Standing beside then-U.S. Army Air Corps Col. John F. Curry’s service trunk, Cadet Tech. Sgt. James Roberts displays Curry's command pilot wings and Cadet 1st Lt. Trey Broome his brigadier general stars, Cadet Senior Airman Caleb Broome holds up Lt. Col. Winship Nunnaly's CAP service jacket and Chief Master Sgt. Noah Kimsey displays an early CAP jacket with plastic buttons and red epaulets.
Photo by 2nd Lt. Ollie Harris, Georgia Wing
Lt. Col. James Shaw
National Commanders Squadron
National Headquarters
GEORGIA – Members of the Albany Composite Squadron recently received a Civil Air Patrol history lesson featuring some unique visual aids – items from CAP’s national archives, displayed and discussed during one of the unit’s regular weekly meetings.
Lt. Col. Jim Shaw of the National Commanders Squadron presented the artifacts, including the uniform of the first Georgia Wing commander, Lt. Col, Winship Nunnally, provided to the archives by his widow, Adair Pizer of Valdosta, Ga. Nunnally was present when the Albany squadron started.
The display also included the service trunk that CAP’s first national commander, U.S. Army Corps Maj. Gen. John F. Curry used as a colonel, as well as his brigadier general stars and command pilot wings. Those items were donated to the archives by a descendent of the Curry family, as arranged by Maj. Ed O’Brien, assistant historian for the Colorado Wing.
Shaw also presented a brief history of the CAP uniform, displaying a rare original example featuring red epaulets and plastic buttons. The uniform represented transitional garb for CAP while the organization was in the process of creating its own identity, as the plastic buttons indicated, Shaw said.
The presentation inspired his audience to discuss the importance of representing CAP in their uniforms, as well as the long history they’re all part of.
The officers and cadets also got a chance to review one of the early CAP history books, The Flying Minute Men by Robert E. Neprud, and were given a copy in PDF format for their use and study. They were challenged to learn more about the organization’s history and stories.
