\"Congressional Gold Medal\" Steve Bonner Signed 11x8.5 Photo Todd Mueller COA

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\"Congressional Gold Medal\" Steve Bonner Signed 11x8.5 Photo Todd Mueller COA:
$199.99

Up for sale is a Hand signed 11 x 8.5 photo by Steve Bonner. This piece comeauthenticatedby Todd Mueller and comes with their COA. ES-7024

Mr. Bonner was an avid gardener, wonderful cook, and canned a mean pickle (arecipe from his mother). He learned to play the violin at an early age. Mr.Bonner lived much of his life in Guymon, Oklahoma on the land his father andgrandfather homesteaded on before Oklahoma became a state. At an early age Mr.Bonner discovered his love for flying. A friendly pilot at the local prairieairport would often take him up for a ride, and it was because of this, hejoined the US Army Reserve and was commissioned as a second lieutenant at EaglePass Army Air Force on February 16, 1943. He joined the 76th Squadron of the23rd Fighter Group in June 1943 and was deployed to China in short order.Commanding them all was Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault. As one of thefamous “Flying Tigers”, Mr. Bonner flew dozens of missions in the WesternTheatre, earning the level of Ace for five confirmed air-to-air kills ofJapanese fighter planes. Mr. Bonner was awarded the Distinguished Flying Crossand the Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a second award of the DistinguishedFlying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flightas a P-40 Fighter Pilot of the 76th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group,Fourteenth Air Force. On July 4, 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces officially tookcharge in China and the AVG ceased to exist, to be reincarnated as the 23rdFighter Group. Retaining the AVG’s distinctive shark mouth on its CurtissP-40s, the 23rd entered combat. Commanding them all was Claire Lee Chennault,whose rank and responsibilities had risen from Colonel leading the AVG tobrigadier general in charge of the China Air Task Force. In September 2005Bonner, accompanied by his daughter, was among numerous Flying Tigers andAmerican veterans invited to Beijing to commemorate what his Chinese hostsreferred to as the “60th Anniversary of the Victory of China’s War ofResistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World’s Anti-Fascist War.”Bonner was made an Honorary Citizen of Kunming, China, and had dinner and otherencounters with the President of China. One more honor was to come. On May 20,2015, Steve Bonner joined 33 other Aces in Washington D.C. to receive theCongressional Gold Medal on behalf of the total of 1,447 American airmen whoattained the vaunted status of Ace. Bonner transitioned to jets after the war,and was stationed at Rantoul Air Force Base in Illinois. He retired in theearly 50’s as a Major. At the age of 103 years, Bonner was the oldest survivingAmerican Fighter Ace. He was also the last living Ace to have fought inChina/CBI. Mr. Bonner has donated his China memorabilia to the No Man’s LandMuseum, in Goodwell, Oklahoma. He is survived by his children, Stephen Jacob(Lorraine) Bonner III of Albuquerque, NM, Jane Bonner (Randy) Scott ofCarlinville, Chris Arthur (Deborah) Bonner of Westfield, IN; six grandchildren;11 great grandchildren; one sister, Helen Riffe (105 yrs old) of Claremore, OK;several nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife, Joy; twobrothers; two sisters; and grandson, Zachary Howard Scott. A private militaryfuneral will be held in Guymon, Oklahoma in the Bonner family plot on October6, 2021.