Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 42:
Description
NAMED WWII AAF Grouping: Sgt. David Beiter, 586th Engineer Sq, Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Named WWII USAAF dog-tag and discharge grouping to Sgt. David L. Beiter, Classification Specialist with the 586th Engineer Squadron, 73rd Air Service Group, Asiatic-Pacific Theater, together with a second set of tags to James A. Foster Jr. and later Confederate Air Force ephemera. This lot centers on Sgt. David L. Beiter (ASN 12 081 129), who enlisted at Buffalo, NY on 29 May 1942 and served overseas in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 16 March to 14 December 1945 before being honorably discharged at Fort Dix, NJ on 31 December 1945. His laminated WD AGO Form 53-55 Enlisted Record and Report of Separation records his unit as the 586th Engineer Squadron, 73rd Air Service Group, his military occupational specialty as Classification Specialist (MOS 275), and his awards as the American Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. The card further confirms issuance of the honorable-discharge "Ruptured Duck" lapel button. No separate published biography for Beiter has been located, so this narrative rests on the surviving official paperwork and his personal effects; the record identifies him as ground-echelon administrative personnel rather than aircrew, and neither the discharge card nor his later CAF wings should be read as evidence of wartime flying duty. The 73rd Air Service Group provided engineering, supply, and administrative support to USAAF units in the Pacific during the final year of the war against Japan – essential but unglamorous work that kept forward air operations running. Beiter’s own tour, per his separation record, ran from his departure for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in March 1945 through his return stateside in December 1945, placing his service within the closing Pacific campaigns and the early post-surrender occupation period. A second, related pair of dog tags in the lot is stamped for James A. Foster Jr. (ASN 32 836 267); the connection between the two men is not documented in the accompanying paperwork, but the matching notch-stamp format and the tags’ having been kept together suggest they were retained as a memento of shared service or comradeship. The grouping comprises two notched steel dog tags for David L. Beiter, stamped "DAVID L. BEITER 12081129 T42 43 AB P, " each on its original ball chain; two additional notched tags for James A. Foster Jr., stamped "FOSTER, JAMES A. JR. 32836267 T43 44 A P"; the laminated WD AGO Form 53-55 separation card for Beiter, complete with thumbprint and personal data; a gilt brass WWII honorable-discharge "Ruptured Duck" lapel pin; and a leather flight-jacket-style name tag reading "DAVID L. BEITER COL CAF" beneath printed Ghost Squadron wings. Rounding out the lot is a 1984 Confederate Air Force "Airsho 84" registrant celluloid pinback button, documenting Beiter’s postwar involvement with the CAF (now the Commemorative Air Force), the volunteer organization devoted to flying and preserving historic combat aircraft – evidence that his interest in military aviation endured long after his 1945 discharge. Condition is very good throughout: the dog tags and chains show only light handling wear and minor surface scratches; the laminated discharge card is intact with expected age-toning; the Ruptured Duck pin retains most of its gilt finish with light reverse oxidation; and the CAF name tag and 1984 button are well preserved with minimal wear. A tangible, well-documented named grouping linking a Pacific-theater ground-support serviceman’s WWII paperwork and tags to a lifelong postwar devotion to military aviation history.
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