Auction 2 Summer 2021 Militaria & Collectibles Auction
Aug 14, 2021
6499 E. Seneca Turnpike Jamesville, NY 13078, United States

Original Worldwide Militaria and Collectibles Auction featuring items Pre-US Civil War to Modern to include uniforms, medals, patches, helmets, hats, field gear, war posters, Spanish American War and Admiral Dewey collection, Paperwork, photographs, edged weapons, and more.
The auction has ended

LOT 426:

WWII Hebrew Jewish USAAF Officer Killed in Crash

Sold for: $90
Start price:
$ 40
Estimated price:
$60 - $80
Buyer's Premium: 22.5% More details
tags:

WWII Hebrew Jewish USAAF Officer Killed in Crash
WWII rare 1943 dated Hebrew Jewish Killed in Action certificate to Lt. Arnold W. Kay, Jewish, Jan 12, 1943, Bomber crash at Savannah, GA. January 12, 1943. Notes from the incident below taken from online records: The 489th Bomb Squadron had a plane crash today. Flying in a group of planes over Savannah Georgia, the left wing of the plane disintegrated in a steep bank, sending the plane hurtling into the Savannah river. All lives were lost. Those lost were T/Sgt. Roy S. Zufall, Corporal George V. Silva, 2nd Lt. Floyd A. W. Hale Jr, S/Sgt. Arnold A. Lassen, S/Sgt. Ronald Medlen, and 1st Lt. Arnold W. Kay. January 13, 1943. Repercussions of the 489th crash has left the entire group in a numbed mood. Such tragedies are detrimental to everyone....the escorts were sent to Savannah and all administrative procedure went smoothly. Investigations of Lt. Kay's crash revealed no possibility of sabotage, but rather pilot error. The crash itself was described from pilots and men flying in the same formation as Lt. Kay's ship went into a 30-degree bank, registering about 290 m.p.h., the upper end of the right wing began to flutter, and it came down, the wing tearing off at the butt, the plane itself seemed to make a falling-leaf dive into the Savannah river, which necessitated recovering the bodies by boat. Certificate measures approximately 7.25 x 9.25 inches.