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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015 Tiny gold caterpillar wiggles into epic tales of wartime bravery Matt Winters/EO Media Group Caterpillar Club pins were issued by the Irvin company to fliers whose lives were saved by their parachutes. The caterpillar represents a silkworm, which create the threads from which many World War II-era chutes were made. 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Developed by Leslie Irvin just after World War I, the chutes have saved tens of thousands of fliers forced to bail out of crashing or burning aircraft. PRQJ P\ PRWKHU-LQ-ODZ %HWW\¶V HVWDWH ZDV D VLONZRUP-VKDSHG SLQ D KXPEOH REMHFW PL[HG DPRQJ V SHDUO-ERUGHUHG VRURULW\ SLQV IURP 8: DQG :D]RR ,Q D VLPLODU OLWWOH SLHFH ZDV DSSUDLVHG RQ D 79 VKRZ , ZDWFK WKH %ULWLVK YHUVLRQ RI $QWLTXHV 5RDGVKRZ)LQDOO\MXVWDFRXSOHZHHNV DJR,SXWWZRDQGWZRWRJHWKHUWXUQHG P\PRWKHU-LQ-ODZ¶VSLQRYHUDQGIRXQG DOPRVW-PLFURVFRSLF ZRUGV VKRZLQJ LW LVDIDVFLQDWLQJRI¿FLDO&DWHUSLOODU&OXE LQVLJQLD+RSLQJWR¿QGLWGHGLFDWHGWR P\ IDWKHU-LQ-ODZ 'RQ &RXW\ D PDJ- QLI\LQJ OHQV LQVWHDG UHYHDOHG WKH QDPH 5&+XJKHV²SUREDEO\RQHRI%HWW\¶V H[-ÀDPHV 7KH HQJUDYLQJ LQGLFDWHV D SDUDFKXWHVDYHGKLVOLIHRQ-XO\ ²\HDUVDJRWKLVZHHN 7KLV UDLVHV WKH TXHVWLRQ RI ZKR +XJKHV ZDV WKH FLUFXPVWDQFHV RI KLV MXPS DQG KRZ WKH ZDU HQGHG IRU KLP 'XULQJ VHYHUDO GD\V RI UHVHDUFK , KD- Matt Winters/EO Media Group The back of a pin issued by the Irving Air Chute Co. (In the early-1940s, for some reason it went by “Irving” even though its owner’s name was “Irvin”) is engraved “Pres. by Irving | R.C. Hughes | 7/22/42.” Hughes may have been a U.S. Army Air Forces flier from Washington state. 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Matt Winters is editor of the Chinook Observer and Coast River Business Journal. He lives in Ilwaco, Wash., with his wife and daughter. 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FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873