You are bidding on the items below, with the animation art being the crown jewel of this collection. A little history of the original owner is provided.
The origin for Asterperious (Asteperious) has been found! It is none other than African American author, anthropologist and filmaker Zora Neale Hurston! I have appended the end of this listing to show the evidence that has surfaced. Apparently it is Harlem slang meaning "haughty" or "biggity"
Edwin Lawrence "Kayo" Mckinnon was an officer and navigator in the 90th Bombardment Group, known as the "Jolly Rogers", who were based in Australia during World War 2 and would go on to receive many unit and individual medals for his involvement in the war. As part of the 319th Bombardment Squadron of the 90th, McKinnon flew in Consolidated B-24 Liberators on his bombing missions. According to his discharge record, he would receive a battle star for both the Bismark Archipelago and New Guinea, and would receive the Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 Oak leaf Cluster, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with the 2 Bronze battle stars, unit citation American Campaign Theater Medal along with the WW2 Victory Medal. The 90th would go on to receive two United States Distinguished Unit Citations and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its combat service in China, the Netherlands East Indies, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Leyte, and Luzon. Mr. McKinnon would go on to achieve a final rank in the Air Force of Lt. Colonel.
Given the incredible service to his country during this period, I felt it was imperative that Mr. McKinnon's history be kept together. Unfortunately there are way too many items to include pictures of everything, but if you would like to see all items with several pictures just search his full name as I have them in an album on a popular image website that I cannot name here. They are in somewhat scattered and reverse order so use this below as a guide. I describe below each item in his collection in chronological order so that you may get a better feel for the history and service of this hero.
Please read below for all the items--there are 34 in total. Each bolded and underlined line is an item or related grouping of items. Highlights include the Asterperious Disney artist drawn insignia, the Navigation charts with the actual recon/bombing runs on them, and the several documents that have signatures of some important figures including generals.
Mr. McKinnon's Birth Certificate
Apparently, Edwin Lawrence McKinnon was born in the province of Saskatchewan on September 28th, 1918 to parents William Allan McKinnon and Lillian Buchanan. Included is an official birth certificate dated the 18th of May, 1935, and this is significant to the next item.
US Dept of Labor (INS) letter regarding citizenship
This second item is a letter from the US immigration and Naturalization Service explaining to an attorney, presumably for the father William, that indeed because William was already a citizen of the US, despite the fact that he lived in Canada because William never renounced his citizenship or pledge allegiance to another country. So indeed Edwin was a US citizen already, a fortunate circumstance for him.
US Dept of Commerce Private Pilot Certificate
A certificate issued by the Dept of Commerce to Edwin to certify him a private pilot, dated January 31st, 1941. He completed ground school at Springfield High School (Vermont?) and flight school at the Southern Vermont Flying Service.
Final Grade Sheet--Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School(TE), Turner Field, Albany, Georgia
Issued on July 25th, 1942, this sheet shows the flying time for Aviation Cadet McKinnon and navigation training grades. He passed all four, but just barely on Air Navigation Flight Training with a 71.5 (70 passing). His composite score was 77.9, enough to become a pilot.
USAAF Diploma
Also issued on July 25th, 1942, it is hand signed by John B. Patrick, Colonel, Air Corps, Commanding Officer at the Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School. Also on the bottom left it is signed by Major and future Brigadier General William F Cook, who went on to receive the Bronze Star for his work with the medical corps in the invasion of North Africa during WW2.
Appointment to 2nd Lt., Air Reserve, from Headquarters, Southeast Army Air Forces Training Center, Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama
His appointment letter as described, also dated July 25th, 1942.
WW2 Calendar Style Civil Service booklet.
Possibly his wife's or mother's. Assuming it would be about here in his timeline. Very nice graphics, appears to have been issued by the Nursing Information Bureau, 1790 Broadway, New York City.
A large map at 44"x26", labeled SECRET and AB-42W, showing Northern Australia along with it's northern neighbors including New Guinea, Celebes, and all the East Indies. There are lines with distances from the following Australian cities:
Broom--to Sourabaya, Java and Denpasor, Bali
Darwing--to Waingapu, Sumba; Bima, Sumbawa; Atamboea, Timor; Makassa, Celebes; Kendari, Celebes; and the following cities in New Guinea: Namlea, Ambon, Efman, Fakfak, Babo, Manokwari, and Dabo. There is also one to a place marked I.R. just north of Coen, Australia, which would be Iron Range Airfield. It is just west of Lockhart River, Australia.
From the aforementioned Iron Range--to Sydney (not shown), Townsville, and Brisbane Amberly in Australia, and to Milne Bay and Hood point in southern New Guinea.
