Original Item. Only One Available. This is an interesting original U.S. Navy Bomber-Fighter Squadron Seventeen, VBF-17, wooden insignia plaque, measuring approximately 7 ⅝ x 8 inches. The face displays the squadron’s distinctive skeleton-cowboy insignia, while the reverse retains a hanging hook and is inscribed VFB-17, an apparent transposition of the correct squadron abbreviation VBF-17.

Bomber-Fighter Squadron Seventeen was established on January 2, 1945 and became part of Carrier Air Group Seventeen. Personnel from the earlier VF-17 formed the core of the new squadron, which entered combat only a short time after being established. The squadron later became part of the lineage that was redesignated VF-6B in 1946, VF-62 in 1948, and VA-106 in 1955, before being disestablished in 1969.

This is an interesting wooden plaque painted or applied with a decal of the insignia for VBF-17, or Bomber-Fighter Squadron Seventeen. The squadron was active from January 2nd, 1945 their combat operations were as follows:

16–17 February 1945: The squadron participated in strikes against targets in and around the Tokyo area.
20–22 February 1945: Squadron aircraft participated in strikes against Iwo Jima and provided air support for the landings on the island.
18–19 March 1945: Major strikes were conducted by squadron aircraft against Kanoya, the largest airfield on Kyushu and against the Japanese Fleet anchored at Kure Naval Base.
March–May 1945: The squadron conducted strikes in support of the Okinawa campaign
7 Apr 1945: The unit participated in the combined task force strikes against the super battleship Yamato and its accompanying escorts, resulting in the sinking of Yamato, two cruisers and three destroyers.
May 1945: The squadron participated in strikes against Kyushu and Shikoku, hitting aircraft plants and airfields. On 14 May the squadron's commanding officer, LTCDR H. W. Nicholson, was killed in action during a strike against Kyushu.

The insignia depicts a skeleton dressed as a cowboy riding an aerial bomb with a long thin shaft, almost like an oversized flechette. He also carries a bomb in one hand and a revolver in the other. There is a hook to hang the plaque and the back is inscribed VFB-17.

The squadron’s wartime aircraft were primarily F6F Hellcats, and its pilots performed fighter, fighter-bomber, escort, and strike duties as part of the broader carrier air group.

This example is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its VBF-17 skeleton-cowboy insignia, wooden plaque construction, surviving hanging hardware, and direct association with a squadron that saw intense combat over Tokyo, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Kyushu, Kure, and the April 1945 strike against Yamato.