Air Corps Ferrying Command, May 1941-June 1942 – Wings and a Discussion on the State of America

I thought I would take some time to discuss the Air Corps Ferry Command which was in action prior to the entry of America into World War II. There was a young, 23 year old pilot name Robert Pace Pennington born in Pleasant View, TN just NW of Nashville where there was a hub of Ferrying activity initiated under the Lend Lease Act of March 11, 1941. By May 29 we had a systemic mandate to ferry the planes built to the locations needed overseas and domestically. Robert answered the call…..

ATC Organizational Chart

Started out of the Nashville Municipal Airport, the Nashville Sector developed a solid foundation as a stop along the ACFC route to Ferry planes to both domestic locations and to the Brits over the North Atlantic and eventually the south Atlantic to the Mid-East across Africa. Britain was trying to recover the air losses from the Battle of Britain against the German Luftwaffe July 10 – Oct 31 of 1940 in the Air, which Britain held on to win by a small but significant margin of 1 to 4 which was essential to make up for the materiel deficiencies. The primary factor in 1941 was the Battle of the Atlantic against the Wolf Packs of German U-Boats which were wreaking havoc in the sea lanes, destroying the ships carrying Britain’s life line of food and supplies coming from America.

These are Robert Pennington’s ACFC Wings which are absolutely some of the most beautiful wings of Pre-WWII. What one must take into account is the fact that the lettering A.C. F.C. and the CIVILIAN PILOT is NOT in Silver but in a light Gold Tone which makes them stand out against the Silver background in a way I had never seen on a wing…the effect is truly unique and aesthetically unmatched in elegance. I have looked repeatedly for examples of COPPER, NOT BRONZE, Distinctive Insignia WITH NO SUCCESS. I checked for the early DI’s which read in Morse Code A.C.F.C. which Robert’s are of course as they are very early and I searched for the later A.F.A.T.C Morse Code DI’s which came later as the ATC was initiated in July of 1942. Copper was a scare resource during the war so Silver is the choice for wartime ATC DI’s and I guess these DI’s were a short run because I cannot find anymore. I believe they are rather Rare.

Because the Shipping traffic was so tenuous and the travel so slow, the AC Ferrying Command was absolutely essential to get the planes to the allied stations quickly and efficiently.

Notice the Gothic ribbed stairstepping structure of the wings and how they precipitate up to the platform precipices where the initials A.C. and F.C. are located. These seem to be platforms like a monuments’s formation where the onlookers can look upon the Great Roundel Centerpiece with the symbolic aircraft and the military’s language used for over a century and a half, Morse Code. These wings were done in full STERLING with the mark on the back and Silver plated Brass, these are the Silver Plated Brass version…BOTH by Robbins of Attleboro, MA.  The FINEST of American Insignia Construction with an artistic architechture to do true honor to the purpose these men undertook.

As Pearl Harbor occurred on Dec 7, 1941 and the declaration of war fell upon us from Japan and Germany, we were unhindered any longer in our complete and total conviction to victory. After Pearl Harbor, our national became the arsenal and the primary weapon of democracy against fascism. Robert Pennington flew throughout the AC Ferrying Command’s duration from May until June of 1941 as a civilian contractor for the military, during which time the wings below were issued to the men involved in this arduous and righteous cause to defend the freedom to think, speak and act in accord with Righteous Foundations of life as delineated in the Biblically derived institution of our nation’s Constitution. You see America, Robert Pennington was from a time when the infection of perversion and wickedness in this nation had not yet reached the fevered and destructive pitch now evident to every corner of this dying society. If you look at the Constitution’s first words through the eyes of Biblical Righteousness, you see the Character of our Founding Fathers….

— We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,

What is Justice? Justice is the discerning measure of a person’s heart intent in the performance of a thought, word or action, for the purpose of assessing the level of adherence or declension, maintained in the heart of that person, relative to THE Judicial Standard, the Law of  is God, when giving rise to that thought, word or actions’ form and function. The Judicial Standard (JS) or Law of God is the immutable or unchanging foundation relative to which an individual or society establishes Good and Evil and that which brings to fruition the Fruits of the Spirit and a Glorious Society, founded upon the manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s Precious and Lawful (Christlike- as Christ obeyed the Law perfectly so He could give us the same nature) influence in every thought, word and action and a Society replete with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control……God knows and Cares for His Own and His Blessings flow out upon them who follow the Law by their New Nature in Christ’s Regeneration of their Dead Spirit unto a portion in His Living Spirit…The man who knows the sweet honey of God’s Grace as it flows from True Obedience rising in thought, word and action from his Heart Changed by Christ’s Blessed spirit sent to him through the Intermidiary, the Holy Spirit, unto spiritual Life rising to Rebirth in him, thus a new sense of Faith giving him sight to see the world of Spirit and Truth as revealed in the Word of God …This Man and thus the Nation within which he Lives sees Blessing! As America once did….This Man obeys NOT an external law but HIS NATURE HAS CHANGED TO DESIRE NOTHING MORE THAN TO LIVE IN THE MIND OF GOD AND THUS THE WAY OF GOD, THE TRUTH OF GOD AND THE LIFE OF GOD.

Psalm 119:17-24 (NASB) ¹⁷ Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word. ¹⁸ Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. ¹⁹ I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. ²⁰ My soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times. ……²⁴ Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors.

Psalm 119:43-45 (NASB) ⁴³ And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. ⁴⁴ So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. ⁴⁵ And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.