Port Moresby, New Guinea--to Wewak, Madang and Lae, New Guinea; Truk, Caroline Islands; Kavieng, New Ireland; Gasmata and Rabaul, New Britain; Buka and Buin, Solomon Islands
I am guessing this map was prior to the one below, probably the first one he received in theater to get oriented with the flight distances. It is in great shape, no tears or major problems at all.
May, 1942 US War Dept. Long Range Air Navigation Chart, Celebes(now Sulawesi) Indonesia
Compiled for the US Army Air Forces by the US Army map service, this is a large map measuring 53" x 40". There are many penciled in bearings with distances in nautical miles, and the routes shown include a line of bearing originating at what appears to be De Grey Station in Northern Australia (Interesting to note that you can see the remnants of what looks like a larger airfield on google maps here, and there is also a current dirt airfield). From here it heads Northwest to Bali through the Lombok Strait, turns east towards Madura Island just north of there, then directly south through Soerabaja Strait (Teluk Lamong) towards Soerabaja (Surabaya), then to a point in the center of Jakarta labeled Occ, directly west to Panchinan Pt., southeast to the terminus of a railroad near Pasir Pt., then turning a little more east across Bali to Mebulu Pt. at the southern tip of Bali, and finally back home to Australia. There is also an alternate section in here where he goes south from Soerabaja to a point on the railroad called Malang, then further south to Sempu Island, east to Bantenan Pt., then to Melubu Pt. The bearings to Malang and Melubu Pt. in this alternate route are erased, so they probably did not take this course.
The next route on the map originates from Burrundie and flies a very long 782 NM to a point southwest of Sumba Island, turns directly north towards Bimba Bay in Sumbawa, turn directly east to Cape Besi near Kura Baja Pt., southeast towards Aemere Bay in Mangari, northeast to the Flores Strait, then back to Australia. In this area around Sumbawa and Mangari there are other bearings and headings, one complete one in a different color (green) and one with dashed lines around Chempi Bay. The green bearings are light and may have been erased.
The next bearings coming from Burrundie fly a whopping 840 NM to just south of Makassar, Elebes, then directly east to Salang Keto Pt, then straight south across Salier Island, from there southeast across Wetar Island to a small island called Leti near the Moa Straight, then back home to Australia.
Another Burrundie run flies to the Wetan Straight, turns northwest to Kendari in Elebes, then back southeast to Leti, then home to Burrundie.
The next run goes to the Wetan Strait again, turns northwest towards Palpetu Pt. west of Boeroe, north of Boeroe Island, and from here there are two diverging bearings: the first heads south across the eastern side of Boeroe back to Burrundie, the second continues to a point out in the Ceram Sea just north of the Manipa Strait, then turns southeast to Ambon Bay before heading back to home.
Another large run heads north to near the Watubela Islands, turns northeast towards across Sebakor Bay to a point in the Bintuni Gulf, and from here it branches in to: first, a southeasterly direction to the most southern point in the Geelvink Bay, New Guinea, southwest towards the Kei Islands, then back to Burrundie, with the second one just adding a northern bearing to Manokwari, then back to that point in the bay, then Kei Islands, then back home.
The map itself is in overall good shape, but there is a seam in the center that is partially separated and old tape residue where a repair was attempted. Just a remarkable piece of history, this could encompass all of Mr. McKinnon's flights as it is well used and very marked up with notes and the flight paths described.
A piece of rice paper (I think) with the original "Jolly Rogers" and the skull and crossbones unofficial insignia, along with the motto "Best Damn Heavy Bomb Group in the World". Unused.
Asterperious--Draft? version. See below for a complete description. I believe this one was used on the newsletter (just the head).
Asterperious--an original piece of cartoon animation that was the symbol of the 319th Bombardment Squadron and is the cover art for the book about the squadron with this same name. Confirmed Disney artist was Lt. Ken Strong (confirmed on page 41 of "The Jolly Rogers" by John S Alcorn), who perished along with Captain Roy Olsen on the flight memorialized in a poem included in this grouping.
In the grouping I have, there is an "Asterperious Time" newsletter (see below) so common for the troops of this time, with an extensive section on the origin's of "Asty". Dated May 13th, 1943, a section titled "Asty of SWPA (South West Pacific Area)" reads: "Asty is really less than a year old, but he is such a precocious youngster that he seems as mature as four roses. He was born back at Iron Range (airfield) while the 319th was still pretty much in the embryo of combat (probably Oct/Nov 1942 according to the unit history also in this newsletter). He has been with them ever since and has played a major part in shaping their colorful history and enviable record.
Inspired by the head of Lt. Russ Rudden after a skillfully administered although close to the scalp haircut the little darky was dubbed Asterperious by Pop Lt. Ron Strong----since then Asty's career has been meteoric as the Warner Brothers say. He has done precision bombing on Jap ships, though more often than not he dropped his bombs in the ocean..."
