While at a local antique store with my wife and son this weekend I happened upon an Officer’s visor. I’ve never known this store to have any militaria so it was a bit of a surprise. The visor had been snacked on by moths but wasn’t in terrible shape. The tag indicated the emblem was acid marked (it is) and appears to have been on this visor for a very long time. The price was reasonable as is but they were having a 20% off sale so I purchased it.

It wasn’t until I got home and had a chance to look it over that I realized it was named. The name was somewhat difficult to make out but appeared to be named to Lt. H. A. Paul and included his Officer Service Number which is very legible. After some research I narrowed it down to who I thought was Lt. Harvey Alexander Paul. Lt. Paul was a local individual who fit the initials and rank. After some more researching I saw that one of his missions his B-17 was damaged on a mission and ditched in the English Channel. A contact of mine was able to pull the MACR and confirm the Service Number.

Lt. Paul served in the 568th Bomb Squadron, 390th Bomb Group, 8th AAF. He was a co-pilot flying B-17s and completed his 25 missions between August 1943 and February 1944. On August 24, 1943 he was flying his second mission onboard the "Hot Rocks" when they were hit by enemy fighters and forced to ditch their plane. Him and another individual onboard were lightly injured while the Navigator, Lt. Frank Dell Armi, was KIA.

Below are some pictures of the visor and of Lt. Paul. One picture includes Lt. Dell Armi.

Courtesy of the 390th Memorial Museum.

Lt. Paul is bottom row, second from left.
Courtesy of NARA.

Click to enlarge the picture