Vinatage The Black Sheep 8th FTR. Bomber SQDN Aces Coffee/Beer Mug

Description

Found this in a thrift store and have been researching ever since. Have not found anything like it. I do know that it is Vintage because
of the Gem China Made in Japan Logo, which in my opinion puts it in the era of the Black Sheep fighter pilots which pulls it all together.
Then on the other side of the mug there is a painted picture of a big A and 4 cards one of each the aces in a deck and a J which
totally has me baffled...why the Jack card? Then there are the initials EL .. so I looked further and saw that there was a First
Lieutenant Edward L. Olander of the Black Sheep Flying Aces! Could he of possibly been called EL in short by friends or family and
they made this mug up for him? I couldn't find anything to tell me he was called EL for short but it is the closest assumption I have
to the history of this truly amazing bit of history in a Coffee/Beer Mug. I feel this is a hand painted mug that was given as a gift because of the wobbly paint lines. Even so, it makes this mug even more enduring. =)
So before posting I contacted Heritage Auctions and sent pictures of the Mug and with I what I "thought" it might be. Attached in the photo's is a picture of the printed out e-mail reply =)
If you decide to purchase this mug I will be sending the printed e-mail along with the mug.