World War II - Golden Pilot's Class Ring - Freeman Field Indiana

The airplane on the ring is a P-38 Lightning, perhaps crew training records for that aircraft are available.
 
Glad I checked back on this thread. You guys did some excellent research in narrowing down the crash sites. But there's one problem with the suspected ring owner. His name wasn't on the student list of the 4000 names of the Freeman Field.

Fantastic detective work but part of my job is to find even the smallest flaw to prevent the wrong outcome. I really, really hope this ring gets returned someday.

Link to post with list (page 2):
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=1692922&postcount=31

This is a link to the corrected list from a few pages back of people who were ever at Freeman Field. Capt. Nelson is not on it.:
https://creator.zoho.com/jimdwest/freeman-aaf-pilot-training/#View:Freeman_AAF_Personnel

Sadly, this probable ring owner's name probably is not correct.
The search continues.
 
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Great ring, trying to find the owner are crazy odds.. there plane probably did not even crash...just keep it :yes:
 
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Great ring, people trying to find owner are crazy.. there plane probably did not even crash...just keep it :yes:

You are allowed your opinion and others are allowed theirs.

I bet I have received more money and found a lot more valuables because I have returned things than you will ever dream of.

I am very happy with my choice and you can be happy with yours.
 
You are allowed your opinion and others are allowed theirs.

I bet I have received more money and found a lot more valuables because I have returned things than you will ever dream of.

I am very happy with my choice and you can be happy with yours.

I wouldn't bet against you! You've got a whole business around it! :)

Speaking of which, are you headed back to Utah for the holidays/winter, again?

I'm curious what'll come out of that hill/park you did last year just target shooting quarters. I figure there's got to be gold on it!

Skippy
 
I wouldn't bet against you! You've got a whole business around it! :)

Speaking of which, are you headed back to Utah for the holidays/winter, again?

I'm curious what'll come out of that hill/park you did last year just target shooting quarters. I figure there's got to be gold on it!

Skippy


I am passing up Utah I THINK. I have my sights on Florida with my gear. Not exactly sure. Yes that park is crazy. I am still debating.
 
Greetings, folks...

Sorry to do a "thread necro" on this, but I thought I'd stop in and say hi. I'm not a metal detector hobbyist, but I am a WWII buff and was doing some research on pilot rings when an image search on similar rings brought me to this thread.

After looking at it, and checking records, that ring almost certainly belonged to:

Captain Robert R. Nelson. <---(Link)

His information is on the page linked to his name. He was an F-5 pilot. The F-5 was the unarmed, photo recon version of the P-38 lightning. Note the record shows he was shot down at Eindhoven-Gestel, at 11am, 8 June 1944.

That type of ring was quite common among the pilots. They could have a stone set in it, most likely a birthstone. If they chose not to, the face would be engraved, as in this example.

In reading the posts in the thread, I can't see any reasonable alternative to this being Captain Nelson's ring. Everything fits just too well. Hope this helps, if the search for information is still going on.



-Irish

This is great information! Thank you for that. I will pass this information to the finder/owner of the ring.
 
Well the most likely person that could be related to the ring is Captain Robert R. Nelson. Although he is not on the list of graduates of Freeman Airport, his plain crashed only a few miles from where the ring was found, he flew in a simular airplane and he was born only about 100 miles from Freeman airport (Hamilton County Iowa).

https://www.fieldsofhonor-database....ar-cemetery-margraten-n/64437-nelson-robert-r

Maybe it is time to contact the war cemetary where he was burried. Maybe they have more information about him or his family.
 
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