August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. "After seven years in the Navy, J.D. Estes is considered an old sea salt by his mates at the Naval Air Base." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem, Office of War Information.
Submitted by Tucson Tarheel on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 11:31pm.
My father served as Radio/Radar/Waist Hatch Gunner on a Martin PBM patrol plane from '42-'46. I can remember him talking about having a safety belt that attached to either side of the hatch. I think if you look close enough, you can see D-rings on the side that would have been used for this purpose.
[Both J.D. and Jesse Rhodes Waller, ordnance mates at Corpus Christi who spent their day lifting heavy equipment into planes, wore these support belts. - Dave]
My long-ago boyfriend was a Navy reserve signalman, and he had a belt similar to the one in the picture. This would have been the late 80s/early 90s. Same looking leather, buckle, everything, and it was used aboard ship to support carrying heavy loads. I'd check around some Army-Navy surplus stores or similar online--bet they're available someplace like that.
