46th Bombardment Group, 16th Bombardment Wing

"This thoroughbred is ready for the race to Victory, emblematic of the man he represents," reads the description of this insignia in the 25th issue of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. In 1941, Walt Disney released a package film entitled The Reluctant Dragon, which featured a Goofy short called "How to Ride a Horse". This short starred Goofy alongside a hilarious horse named Percy. This insignia features a horse that looks very similar to Percy which the artists named "Charlie" Horse. The insignia was developed by Hank Porter at Disney in May of 1941. This group operated primarily in the American Theater of World War II. The 46th initially conducted some antisubmarine missions over the Gulf of Mexico, but they soon developed into a US training unit. This brilliant insignia is rendered with graphite and colored pencil on trimmed Management Bond paper, and it depicts a helmeted Percy the horse as he munches on some hay. The piece measures about 10.5" x 8". Also published as stamp #44 in COMBAT INSIGNIA STAMPS of the United States Army and Navy Air Corps, published by Hearst Publications and Robert Lash Robbins 1942. Additionally found p.117 in CHARACTERS OF MILITARY; DISNEY DONS DOG TAGS P.37; and on the back cover of DISPATCH FROM DISNEY'S. Additionally found in DISNEYANA by Cecil Muncy, Hawthorne Books Inc., New York, 1974, p217.