Air Transport Command Patch
Description
The round, leather patch would have been sewn onto a flight jacket and is painted with ATC’s emblem, a stylized wing and globe. It belonged to Joseph J. Mike, a pilot who flew the “Hump” airlift route in WWII.
During WWII, the Air Transport Command (ATC) was given the responsibilities of ferrying aircraft within the U.S. and to destinations outside the U.S., operation and maintenance of facilities on air routes outside the U.S., and the transportation of personnel, cargo, and mail. By the end of the war, ATC had established air routes all over the world, some in places aircraft had never been. By July 1945 ATC had carried 275,000 passengers and 100,000 tons of mail and cargo.
In 1948, ATC became the Military Air Transport Service (MATS).
Do you have any idea of how to obtain personel records of my father who served in the ATC stationed in several locations of the South Pacific.
He was a cargo manager for United Airlines when “drafted” into the ATC and held the rank of a Captain.
I purchased a copy of my father’s “Enlisted Record and Report of Separation” (WD AGO Form 53-55 of 1 November 1944) from the National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. I applied online: http://vetrecs.archives.gov. Here is the telephone number as well: 314-801-0800. Be prepared to provide your father’s Army Serial Number — they can’t proceed without it. I was also able to obtain copies of my father’s medals and ribbons (he lost his originals). The Department of the Army (Clothing and Heraldry) actually issues these replacements: http://veteranmedals.army.mil or PO Box 57997, Philadelphia, PA 19111-7997. PSlutz