Asterperious Time, a newsletter from the 319th dated May 13th, 1943.
There is a lot of information in this newsletter, as it is 8 half pages in size. There is the aforementioned history of Asterperious, but also a history of the movements and everyday machinations of the squadron from the very beginning all the way up to the date of the newsletter. Very interesting as it provides a casual look at the unit with all their antics. Inside this is a poem (or song) on rice paper, so I assume that it came with it, and reads:
In the 319th in the 319th
where every man's a king
in the 319th in the 319th
we'll laugh we'll fight we'll sing
with a big stain on the table
we'll drink why we are able
and we don't give a damn
for any other man
in the 319th
in the 319th in the 319th
we've got a job to do
in the 319th in the 319th
we're going to see it through
with a big bomb on the shackle
there's no job we won't tackle
and we want every man to know
that he's going to Tokio
with the 319th
in the 319th in the 319th
we have no fear of Japs
in the 319th in the 319th
we drop bombs in their laps
we're going to get old Tojo
and hang him like a yo-yo
and in our twenty fours
we'll bomb those distant shores
in the 319th
in the 319th in the 319th
we drop a lot of Duds
in the 319th in the 319th
we churn the seas to suds
we drop our bombs in the ocean
and raise a big commotion
and if we miss a ship
then the bombardiers a drip
in the 319th
A poem titled "Here's To Captain Olsen's Crew"
Dedicated to you Captain Olson in all his Brave crew
who so Faithfully fought for the red white and blue
we will always remember you boys wherever you went
because each time I looked across into your vacant tent
sweet memories of you boys in my mind remain
to give us courage to carry on through victory and gain
of course as time went swiftly by and we received the news
we hung our heads in loyalty and kinda got the blues
although we know you would want us to be the same
and carry on the 319th good work and name
of course we don't understand or know the reason why
that damn dirty Jap plane would crash you in the sky
so here's a promise from all your buddies back here at home
we'll even that score if we have to burn the whole air drome
we would enjoy going over at 100 feet to bomb and strafe
if we could bring you back home where you'd be safe
but we know you're gone so just lie at rest
and we will keep up the good work and do our best
Little Willie
Captain Roy W. Olsen was assigned to the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group, 319th Bombardment Squadron at Iron Range Airfield. He flew a plane nicknamed "Pelly-Can" with the nose art of a pelican with a bomb in its beak. This B-24 claimed at least eight enemy fighters and flew at least 25 combat missions or more.
Mission History
On June 23, 1943 took off from Fenton Airfield on a bombing mission against Makassar. Prior to the bomb run, this B-24 was rammed by a B5M Mable (Type 97 Carrier Attack Aircraft Mark 2) of the 932nd Kokutai based at Mandai Airfield. Piloted by Reserve Lt(jg) Yuji Kino with radio operator FPO 2/C Tsuruo Manabe. Crashing into this B-24's right wing, causing the wing to break off and both planes to spiral downward.
Osamu Tagaya adds:
"This was the first ramming victory in the Japanese 'Southwestern Area' and the action was reported in a Combined Fleet All Forces Bulletin, the crew being awarded a posthumous double promotion of rank."
All 9 crewmen aboard the Pelly-Can perished and are MIA.
A typewritten copy of an article in a Sydney Newspaper
The following article is extracted from page 7 of The Daily Mirror Sydney Tuesday April 27th 1943
Ten fliers thank their lucky cat
A black kitten has been christened "oink oink" to commemorate the successful Crash Landing of 10 American Airmen in a giant Liberator bomber says a Daily Mirror War reporter somewhere in North Australia when the Liberator roared over the airstrip at dusk after bombing the daylight out of the Japs in Dutch New Guinea a monkey wrench with a message attached was thrown from the plane
The message read to operations officer bombardment Squadron sir my left aileron is inoperative it's Cable in shot in two my left tire is flat anything may happen shall I wait until the other ships get back before landing hopefully yours oink oink
A US Intelligence Officer didn't waste any time although he realized that if the Liberator crashed on the airstrip the other planes would also be in trouble as they return short of gas
So Lieutenant Roger Keeney Grand Rapids Michigan roared over the radio come on in oink oink and good luck
Safe and sound
The Liberator and its crew of nine lived to fly and fight again this is only a minor occurrence in the life of allied sky fighters in this area
"Oink Oink" in Civil Life is Lieutenant Paul Johnson Four Oaks North Carolina the other nine are Lieutenant Johnny Mufich Butte Montana Lieutenant Ed McKinnon East Thetford Vermont Lieutenant Bob Read White Plains New York Sergeant George Coble San Antonio Texas Sergeant Ken fineshriber North Hollywood California Sergeant Bill Fielder Douglassville Texas Sergeant Jasper O'dell Ware Shoals South Carolina Sergeant Leon Daniels Tuscola Alabama and Sergeant Ray Sheridan Brooklyn New York
x x x x x x x x x x
A true extract copy
Roger b Keeney
1st Lieutenant A. C.
