Original U.S. Vietnam War Era U.S. Air Force A+E Painted Soldier’s Trunk - Aeromedical Evacuation

Original Item. Only One Available. Aeromedical evacuation (AE) is the use of military transport aircraft to carry wounded personnel. The first crude attempts at evacuating patients by air were made on biplanes in 1918. Shortly thereafter, JN-4s and DH-4 bombers were modified by the Army Air Service for carrying litters. In 1921 the Curtiss Eagle was developed, the first aircraft designed specifically for the transport of patients. It was followed in 1925 by the XA-1, which could carry 2 litter patients and flight surgeon in a compartment behind the cockpit. Eventually Douglas C-1 transports were modified to carry up to 9 litter patients and were used on an opportune basis in the US and Panama. This led to a directive that all future military transports be equipped with brackets for carrying litters.

This is a great 1960s era soldier’s trunk with a gorgeous painted lid for the United States Air Force. The lid is painted blue with three aircraft painted/drawn onto the background, including two Grumman F11F-1F Super Tigers, one on each side, and a Douglas A-26 Invader in the center over USAF for U.S. Air Force. Under that is A+E which we could only identify as Aeromedical Evacuation, but this does require more research!

The trunk has a label under the paint for Texas Trunk. The trunk measures 30 ½ x 17 ½ x 11 ½” and is in good shape overall. It is empty. There is a leather handle at the front and on one side which are heavily worn but intact. We would not recommend lifting the trunk by these frail handles.

Comes ready for further research and display!