Claude
The cachet features a hand-drawn blue ink illustration of a sinking aircraft (likely a Devastator torpedo bomber) going down into rough ocean waves, with smoke and explosion clouds, and a lone figure floating in the water clinging to a flotation cushion — depicting the 'Solitary Witness' scene of Ensign George H. Gay at the Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942. The stamp is the 29-cent USA 'Yorktown lost, U.S. wins at Midway, 1942' commemorative showing a burning warship under attack. The circular postmark reads 'Indianapolis, IN / Aug 17 / 1992 / 46206' with a standard machine cancel and 'FIRST DAY OF ISSUE' slug. The back of the cover identifies the cachet maker as GeeSee Cachets, numbered 25/25, with a detailed narrative about Ensign Gay's survival.
Mistral
The cachet artwork depicts a dramatic scene from the Battle of Midway, with Ensign George H. Gay clinging to a flotation cushion amidst the wreckage of his downed Devastator torpedo bomber. The stamp features the USS Yorktown under attack, with the text 'Yorktown lost, U.S. wins at Midway, 1942.' The postmark is a circular cancellation from Indianapolis, IN, dated August 17, 1992, with the text 'First Day of Issue.' The reverse of the cover includes a detailed historical narrative about Ensign Gay's survival and the Battle of Midway.
(The automatic summaries sometimes misidentify the postmark as part of the cachet artwork.)