Intelligence officer
Article, The Saturday Evening Post, September 4th, 1943 "We skip bomb the Japs"
An article about a bombing run that Rogers and his general went on with a reporter from the magazine.
Article, The Saturday Evening Post, December 18th, 1943 "Buzzin' Johnny Gets His Medal"
An article about Major Paul Johnson getting his DFC with oak leaves.
Several articles from various Australian newspapers, regarding clashes in Northern Australia circa May 1943
Certificate of Proficiency, Fluxgate Compass Course
Awarded by Army Air Forces Training Command at Chanute Field, Illinois on January 13th, 1945. It is signed by future Brigadier General Joseph Henry Davidson
Joseph Henry Davidson was born at Great Falls, Mont., in 1890. He later moved to Port Townsend, Wash., where he graduated from high school in 1909.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Section of the Officers Reserve Corps May 28, 1917, and was assigned to active duty two months later. On Aug. 15, 1917, he was transferred to the Coast Artillery Reserve, with which he served in France. He was honorably discharged March 11, 1919.
On April 28, 1919, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Aviation Section Reserve. He received his regular commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Service July 1, 1920, and was promoted to captain the same date.
He graduated from the Air Service Observation School in 1921, and 1922 graduated from the Air Service Primary and Advanced Flying Schools and was rated a pilot.
During the following 16 years he held the usual peacetime assignments then afforded an Air Corps officer, including duty as an instructor, squadron and group commander, and technical inspector, and graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School (1936) and the Command and General Staff School (1937).
In July 1938, he became an air observer with the Second Army at Chicago, Ill. He was appointed executive officer at March Field Calif., in August 1940, and in November 1941 assumed command of March Field.
In October 1943 he was assigned to Army Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C., for work on a special project, and a month later assumed command of the 80th Fighter Wing at San Marcos, Texas. In February 1944, he became commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing at Blackland Army Field, Waco, Texas, and the following June was named commanding officer of the 32nd Fighter Wing at Perrin Field, Texas. He assumed command of Sheppard Field, Texas in August 1944.
Four months later he became commander of Chanute Field, Ill. During April 1946, he served as deputy commander of Chanute Field and the following month was recruiting officer there.
In June 1946 he went to the Pacific theater to become a member of the Future Plans Section, Army Detachment, on the staff of the commander-in-chief of the Pacific. The following January he assumed additional duty as the Army Air Member of the Joint Secretariat, Joint Pacific Chiefs of Staff. In March 1948 he became commanding officer of the Hawaiian Air Depot, and two months later assumed command of the 6502nd Composite Wing at Hickam Field, Hawaii.
He returned to the United States in November 1948, and two months later assumed command of the First Fighter Wing at March Air Force Base, Calif. He was appointed assistant to the vice chief of the Fourth Air Force at Hamilton Air Force Base, Calif., in June 1949 and a month later became chief of staff and vice commander of the Fourth Air Force.
General Davidson has been awarded the Army Commendation Ribbon with two oak leaf clusters. He is rated a command pilot, combat observer and technical observer.
(Up to date as of Feb. 24, 1950)
Certificate Awarding Mr. McKinnon First Lt., Air Corps from the President on July 25th, 1945
Twenty-fifth General Staff Class, Air Course, Command and General Staff School, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas
He graduated. Dated October 13th, 1945.
Diploma, Command and General Staff School, Air Course, Ft. Leavenworth, Oct. 13th, 1945
Certificate, Humorous, Grand Council, Exclusive Order of Guinea Pigs, Sty. No. 1, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
Awarded on May 5th, 1946
To all loyal brother pigs greetings know ye that Captain Edwin L McKinnon having through an exaggerated sense of patriotism subjected his body to the rigors attendant to atom bombs Hundred-Foot tidal waves mermaids vampires sand fleas typhoons mal-de-mer cannibals canned beer Etc is by this writing accorded full status as a brother Pig and all brothers are hereby commanded to give him due recognition as seen under penalty of being driven from the common trough given under my hand this 5th day of May 1946
Rm Ramey Grande Guinea swine
Attested William Blanchard little guinea swine
Payne Jennings Keeper of the trough
Military Record and Report of Separation, two records dated 19th June, 1947 (continued active duty) and 4th August, 1947 (Relief from active duty)
A photo of Electronic Officers Section, Class 0428, estimated to be 1948 as attested by the certificate below. McKinnon is on the very right.
