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A one-of-a-kind, named WWII softball award from one of the most remote U.S. bases of the Pacific War — Amchitka Island, Alaska — in a unique handmade beach-pebble frame.
Offered here is an original "Amchitka, Aleutians Athletic Award" certificate, dated to the softball season of June–August 1945, presented to:
Charles R. Sommers, of the "Wig Wags"
...in appreciation of good performance and fair play during the Post Softball Inter-Unit Competition. The certificate notes the Wig Wags placed second in the island playoffs.
Historical context:
Amchitka is a remote volcanic island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Chain, Alaska — retaken from Japanese-adjacent threat by American forces in the unopposed Landing at Amchitka on January 12, 1943, and subsequently developed into a major U.S. airfield used to strike occupied Attu and Kiska. Thousands of U.S. Army, Army Air Forces, and Navy personnel served there in harsh, isolated conditions through the end of the war. Morale-building athletics leagues — baseball, softball, basketball — were common on Aleutian bases, and this certificate is a surviving artifact of that "Post" (base-wide) athletic program.
The team name "Wig Wags" is a likely reference to "wig-wag" flag signaling, a hint that this unit was tied to the Signal Corps — supported by one of the two signatures on the certificate:
George I. Mason, Jr., 1st Lt., Sig C. (Signal Corps), Detachment Commander
Frank H. Barnhart, Colonel, Cavalry, Commanding
Both signatures are original ink and both officers are named and (potentially) further researchable by collectors or genealogists.
The frame:
The certificate is mounted in a striking, clearly handmade frame with an inner wood molding surrounded by a wide band of small beach pebbles/stones set in a clear resin or varnish coating — almost certainly locally sourced and assembled by a serviceman stationed on Amchitka itself, in the tradition of WWII "trench art." This kind of one-off, theater-made frame is uncommon and adds significant character and rarity beyond the paper certificate alone.
Condition:
Certificate: original period paper, toning/age consistent with 80 years, certificate has some waviness/rippling (see photos), text and both ink signatures fully legible, printed unit bear-head emblem crisp
Frame: pebble/stone mosaic border intact and solid, wood inner frame has finish wear and some separation/staining at the joints (see photos of verso), original wire hanger still attached to the back
Glass: intact, some age spotting/foxing visible under glass
Sold as-is, please review all photos carefully
