Many years ago, I came into possession of some of my uncle's wartime Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircrew artifacts including his logbook, Navigator's brevet, various documents and most prized of all, a small royal blue box about 1.5" by 1" containing the most striking lapel pin a ten-year-old boy had ever seen; a gold caterpillar with ruby eyes. It was explained to me that this pin marked inclusion into an exclusive association of members known as the "Caterpillar Club." Membership required the member to have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. The club was founded by Leslie Irvin of the Irvin Airchute Company of Canada in 1922. The name "Caterpillar Club" refers to the silk threads that made the original parachutes thus recognizing the debt owed to the silkworm. The Club's motto is "Life depends on a silken thread." On a cold night in November 1944, my uncle, Flight Sergeant Larry Goheen, was one of those whose life depended on silken threads. Here is his story.

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