Certificate of Proficiency, Electronics Officer Course, Air Training Command, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi MS, May 28th, 1948
Signed by Robert W. Gregory, Major USAF and C W Lawrence, Major General, USAF
Charles White Lawrence was born in Parkville, Mo., in 1901. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Service of the Regular Army June 12, 1923.
After receiving flying training at the Air Service primary and advanced flying schools at Brooks Field, Texas, and at Kelly Field, Texas, he was rated an airplane pilot in September 1924. He then returned to Brooks Field as a flying instructor at the Air Service Primary Flying School. From March to October 1925, he was an instructor at the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field and then returned to duty at Brooks Field. In October 1927, he became a flying instructor at March Field, Calif.
In April 1929, General Lawrence went to France Field, Panama Canal Zone, for duty with the Seventh Observation Squadron. Two years later he was made supply officer of the 44th Observation Squadron there.
In May 1931, he became a flight commander at the Air Corps Flying School at Randolph Field, Texas. In February 1934, he was designated control officer of the Central Zone of the Army Air Corps Mail Operations, with station at Chicago, Ill., and the following May returned to duty at Randolph Field.
General Lawrence entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala., in August 1937, and graduated the following June. He then entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and upon graduation a year later was named the Regular Army instructor with the 11th Observation Squadron of the Texas National Guard at Houston, Texas. In December 1940, he became materiel officer of the 29th Bombardment Group at MacDill Field, Fla., and later served as executive officer of the group.
In December 1941, General Lawrence became chief of staff of the Third Fighter Command at Drew Field, Fla., and later was appointed commanding officer. In May 1942, he was named director of training at the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando, Fla.
In December 1943, General Lawrence became commander of the 99th Bombardment Group, one of the six flying fortress groups of the Fifth Bombardment Wing of the 15th Air Force in Italy, and in February 1944, assumed command of the Fifth Wing. He served in this capacity until V-E Day, when he was transferred to the India-China Division of Air Transport Command of which he assumed command in October 1945.
In May 1946, General Lawrence was assigned to the Technical Division of Air Training command at Scott Field, Ill., and a month later became its commanding general. In September 1946, he became duty commander and chief of staff of the Technical Division.
General Lawrence assumed command of Keesler Air Force Base at Biloxi, Miss., in April 1948, and in May 1949, was appointed commanding general of the Indoctrination Division at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. In October 1949, the Indoctrination Division became the 3700th Air Force Indoctrination Wing of Air Training Command, with no change of station.
On July 16, 1951, General Lawrence became a patient at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, Denver, Colo.
General Lawrence has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters and several foreign decorations. He is rated a command pilot, combat observer and aircraft observer.
(Up to date as of July 23, 1951)
Certificate, Ground Control Approach Equipment Maintenance, GCA Training School, Riverside, CA
Awarded by private company Gilfillan Bros., Inc. on November 24th, 1948
Certificate, Military Government Course, Ryukyus Command (Okinawa), Japan, April 11th, 1951
Signed by Captain Walter S. Schaefer, ASC and Brigadier General Harry B Sherman, Deputy Commanding General
Brig. Gen. Harry B. Sherman, U.S.A. retired led infantrymen of the 88th Division into North Africa and Sicily during World War II. He was also the second in command of Army operations on Okinawa and later the commanding officer of Fort Carson in Colorado. He was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1918.
Diploma, Communications-Electronics Staff Officers Course, Air Command and Staff School, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama June 13th, 1952
1953 Main Road Map of Japan, by the Nihon Chizu Co., LTD. Measures 42.5 x 30 inches.
United States Air Force Air Navigation Chart, Map AN 134 (Restricted), Korea and Honshu, 5th Edition February 1953, measures 53 x 40 inches.
Certificate and Membership card, Air Force Aid Society, November 21st, 1957.
Signed twice, on letter and certificate, by Major General Howard C. Davidson
Howard Calhoun Davidson was born in Wharton, Texas, in 1890. Following graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., he was appointed a second lieutenant of Infantry on June 12, 1913.
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
He was promoted to first lieutenant July 1, 1916; to captain May 15, 1917; and to major (temporary) June 17, 1818. He reverted to his permanent rank of captain Oct. 15, 1919, and was promoted to major July 1, 1920; was transferred to the Air Service on that same date, July 1, 1920; was promoted to lieutenant colonel Aug. 1, 1935; to colonel (temporary) Aug. 1, 1939; to brigadier general (temporary) April 7, 1941; to major general (temporary) Jan. 13, 1944.
SERVICE
He first was assigned to the 22nd Infantry and was stationed at Texas City, Texas, from September 1913, to November 1914; at Naco, Ariz., to February 1915; and at Douglas, Ariz., to July 1915. That same month he was transferred to the 24th Infantry and served with this regiment in the Philippines until September 1915, when he was transferred to the 27th Infantry.
