Original U.S. WWII Mae West USAAF Pneumatic Life Vest by Firestone - January 1945 Accessories The Fife is contained in

The Fife is contained in the most marvelous leather-lined

all brass parts still present

shirt 8th AAF Patch

Purchased by IMA in the early 1990s and discovered recently in our warehouse reorganization

He continued fighting until he fainted

Original U.S. WWII Mae West USAAF Pneumatic Life Vest by Firestone - January 1945 Accessories The Fife is contained inOriginal Item: Only One Available. During World War II the U. S. aviators and the Royal Air Force servicemen had available to them a vital piece of American made equipment for emergencies that had only been in use for a few years: an inflatable (Mae West) life preserver, courtesy of a man named Peter Markus (1885 1973). Markus developed his invention in the 1920s and received a patent on it in 1928; in 1930 and 1931 he patented some minor changes to