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American Optical made 5 million pairs of sunglasses between 1943-44, so I guess they were still wearing these!
I did a little research a while back when I got my AN6531 Glasses-Flying, Sun they were still worn in Korea and throughout the 50's. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4812
"It was in 1958 that the Flight Goggle 58, now known as the Original Pilot Sunglass was produced for the US military to provide pilots with maximum protection, optical performance and comfort. Right to the present time, the Original Pilot is still being manufactured in the AO complex in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
In fact the Original Pilot Sunglass was honored to be the first ever sunglass to land on the moon worn by Commander Neil Armstrong and the crew of Apollo 11 in 1969. It now resides on permanent display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C."
Issued in Gold from that time period. I have several sets of HGU SG's from 50's-70's. Did not see the "Silver" or aluminum frames until the late 70's through today. (I will post some pics of my 1959 Gold AO's over the weekend)
When I first came in the Marine Corps in '86 I was issued gold frame AO's as straight SG's.
when I tried to replace them in '91 I received "silver" framed SG. The riggers told me only the prescription ones were coming in gold.
When I left active flying in 2007 at Pax River I got a brand new set of AO's and they were "silver" the NSN and contract date were from 2003.