effort to try and get benefits that never came to pass.
I also have some records that show that they even got a congressman to help fight for benefits and were turned down.
CAP insured them individually and benefits were received from that policy. They were never promised anything and were told that at the start.
Those that were Coastal Patrol could receive the Air Medal after 200 hours of Flight Time.
They were also turned down for the American Defense Service Medal.