Detailed to the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, he attended the Aviation School at San Diego, Calif., and upon the completion of the course received the rating of junior military aviator.
He joined the First Aero Squadron at Columbus, N.M., in September 1916, and served on border patrol duty and also with the Punitive Expedition into Mexico. In February 1915, he joined the Third Aero Squadron, and served with this organization until May 1917, when he was assigned as commandant of the School of Military Aeronautics at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
The following October he sailed for France and was stationed at Paris and later at Tours as personnel officer at Air Service headquarters until February 1918. He had charge of flying at the Second Aviation Instruction Center at Tours, France, to August 1918, and was Corps Air Service commander, VII Army Corps, from September 1918, to April 1919. He returned to Paris as a student at Sorbonne University from April to July 1919.
Upon his return to the United States in August 1919, he was assigned to McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, for duty in the Power Plant Section. He assumed the duty of supply officer in November 1919, and Quartermaster from August to October 1920. In September 1921, he was assigned to the Air Service Engineering School at McCook Field. Upon his graduation from this school in July 1922, he was assigned to duty as assistant military attache at the American Embassy in London, England.
At the end of his four-year tour of duty in London, he went to Mitchel Field, N.Y., in September 1926, where he served as operations officer and performed various other duties, until December 1927. After several weeks as commanding officer of Mitchel Field, he was assigned to the command of Bolling Field, D.C., in January 1928. He attended the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala., and upon his graduation in 1933 pursued the course of instruction at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., graduating in 1935. His next assignment was with the 19th Bombardment Group as commanding officer, and served with this organization both at Rockwell Field and at March Field, Calif.
He was transferred to the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps, Washington, D.C., and assigned as executive officer in September 1936. He served in that capacity until September 1939, when he entered the Army War College at Washington, D.C., as a student officer. Upon graduation from the Army War College in June 1940, he was ordered to the Hawaiian Islands for duty as commanding officer of Hickam Field.
Subsequently he was named executive officer of a bombardment wing at Hickam Field until April 1941, when he assumed command of the 14th Pursuit Wing at Wheeler Field, Hawaii. The following July he became commanding general of the Hawaiian Interceptor Command, and served in that capacity until December 1941. He then became commanding general of the Seventh Air Force, and in June 1942, became commanding general of the Seventh Fighter Command, until November 1942, when he returned to the United States and was assigned to the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command, Mississippi, Delta Area, Gulfport, Miss., as commanding general, for a brief tour of duty. He then was named special projects officer at the Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Fla. He assumed command of the Tenth Air Force in July 1943.
As commander of the 10th, he received the DSM as follows "The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Howard Calhoun Davidson (ASN: 0-3596), United States Army Air Forces, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility as Commanding General of the TENTH Air Force in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations from June 1944 to March 1945. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Davidson culminate a long and distinguished career in the service of his country and his dedicated contributions reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces." He retired in 1946.
An order from the Dept. of the Air Force regarding suspension of flying status, dated November 12th, 1958
Election of Options Under the Uniformed Services Contingency Act, June 25th, 1959
Concerning retirement I believe, on letterhead from the 28th Communications Squadron (Command) (Conac), Mitchel AFB, New York, his final unit.
Additional information on the origin of Asterperious. There is an actual photo of the nose are on "Arnold Zwicky's Blog"!
"Asteperious
From correspondent G.D. yesterday:
… I had stumbled onto your blog [Language Log] by searching for the word astiperios — because a colleague of mine used it today to describe a student’s attitude. It’s a word I had never heard before (or seen in print), so I wanted to see if it was real, and what it meant. I’m curious how your adventure in tracing its roots started, and where it took you in the end.
G.D. is referring to a posting of mine from, omigod, 2004, in which I mentioned my travails in tracking down the word asteperious (which appears in various spellings). Things pretty much ran aground five years ago, and I never got around to writing about the quest in a proper blog entry (though most of it was documented on the American Dialect Society mailing list). Now would be a good time to tell the story.
Here’s the summary in my 2004 posting, which was actually about investigating the history of the X3 snowclone (as in “location, location, location”):
When I have accidentally fallen into work of this sort [tracing the history of words and expressions], I’ve found it grindingly difficult and often baffling. I hope to report soon on my adventures in tracing the AAVE lexical item asto(r)perious / asteperious / astiperious ‘haughty, uppity’ (if any of you reading this actually uses this word, tell me now, please). Suffice it to say that I found myself engaged with the work of Zora Neale Hurston, the naming of World War Two bombers, race horses, romantic pseudo-historical fiction about early Ireland, rap music, detective mysteries, and much else. And I still don’t understand any of it, really. I’m amazed that people can, sometimes, succeed at this sort of enterprise.
