US Coins, Tokens & Medals，UNITED STATES: 1944, silver medallion, Y-329, VF, WWII souvenir engraving, HAPS CHARACTERS around bust / 12-15-44 (December 15, 1944) / CAPT / H.W. GOOD / CHUCK engraved on Chinese Yuan Shi Kai dollar dated year 3 (1914). This was issued by Captain H.W. "Chuck" Good, the pilot of the B-29 Superfortress "Haps Characters (42-63424)", part of the 468th Bombardment Group, and named after himself. The 468th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Force combat organization. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater and the China - Burma - India Theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The 468th Bomb Groups aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment with B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan. You can read more about this interesting aircraft and pilot online in the article, "Gertie, the B-29 Bomber Bear who Flew Combat over Japan" by Henry Sakaida During World War II, many crazy and unusual events took place which never made it into the history books. "Gertie" is a prime example. She was a Himalayan Sloth Bear who bears the incredulous distinction of being the only bear in World War II to have flown bombing missions over Japan! Gertie made her debut in Calcutta, India circa December 1944. She was one of two newborn bear cubs sold to a pilot of a B-29 (792nd Bomb Squadron, 468th BG, 58th Bomb Wing). Their eyes werent open yet and they weighed less than a pound and a half. One of the cubs died and the survivor was named Gertie. Gertie bonded with the pilot, Capt. Hap Good, and lived in his tent. She became the crews mascot. She had a fondness for Coca-Cola until someone gave her beer and from then on, she had a taste for beer! Capt. Good took Gertie on three bombing missions to Japan. At the end of the war, their B-29, nicknamed "Haps Characters", completed 38 combat missions. Gertie found a home in July 1945 at the San Francisco Zoo where she passed away in 1965.
