Susan the TEC5 is probably his rank which would have been a Tech Sergeant pay grade E5. The 580 AAA AW BN sounds like the name of his unit with such as 580th. The BN probably stood for Battalion. I am not sure about the CAC. Obviously the WWII is World War II so based on the TEC5 it sounds as if he was in the Army Air Corps. If memory serves me right, the Air Force wasn't officially the USAF until 1945. By they way, the Department of the Army was official established at the same time the Department of the Air Force was established. Prior to that it was known as the War Department. George gebasden@worldnet.att.net http://www.basden.com ---------- > From: Delucahome@aol.com > To: GenTips-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Headstone Inscriptions > Date: Tuesday, June 09, 1998 10:43 AM > > The following is from a brass plaque on my great-uncle's headstone: > > NY > TEC5 580 AAA AW BN CAC > WWII > > Can someone decipher this for me? > > Susan > Delucahome@aol.com > > > ==== GenTips Mailing List ==== > Support online research! Donate to the RootsWeb Genealogical Project! See more information at: > http://www.rootsweb.com > > > >