Eugene W. Chambers was born on a farm in Union Mills, Indiana in January 1922. His father was a farmer. Chambers became interested in flying as a child. He took his first airplane ride when he was 12 years old, without knowing that ten years later he would be flying four-engine airplanes himself. His family could not afford to send him to college, so he went straight to work helping to build a munitions plant after graduating from high school in 1940. He saved enough money to enroll at Purdue [Annotator's Note: Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana], where he was when Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] happened. In January 1942, he was contacted about enlisting, and passed the test for the Air Force, but he was not called in until January 1943. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], they had no electricity or running water in the house. They ate what they grew. His mother would can fruits and vegetables since they did not have a refrigerator. His father would butcher pigs, and this is how they got through the Depression, though he did not realize it at the time. Chambers had an older brother who also farmed with their father. Chambers kept up with aviation news, but as they did not have a radio, he was not up to date on what was going on with war in Europe and Asia. He was astonished to hear about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He knew he did not want to be a foot soldier, so he took the Air Force test. He had studied physics and mathematics at Purdue which made it easy to pass the test. Once the war began, he followed it closely. He remembers Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] giving his speech about entering the war [Annotator's Note: Day of Infamy Speech; President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, 8 December 1941].

Eugene W. Chambers enlisted in the Air Force and was called up on 27 January 1943. He took a train to Cincinnati [Annotator's Note: Cincinnati, Ohio] and then to Wichita Falls, Texas [Annotator's Note: then Sheppard Field, now Sheppard Air Force Base, near Wichita Falls, Texas]. He spent six weeks in in training where it was decided who would be assigned to which role. He then went to the University of Tulsa [Annotator's Note: in Tulsa, Oklahoma] as part of the Air Force program to take courses for three months. He then went to San Antonio [Annotator's Note: Brooks Field in San Antonio, Texas] for basic training. He gained a lot of weight there. He was chosen to go through pilot training, so he went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas [Annotator's Note: Grider Field in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; operated by Pine Bluff School of Aviation] for primary flight training. He did basic training at Coffeyville, Kansas [Annotator's Note: Coffeyville Army Airfield in Coffeyville, Kansas] and then went back to Brooks Field in San Antonio. They were equipped with B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. He remained there until April 1944, when Chambers got his wings. While in training, he and another cadet flew a cross-country trip. He thought the flight seemed rough, but all the equipment checked out okay so they flew back to base. Later, a crew flying that same plane rolled down the runway and was killed. Chambers later trained on B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] in Fort Worth [Annotator's Note: Fort Worth Army Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas]. After that, Chambers went home for a few weeks for the first time in a year and a half, and then went to Charleston, South Carolina [Annotator's Note: Charleston Army Air Field in Charleston, South Carolina] where his crew was formed. They flew together there for two months, until late September [Annotator's Note: September 1944]. He was in Fort Worth when D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] occurred. They went overseas by ship, departing from New York in November and arriving in England. He was assigned to the 406th Bomb Squadron [Annotator’s Note: 406th Night Leaflet Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] which would drop leaflets.

Eugene W. Chambers' mission [Annotator's Note: while serving with the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in England] was to take off around four o'clock in the afternoon and drop informational leaflets, which was usually written in French or German. They did their flights, but did not see any bloodshed or bombed buildings. He was fortunate to have a place to sleep every night. They were based in Harrington, England. The people there were very friendly. They would go to London [Annotator's Note: London, England] when on leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], and did see the aftermath of bombings there. They lost a few planes while in England. His commander was shot down by friendly fire over the English Channel. Chambers took part in Operation Carpetbagger [Annotator's Note: an operation delivering weapons and other supplies to resisting forces in Europe beginning in January 1944]. They had large, six foot containers that were packed with leaflets which would open when they were dropped and would open at a certain altitude to spread the leaflets. Their goal was to reach 250 combat flight hours and they would be done. He reached that goal around the first week of April [Annotator's Note: April 1945]. Chambers flew 41 missions, usually lasting around five hours.

On Eugene W. Chambers' first or second mission [Annotator's Note: while serving with the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force out of Harrington, England], they had engine trouble over the English Channel [Annotator's Note: between England and France] so they had to drop their leaflets over the Channel. They reached an emergency airfield. They were given shots of whiskey when they arrived. Other than that, they never had any trouble. Their mission was to drop leaflets to inform local civilians in Germany and France that the Americans were coming and to get out of the way. His last mission on a B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] was on 5 April 1945, which he remembers because it was his mother's birthday the previous day. He was in Scotland when Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died on 12 April 1945. When they got back from Scotland, they were sent to Liverpool [Annotator's Note: Liverpool, England] and put on a ship to go home. Everyone celebrated when the war in Europe ended [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945]. Some of them went into the nearby town. Chambers got home in May, and received orders to report to Santa Ana, California in June 1945 to prepare to be sent to Japan, but he ended up being discharged. The war in the Pacific ended when the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] were dropped. Chambers went back to Purdue [Annotator's Note: Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he had studied before enlisting in the Air Force]. He was discharged with the rank of first lieutenant.

Eugene W. Chambers found it easy to readjust to civilian life [Annotator's Note: after serving with the Army Air Forces in Europe during World War 2]. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to go back to Purdue [Annotator's Note: Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where Chambers had been enrolled before enlisting]. He got a bachelor's of science degree in airport transportation. His most memorable experience of World War 2 was doing missions in England. In March [Annotator's Note: March 1945] they moved to a bigger base, and Chambers was assigned a brand new B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] after having flown beat up planes before that. He fought for his country. His copilot was named Walter Longernecker [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify], and was from Maryland. He stayed in the Air Force Reserves and was called back for the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He retired as a major general. Chambers' navigator, Don Van Heest [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] got married and started a family. He contacted Chambers years after the war. During training in San Antonio [Annotator's Note: at Brooks Field in San Antonio, Texas], the guys got to know each other a little bit, but did not get close because they were not together for very long. Once he was put into a crew, they were together for several months and so go to know each other well. They got better at their jobs as they flew more and more missions. Decades after the war, Chambers got to go on a flight in the type of plane he flew during the war. He is very proud that he was able to fulfill his childhood dream of flying an airplane, and feels fortunate that he was of age to go into the Air Force. It was a great experience. Most Americans do not realize how difficult it is to live in certain parts of the world today. It is important that younger generations know what Chambers' generation went through. Having a museum like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is a good thing. It helps to give a pretty good idea of what happened. Learning about World War 2 will help us to understand what is happening in the world today.