I have an enduring respect for lexicographers.
(No one responded to my appeal — until now.)
1. Chapter 1: Blanche White. The story began, for me, with this quote from Barbara Neely’s 1998 detective novel Blanche Cleans Up:
If she’d wanted the man, she could have had him. He had been really clear on that. She was the one who hadn’t been clear. She still wasn’t… She hoped she hadn’t let a good thing get away from her just to be asteperious. But she’d hated the idea of being matched and labeled, and she’d never been keen on marriage. (p. 99)
Blanche is Blanche White, a “black maid-cum-snoop extraordinaire”, as the book’s back cover identifies her. The meaning of asteperious was none too clear to me from the context.
Chapter 2: Zora Neale Hurston. The dictionaries were, unsurprisingly, not helpful with asteperious. So I went to our friend Google, which had no web or newsgroup hits, but did suggest i might have meant asterperious (a word that would surface as asteperious in a non-rhotic dialect (such as that spoken by the North Carolinian African American Blanche). Googling on that took me back to Zora Neale Hurston.
From her short story “Sweat” (1926):
Kill ‘im Syke, please.”. “Doan ast me tuh do nothin’ fuh yuh. Goin’ roun’ trying’ tuh be so damn asterperious. Naw, Ah aint gonna kill it.
And here’s Rodney O. Lain (Signifyin(g) as a Rhetorical Device In Selected Writings of the Harlem Renaissance …, 1994 Master’s thesis, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, ch. 3) on a essay by her:
Four years later, in a cogent observation entitled “My People!” [in her 1942 autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road] Zora Neale Hurston, albeit facetiously, echoes [Roger] Abrahams’ findings about blacks’ love of language, especially the tendency to create new, often humorous words.
with this quote from it:
If he can’t find that big word he’s feeling for, he is going to make a new one. But somehow or another that new word fits the thing it was made for. Sounds good, too. . . . Somebody didn’t know the word total or entire so they made bodacious. Then there’s asterperious, and so on. When you find a man chewing up the dictionary and spitting out language, that’s My People.
A search for the spelling astorperious pulled up three more Hurston cites:
From “A Story in Harlem Slang” (1942):
Jelly slammed his hand in his bosom as if to draw a gun. Sweet Back did the same.
“If you wants to fight, Sweet Back, the favor is in me.”
“I was deep-thinking then, Jelly. It’s a good thing I ain’t short-tempered. ‘T’aint nothing to you, nohow. You ain’t hit me yet.”
Both burst into a laugh and changed from fighting to lounging poses.
“Don’t get too yaller on me, Jelly. You liable to get hurt some day.”
“You over-sports your hand your ownself. Too blamed astorperious. I just don’t pay you no mind. Lay de skin on me!”
They broke their handshake hurriedly, because both of them looked up the Avenue and saw the same thing.
From “Why They Always Use Rawhide on a Mule” (in her 1935 folklore collection Mules and Men):
“Who gittin’ old? Not me! Ah laks de lies. All I said is yo talkin’ skeers off all de trouts and sheepheads. Ah can’t eat no lies.
“Aw, gran’pa, don’t be so astorperious! We all wants to hear Larkins’ tale. I’m goin’ ketch you some fish. We ain’t off lak dis often.
And from her “Glossary of Harlem Slang” (accompanying her 1942 “Story in Harlem Slang”):
Astorperious: haughty, biggity
Other writers mentioning the word generally trace it back to Hurston. In fact, Doug Wilson reported on ADS-L that he’d found a 1978 newspaper article on Hurston maintaining that she coined the word herself — which isn’t entirely out of the question, though as a folklorist and anthropologist (she was a student of Franz Boas’s) she claimed to be recording usage, not inventing it. Of course, some of the usages she recorded (and then represented in her fiction) might well have been “family words” or other very restricted usage. She was in no position to survey black speech — even rural Southern black speech — as a whole, and for relatively infrequent items she could have had no way of knowing what their distribution was like.
In any case, no one has yet found pre-Hurston cites for the word (in any of its spellings).
(Astorperious has an entry in DARE, and all the cites are from Hurston.)
Chapter 4: Non-Hurston uses. So far we have two non-Hurston uses: from Neely’s character and from G.D.’s colleague (who is African American). My most unexpected find is from a fantasy romance set in Ireland: Riona: Fires of Glennmara Book II, by Linda Windsor (who is white and American), from 2001:
Alls I can say is, it’s time, well enough, for the world to recognize me Celtic forefathers as far more civilized than their asterperious Greek and Roman counterparts gave ’em credit for. No culture copycats among us! Our poems and tales, preserved by word of mouth, are purely our own dear Irish–a delight to the eye as well as the ear.
