One goblet for every Raider.
The full set represented all eighty Raiders. The Air Force museum also documents nine original engraving errors or incomplete names.
A ritual of remembrance
The tradition held the whole formation together.
Each Raider was represented by a silver goblet engraved with his name. At reunions, the goblets became a solemn record of those present and those who had died.
Absence could be seen.
As Raiders died, their goblets were turned upside down. The changing table made the passage of time unmistakable.
The ritual survives in objects and memory.
Photographs, reunion material, and preserved accounts continue to explain why the goblets became one of the most recognized traditions associated with the Raiders.
From the recovered collection
The surviving visual record.
