Ravens T-Shirt.

Yet again a meeting of great minds, Papa Nui collaborates with the best in the business, James Foley of Five Four Communication. James and I have many shared passions and our recently released Nam Skies Tee really hit the spot! So much so that we’ve ventured into another project.

The Nevermore tee.

The Geneva Accords held that from 1962 Laos was neutral in the South East Asian conflict and one of the provisions of the accords called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Laotian soil.

However the North Vietnamese Communists deliberately ignored the accords because they were intent on keeping their supply corridor, the Ho Chin Minh Trail open to continue to wage war against South Vietnam.

Unable to officially or legally combat this Communist threat, the United States created a covert operation run by the CIA in order to neutralise the threat. The creation of the FAC, Forward Air Controllers using the call sign, ‘Ravens’, saw military personnel dressed in civilian clothing piloting commercial aircraft patrolling the borders of Laos. Flying a combination of North American T-28 Trojans and the Cessna O-1, these tiny planes engaged in Strategic surveillance spotting potential targets and reporting back to the Laotian Airforce to call in air strikes.

The Raven Call sign of the FAC’s in turn drew on the poem Nevermore, by Edgar Allen Poe and hence the Raven and Nevermore were adopted as an unofficial unit insignia.

With the assistance of UK based graphic Artist, Adrian McKay, James and I engaged him to research what original images we could find. What Adrian came up with is a testimony to the man’s talent. The best in military style graphics, Adrian has put together a killer interpretation of the insignia, that’s printed on American 100% cotton blanks in California in Black with the large graphic encompassing the back of the tee and a smaller version gracing the left chest.

Printed on 100% cotton Spectra brand t-shirts made in the USA.