A little bit earlier, there was the spelling astiperious on the Talon (automobile) mailing list on 11/18/99, from the contributor Alisen on the topic “More Y2K”:
So even tho we know we lucked out and bought a car that was for a short time sold at a price that was accessible to the middle class, but was not your average middle class car should not feel astiperious.
(Yes, the syntax unravels.) There is clear evidence that Alisen is a woman, and almost surely white (“While I have no plans to sell my talon, and plan to be the little blue haired old lady driving the talon the in fast lane with people trying to catch up,…”); she also says that she’s from the Midwest.
And a little before that, from the almost surely African American “CreoleLady” on the newsgroup alt.rap (8/16/97), in a rap “Mo Freestyling”:
Most player haters
are ubiquitous spectators
But I’m like Sisyphus with the rock
Never mind your loaded glock
Studio hermits can never offend me
They lack the hegemony
you are nothing in a society
where nothing plus nothing equals nothing much
and nothing much minus really nothing much
equals more nothing
I’m not astorperious
or nefarious
or unserious
but you’re delirious
and oh so delusional
get ready for the fall
Also from 1997, this speech from a young black man in Andy Duncan’s science fiction story “Beluthahatchie”:
I ran one finger along my guitar strings, not hard enough to make a sound but just hard enough to feel them. “I ain’t got a ticket, neither,” I bit off, “but it was your railroad’s pleasure to bring me this far, and it’s my pleasure to ride on a little further, and I don’t see what cause you got to be so astorperious about it, Mr. Fat Ass.”
(Duncan himself is white, but Southern.)
Doug Wilson reported that there was a race horse with the name “Asterperious” around 1945, but that there’s not much information about the horse available in the newspapers.
I’m postponing discussion of one further occurrence of the word.
Chapter 5: Some comments on meaning. The cites so far fall into two somewhat overlapping sense groups, ‘haughty, imperious’ (Windsor, for instance) and ‘obstreperous, “difficult” ‘ (Neely, for instance). It’s not always easy to tell which was intended, and uppity can be similarly used in both these ways.
Chapter 6: On the source of the word. DARE gives only the spelling astorperious and confidently asserts that the word is a blend of Astor, referring to the wealthy and socially prominent American family, and imperious — thus focusing on the ‘haughty’ sense. The same suggestion was made by several ADS-L posters back in 2004. It’s not implausible, but it’s far from a sure thing. Hurston’s earliest uses have the spelling asterperious, and she never mentioned the Astors.
There’s an odd suggestion on a Black Thought and Culture site that I’m not able to penetrate, beyond the bit that Google shows:
“Astorperious” is supposed to have originated in Florida. It means “high hat” and is a tribute to the socially prominent Astors.
I suspect that the reference to Florida comes from the fact that Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida.
The ADS-L discussion looked some at the possibility that obstreperous was involved in the coining of the word. The meaning of obstreperous doesn’t fit with Hurston’s explicit glossing, and there are phonological difficulties, but obstreperous might still have played a role in the coining of the word, as a “catalyst” for it (as an existing word in roughly the right semantic domain — here, critical judgments of behavior — that promotes the coining without directly contributing to it).
Hurston herself merely said that black people made up the word. In general, it would be too much to expect that inventions always have simple and straightfoward explanations.
Chapter 7: Asterperious Special. Google also came up with a fair number of references to a B-24 Liberator called “Asterperious Special”, flown in the South Pacific in World War II. According to this site,
Asterperious Special actually had two lives. After serving the 319th Bombardment Squadron faithfully from approximately August 1943 onwards, she was transferred to the 528th Bombardment Squadron of the 380th Bombardment Group and renamed Little Eve. She was written off with this unit on 20th April 1944 in a landing accident.
I have found no account of how the name was chosen, though there’s a hint to be found in the nose art.
The site above notes that “expressive noseart in the Pacific theatre was not always of the girlie variety” (though an awful lot of it was). In this case what’s depicted is a native with a grass skirt next to a bomb; the native has a bone in one ear, a large ring in the other, large red lips, and dark brown skin, and he’s wearing white gloves. Here’s a (rather imperfect) picture:
(picture on his blog is here)
Doug Wilson suggested on ADS-L that the figure
… had white gloves to show upper-crust social position. Presumably the “Astor” etymology had been forgotten already (assuming it was valid in the first place), given the spelling with “aster-“.
I countered that the white gloves might come from the minstrel tradition and noted that the figure combines signifiers of Pacific islanders, African “tribesmen”, and stereotypical African Americans, and the last of these could have been the source of the white gloves. In any case, the nose art connects the name “Asterperious Special” to black folks."
H20