Two original black-and-white snapshot photographs depicting Tom Harmon (1919–1990), the 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, during his service as a U.S. Army Air Forces pilot in China.
One photograph shows Harmon standing alongside fellow officer “Capt. Cline” before the nose of Harmon’s Lockheed Lockheed P-38 LightningLittle Butch II, whose distinctive nose art depicts a cartoon football player wearing Harmon’s famous number 98. The verso bears a contemporary pencil identification reading: “Capt Cline / Lt Harmon.”
The second depicts Harmon alone beside the same aircraft, with painted markings identifying “Pilot Lt. T. Harmon” and crew chief “T/Sgt. C.W. Shaffer.” The verso is likewise identified in contemporary pencil: “Lt Harmon.”
The photographs come from the archive of Lt. Col. Harte M. Juddson of Lynbrook, New York—an unusually well-documented officer whose military career spanned both world wars. A former U.S. Army Intelligence officer stationed in Bern, Switzerland during WWI, Juddson returned to service after Pearl Harbor and served in Africa, India, and China with the Fourteenth Air Force, where contemporary newspaper accounts described him as the oldest officer in the command at age fifty-three. Juddson’s surviving wartime archive includes photographs stamped “16th Combat Camera Unit Official Photo” and personal snapshots from China.
An exceptional convergence of American sports history, WWII aviation, and wartime photographic provenance. Price is for the two Harmon snapshots.
Each approximately 4 x 5 inches. Light wear, slight curling to vertical edges; overall very good. Archival pencil numbers lower right.
Two original black-and-white snapshot photographs depicting Tom Harmon (1919–1990), the 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, during his service as a U.S. Army Air Forces pilot in China.
One photograph shows Harmon standing alongside fellow officer “Capt. Cline” before the nose of Harmon’s Lockheed Lockheed P-38 LightningLittle Butch II, whose distinctive nose art depicts a cartoon football player wearing Harmon’s famous number 98. The verso bears a contemporary pencil identification reading: “Capt Cline / Lt Harmon.”
The second depicts Harmon alone beside the same aircraft, with painted markings identifying “Pilot Lt. T. Harmon” and crew chief “T/Sgt. C.W. Shaffer.” The verso is likewise identified in contemporary pencil: “Lt Harmon.”
The photographs come from the archive of Lt. Col. Harte M. Juddson of Lynbrook, New York—an unusually well-documented officer whose military career spanned both world wars. A former U.S. Army Intelligence officer stationed in Bern, Switzerland during WWI, Juddson returned to service after Pearl Harbor and served in Africa, India, and China with the Fourteenth Air Force, where contemporary newspaper accounts described him as the oldest officer in the command at age fifty-three. Juddson’s surviving wartime archive includes photographs stamped “16th Combat Camera Unit Official Photo” and personal snapshots from China.
An exceptional convergence of American sports history, WWII aviation, and wartime photographic provenance. Price is for the two Harmon snapshots.
Each approximately 4 x 5 inches. Light wear, slight curling to vertical edges; overall very good. Archival pencil numbers lower right.
