Private to Pilot WW2

About the Book

A boy in his teens when Pearl Harbor was attacked entered service as soon as circumstances permitted. Assigned to the 88^th Infantry Division on leaving Southern California, Oklahoma was anything but pleasant. He survived the freezing nights in the field, the morning tick inspections, and the attitude of his peers on qualifying for transfer to the Air Corps.

Enduring the stress and hazing of Cadet Training he completed RTU as a First Pilot of a B-52, Mitchell Medium Bomber, (the aircraft Col. James Dolittle used in the first attack on the Japanese Homeland). That boy (ME) with assembled crew, was assigned a new B-52 and flew across the Pacific for duty with the 345^th Bomb Group, 501^st Squadron of the 5^th Air Force. I was on a combat flight when the word of the "A Bomb" drops and the pending surrender was radioed and I was present when the planes of the 345^th arrived at Ie Shima (off Okinawa) escorting the "Betty" Bombers from Japan with the surrender envoys. The devastation of Nagasaki was observed from the air at low level and the destruction of Hiroshima from the ground. Peace was finally obtained but at a great price.

About the Author

The author at home in Whitmore, Ca with his war time bride.

Born on a farm, he has spent most of his life in the city. Completing college after the war on the GI bill with a degree in electronics, he went to work for Gilfillan Bros. Moving on to Douglas Aircraft (later McDonald Douglas and now Boeing), the projects included the Delta Launch Vehicle, Skylab, MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) for the Air Force, and early Space Station configurations.

The last stop before retirement was at Rockwell Space Division (North American Aviation now also Boeing). He was hired to develop the Fire and Toxic Hazard Control Program in the Safety Dept. As now a California Registered Professional Engineer, he worked ten years on development of the Space Shuttle retiring coincidental with the tenth successsful flight.