Archives at The Museum of Flight

Abstract Colonel Merle Coons (1921-1997) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot, earning ace status during World War II. The collection is a subset of the American Fighter Aces Collection and includes primarily textual materials, such as military orders and records, flight records and a log book, and a scrapbook, as well as a photograph album and a small amount of loose photographs.

Contents of the Collection This small collection is comprised of 59 photographs taken by and featuring Lester Jay Kickland while he was stationed in the Pacific theater during World War II where he helped to build island airfields. The photographs were primarily taken between April and September of 1945 at locations on Iejima (formerly Ie Shima), but may also include images from Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Photographs feature nose art on various types of American aircraft, a coral runway on Iejima as well as other airfields,...

Abstract William Orthman (1911-1990) was drafted into the United States Army in 1942. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater as Public Relations Officer. The collection is comprised of 340 photographs and a small amount of textual materials from his 1945-1946 service.

Contents of the Collection The Howard E. Smith World War II Photograph Collection is comprised largely of photographic and audiovisual material, including 2,115 prints, 83 negatives, and 5 film reels. The images were taken or collected by Howard E. Smith, a United States Army Air Corps Public Relations Officer and base photographer, primarily while he was stationed at Smoky Hill Army Air Field (SHAAF) in Salina, Kansas. There is also a very small amount of textual documents. Most materials date from 1942-1943, with some...