take well to some of their prejudices . Later , we eventually became good friends and they confided in us that they were leery of us as we talked just like the gangsters they had seen in the movies .
From Sheppard , we were sent to Oklahoma City University for college preflight training where we were given more tests and assigned to five groups for one-to-five months . I was assigned to the one month group and we took some ground school courses and “ supposedly ” 10 hours of flying Cubs
Command for transition into P-47s at Bradley Air Force Base in Connecticut .
In September of 1944 , 75 of us were sent to the Southwest Pacific Theater to join the 5th Air Force at Nadzab , New Guinea . We flew on transports from San Francisco to Hawaii , then Canton Island , on to Henderson Field , and finally New Guinea . Upon arrival , about half of us were deployed to the three P-47 groups . Some elected to go to P-38 units , and the rest of us were retained at Nadzab and subsequently required
Upon return to Nadzab about a week later , I and another pilot were told to report to the transport group . We learned that we were going to be the air crew on a C-47 transport which we had never flown before , The other pilot wanted me to take the pilot ’ s seat on the left because I had flown the B-25 . I told him I would pilot the plane but from the right co-pilot seat as I wanted the throttles in my left hand .
Around December 1st , 13 of us were verbally ordered to join the 58th Fighter or Aeronca planes . I say supposedly because the weather was so bad we only flew four hours before leaving for San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center .
I was selected for pilot training and went through two months of preflight and then to Cuero , Texas for primary with P-19s , then on to Waco , Texas for basic training with BT-13 aircraft . From there , I moved on to Moore Field at McAllen , Texas for advanced training with AT-6s before graduation .
After leave , we returned to Moore for transition into P-40s and after gunnery training at Matagorda Island , we were sent to Richmond , VA , 1st Fighter to fly convoy covers , which consisted of search missions and ferrying aircraft .
About a week later , I was selected randomly by Col . Brandt to be his copilot on his B-25 . We flew to Hollandia , then to Morotai which was the most advanced air base and was under constant Japanese air attack , especially at night . It was my first experience of spending a whole night in a fox hole . It ’ s amazing what climbs out of the hole with you in the morning . After two days , we flew to Owi in the Dutch New Guinea , and then to Biak .
THE WRECKAGE OF A P-38L LIGHTNING KNOCKED OUT DURING A JAPANESE ATTACK ON MINDORO , DECEMBER , 1944 .
Group which was leaving Noemfoor to go to Mindoro Island in the Philippines via the island of Leyte . We had no planes to fly so we had to hitch rides on C-47s or B-24s as we had baggage and could not be carried on any other planes . The weather was very bad and there was a lot of air action so the flights were very limited . Whenever a ride was available we would cut cards for the opportunity . Needless to say I was poor at drawing cards .
26 AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY