Both war "theaters" were raging. It was 1942 and the Germans were attacking everyone in Europe. The Japanese were steadily occupying key islands in the south Pacific and southeast China.
My Dad's brother Bob (my uncle) spent the summer of 1942 trying to get into the Navy Flying Program apparently to no avail. He then applied to the Air Corps and was accepted in late 1942. So in 1943, Bob spent his time training and getting his Commission and Wings. Bob got his Wings late in 1943. He was assigned to the Pacific and flew DC-3 twin engine cargo planes for most of the war. I think the Air Force modified the DC-3 to make it military friendly and called it the C-47. Bob took his flight training in Texas in the fall of 1943. His girl friend Helene followed him to Texas and they got married in Texas. Helene's parents were not overly thrilled with the marriage taking place in Texas but there was a War going on. It must have been the right decision because this year will be 65 years together.
Later in the War, my Grandpa Chalk along with Grandma Myrna took me to a movie at the local theater. During a 10 minute news update on the screen (I think it was called Movietone News), there were clips of a cargo plane pulling up to a terminal in the South Pacific. The pilot was leaning out the window and waving. Chalk thought that the pilot was his son Bob. So after the feature movie was over, Chalk had the theater owner (Erik Brown) replay the newsclip to see if the pilot was Bob. They must have replayed the clip 4-5 times. It was never conclusive that the pilot was Bob but you could sense the hope, that for a moment, they knew Bob was alive and well.
My Dad, Bucky, entered the war on Nov. 29,1944. By that time there were three kids. My sister Addie would have been 6 months old. Remember, the War ended on both fronts by the end of 1945 so my Dad was coming in at the tail-end of everything. Bucky was sent to the Philippines on June 10,1945. It was August 6,1945 that the B-29 named the Enola Gay dropped the first 20-kiloton atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. A second atomic bomb was dropped August 9, 1945 from a B-29 (Bockscar) on Nagaski, Japan. The Japanese surrendered soon after on board the battleship USS Missouri Sept. 2,1945, The War was over.
I have not found the exact surrender date of Germany but Adolph Hitler commited suicide on April 30,1945 in a bunker in Berlin. The head of the dragon had been cut off and the war was essentially over.
My Dad's discharge paper says he was a clerk-typist and he left the service on Jan 20, 1946. Bucky's tour of duty was approximately 14 months.
I don't know the date of Uncle Bob's discharge but I have to believe it was also early 1946. That means he would have served well over 3 years.
Next time "Memorble Stories".
Love,
Dad