Dad summarized his Army experience in an edition of California Breeze, a family newsletter started by son Michael, dated November 1995:
"I had enlisted in the Reserve Corps while attending my first year at the University of Detroit. Shortly after the 2nd semester was underway in March of 1943, we were called to active duty and I was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps as it was known as back then. They decided I was needed as an airplane mechanic, so after some brief basic training in Florida, I was sent to Gulfport, Mississippi, to Airplane and Engine School. Next, at Long Beach, California, at the Douglas plant, I learned about caring for the B-17 bombers. After a brief furlough home I went to Seattle to the Boeing plant to learn about the B-29 Superfortress bombers."
Dad was there through the Christmas of 1943. His father visited with him over the Christmas holiday.
"From there I was sent to Salina, Kansas, where they were forming B-29 squadrons for the eventual missions of winning back the land and islands Japan had invaded and taken over, and on to bombing Japan itself, 1600 miles away from the Island of Saipan, where I was sent. We arrived via troop ship shortly after the Marines had secured the island after bitter fighting. [On June 15, 1944, U.S. troops made an amphibious assault on the Japanese-held island of Saipan in the Marianas.] An airfield was quickly built and soon B-29s were flying in and we were getting them ready for action."
Here is a flier like many dropped on Japan to warn civilians of impending bombings.
Dad was stationed on Saipan across the strait from Tinian Island, where the Enola Gay departed for the atomic bomb attacks on Japan.
"We lost B-29s but none to which our ground crew was assigned. Early on Saipan was attacked by Japanese planes and we lost a few B-29s on the ground. Fortunately I was not on the "line" during these attacks, although I saw Jap planes fly in low over the coastline very close to our camp as they headed for our airfield."
Dad was separated from the Army on December 24, Christmas Eve, 1945, discharged in Chicago, IL. His father drove him and some army buddies back home from there.
In another reminiscence, Dad wrote in the December 1996 California Breeze:
One of my most memorable Christmases was in 1945. My dad drove to Chicago to pick me up after I received my honorable discharge from the Army Air Force. It was December 24th, and we expected to be home that evening [in Detroit]. But snow and icy conditions and finally a defective generator on the car caused us to barely make it to Coldwater [Michigan], about halfway home. It was way after dark, but we got a room at the hotel. We went to Midnight Mass and spent the night in Coldwater. In the morning, the hotel manager found a mechanic who graciously agreed to replace the generator, and we were finally on our way again. Luckily, the weather warmed enough to make the roads safe once more. We arrived home late Christmas afternoon, just as Christmas dinner was being served. WOW!
* * Here is a slight illumination of my own days in the US Army, as seen through letters written to me by family and friends.