Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 227:
Description
WWII 8th AAF KIA B-17 pilot grouping – 1st Lt. Charles E. Mikesell, 11 April 1944. Named Purple Heart and Air Medal group to Second Lieutenant Charles Edward Mikesell, Army Air Forces, killed in the European Theater on 11 April 1944 and promoted posthumously to first lieutenant effective the day before. He is the pilot in the crew photographs: B-17 Fortress, Mae Wests and fleece, a bomb and linked ammunition on the tarmac. Versos name the crew-Mikesell, pilot; Robert Naugler, co-pilot; Leon Shektell, navigator; Edward Osucha, bombardier; Joseph Grundy, engineer; Francis Lope, tail gunner; Edward Donnelly, ball turret; Arthur Clark Jr. and Joseph Williamson, waist; others as radio and armorer. He trained at Maxwell Field and Gunter Field, Class 43-B (The Gunter Cadet).
In the lot: Purple Heart engraved CHARLES E. MIKESELL, cased, with extra ribbon; Air Medal engraved 2D LT. CHARLES E. MIKESELL A.C., cased; sterling A.E. Co. Utica pilot wings, collar U.S. and prop-and-wings, lieutenant bars, Purple Heart and Air Medal ribbon bars. Presidential memorial certificates-Roosevelt for First Lieutenant Charles E. Mikesell, European Area, and Truman naming Second Lieutenant Charles E. Mikesell, 11 April 1944. Official promotion under Public Law 680, recorded 6 November 1946, advancing him to first lieutenant as of 10 April 1944. Class books, studio portrait, crew prints (one from Howard Studio, Pecos, Texas), and a "do not bend" envelope to Lucinda Lee Mikesell, Wayside, Pennsylvania. Medals and cases fine; papers folded and stained as family papers. A complete killed-in-action pilot’s group-named medals, the crew that flew with him, and the President’s certificates for a Fortress pilot lost on 11 April 1944.
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