Do you know why he says walk in Liberty? When you know the Truth of God’s Law in Your heart from Salvation and live in this Law by your nature, then what “LAW” is there to restrict you doing whatever you wish?? You know the Truth/TRUE LAW/Character of God and the Truth has set you FREE. For what LAW is there to STOP YOU from Loving the One True God, from NOT idolizing futile material things, from observing the Sabbath, from NOT using the Lord’s Name in vain, from honoring your parents, from not murdering, from not committing adultery, from not stealing, from not lying, from not coveting etc? NO LAW! You are free to live by your sanctified heart to ANY EXTENT you wish!

Notice the thickness of the Roundel and the “stairs” of the wings.

The Judicial Standard given mankind is the Moral Law of God or God’s Character as it would be revealed if He were a man. The complete Word of God is that Standard by which ALL society and mankind KNOWS Good from Evil and further, how they discern the initial condition of the heart of Man at birth…Evil….which gave rise to the need for a Savior to reestablish Right Relationship with God through His cleansing away the sin which infected man.  The Bible is about Man loosing this Standard as the Foundation of his heart and thus his Right or Righteous Relationship with Almighty God. The Moral Law of God was given in the time of the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, of the people of the Family of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham who was the chosen Man of God to begin the Family of Covenant with God. These were chosen for the receipt of the Standard of determining Good from Evil and thus Life from Death. Man’s choice to disobey God’s command to not eat the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil corrupted him and made him UNCLEAN before a PERFECT God. A Savior was needed, of God’s perfect qualities and at the same time subject the frailties of humanity so that He could TRULY walk through the same trials as fallen mankind to be our Substitute. We needed a Substitute to accomplish what we could not as fallen beings in sin. He needed to be untainted just as the untainted sacrificial lambs pointed to in symbol, so that He could be called Perfect in Lawfulness relative to the Moral Law of God summarized by Jesus here…

Matthew 22:34-40 (NASB) ³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. ³⁵ One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ³⁸ “This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ⁴⁰ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

…. which is Righteousness, which is to Mirror God’s very Character as it would be expressed if He were a man. Jesus paid for our sins in 3 days and 3 nights, which He, as a man, was able to endure by the power from the Anointing (Messiah, Christ = Anointed One) of Power He received by the Holy Spirit at His Baptism….

Luke 3:21-22 (NASB) ²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

… Jesus’ living a perfectly Righteous Life in complete adherence to the Moral Law (Character) of God meant that after His Crucifixion and the 3 days suffering for the Elects’ sins, He would be Declared Righteous before God the Father and this because Jesus NEVER sinned. This led to His Resurrection unto Life, for death is the wage of sin and Jesus DID NOT SIN, so after He paid our sin debt, death could hold Him NO MORE. After Jesus paid for our sins, all that was left was His perfect Obedience during His Life; so after the fullest price ever paid in Love, had been paid for the sins of those Chosen unto Adoption as Children of God, Jesus was called to His Father’s Right Hand as King and Savior….

A Rear Shot…

David wrote in prophecy about the Father calling Christ to His Throne at the Father’s Right Hand…

Psalm 110:1-2 (NASB) ¹ The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ² The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

He is the Renewer of this sin/death-infected world and the Standard for ALL Righteousness and the giver of a Righteous Heart to those Chosen unto Salvation before God unto His Family Eternal. All True Law leads to Jesus Christ’s Character and which is given gradually to the Elect after Salvation, only by God’s Grace in Christ, we receive a new heart and Life by receiving spiritual Life from Jesus’ Spirit, through the Holy Spirit bringing King Christ’s Spirit forth to those Chosen Ones to impart to them little by little over their lives and completed only at His return upon Judgment Day. ALL True Law follows these Greatest Commandments…

³⁷ And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ³⁸ “This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ⁴⁰ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Upon THIS Standard America was born and built in its infancy and upon this Standard we now are falling to destruction and a chaotic death. For just as Hitler decided with the other wicked ones, to build German society on a different foundation and “law” than the Eternal and Immutable and All Powerful Moral Law of God, so is America today trying to establish laws born out of the perversion of sinful man’s heart.

Rear AMICO Makers Marks on the DI’s is the older AMICO Mark with the eagle rising from the top. This further speaks to the early stamping of these DI’s…

Robert Pennington came from a time when this Moral Standard had not been fully erased from America’s heart but the Word of God had been lost as the Standard for ALL LIFE, Joy, Peace, Hope and Love leading to strong Families which leads to a STRONG NATION. The “Greatest Generation” was the end of the Righteous Standard of a Biblical America and was the last of this Righteous Spirit in America because these men had no solid foundation in Scriptural Truth to pass on to their Children but only knew right from wrong from their growth under parents still aware of its importance. The 1960’s chaos generation of great dissipation and perversion rose out of the “baby boom” and that was the beginning of the end.

Robbins Company of Attleboro MA…..Well Done.

We see Robert’s dedication and fortitude to persevere as, upon completion of his duty as a Civilian Pilot, Robert Pace Pennington enlisted immediately following this time of Civilian Pilot service, in August of 1942. During the remainder of the war, Robert Pennington was stationed in the CBI as a Hump Pilot out of Assam Province India where he served the duration of the war, making the military a career subsequently and retiring in 1969 as Lt Col Robert Pace Pennington. He went on to a Blessed career as a local Judge in the Pleasant View, TN area and raised a nice sized family.

Lt. Col. Pennington had a set of Gold Bullion — Service Pilot Wings and Major Leaves and Wing & Props as well as a Luxenberg Service Pilot Wing – All he used in his service as a Military Officer in the ATC in the CBI. I would like to ask if those who purchased these off of Ebay in January of 2013, to contact me if you would like to help me keep this man’s insignia in one grouping. I will purchase the insignia from you for a profit as I know their prices and understand their value. Please email me if you would be so kind as to help me do this eph2@morrisbb.net.