My parents grew up in the Ozarks during the Great Depression—large families and not a lot of opportunities. But Dad got his career training during WWII. Otherwise, he would have been a poor dirt farmer like his father.

He wrote this before he died and asked me to type it for him (then tried to pay me) and it along with some handwritten notes are attached to a globe showing where he traveled in his life complements of the US Army Air Corp. It is a brief explanation of his involvement in WWII.

I was born at Walnut Ridge, AR on January 16, 1923. I entered the military services May 19, 1943. I took Basic Training at Amarillo, TX then Aircraft and Engine Maintenance a Keesler Field, MS on B24 bombers then to B-24 factory at Detroit, MI (or Ypilanti, MI, close to Detroit), then to B-24 Gunnery School at Harlingen, TX. This was to prepare me for Engineer-Gunner on B-24s.

. . . gunnery training came to a halt and many others at Harlingen. We were dispersed to other areas to become aircraft and engine mechanics. I was sent to Guadalcanal to be a part of the Air Transport Command. I became an aircraft general mechanic shuttling out and back from Guadalcanal to many islands to maintain many aircraft of many types. I finally transferred to the Philippines and soon to Guam.

We were involved in repair of C-54 aircraft out of the China, Burma, India (CBI) that had been in rough use. It was production maintenance; however, each aircraft was the same type as the last one. You would almost know what parts would require replacement. As the aircraft was removed from the dock, they would be loading sick GIs (military); crank up and head for the United States and another entered that dock.

I used that schooling after I left the military to obtain nine certificates for my purposes and for me and my family’s living. One of those certificates was for a pilot license and the other eight was authorized specific maintenance, inspector’s training, certifications for many mechanics who become certified to become a qualified mechanic and inspect and certify aircraft after crash, etc.

Dad was one of many soldiers who worked to keep us safe during the war, some with a gun, others with a wrench.

It is Memorial Day weekend and a time we remember those who sacrificed, some ultimately, for their country. Thank you all for your service and our freedom.

What are you reading, writing, celebrating, or creating this week?