US Army Air Forces

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Bishop, Harvey Life in the Air Force and Postwar
Harvey Lee Bishop [Annotator’s Note: a North American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot in the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th...
Peters, Bernard Life in the Field
On his 49th mission in Italy, Bernard Peters dropped leaflets. They were written in German on one side and Italian on...
Sonnier, Lorcey Life in the Field
Lorcey J. Sonnier mostly bombed oil depots, factories, plane factories, ball bearing factories and bridges. This helped...
Mahoney, Timothy Life in the Field
Timothy Mahoney only went on a flight after he did repairs to the radar equipment. The pilots did not like doing those...
Anderson, Howard Life in the Field
The base's runway had been lengthened by the locals. It was not quite long enough, but was adequate. Howard Anderson...
Gerrits, Edward Life in the Field and War's End
Edward Gerrits was in Pratt, Kansas [Annotator's Note: Pratt Army Airfield, now Pratt Regional Airport, in Pratt,...
Poston, Charles Life in the Jungle
Charles Poston [Annotator's Note: a pilot with the 1st Air Commando Group based in Asansol, India] was stationed in the...
Lehigh, David Life in the Pacific
David Lehigh was friendly with officers and enlisted men. One of his friends was flying over Saigon [Annotator's Note:...
McGee, Joseph Life in the Pacific and Combat Missions
Joseph F. McGee Junior flew 97 missions in World War 2 [Annotator's Note: with the 460th Fighter Squadron, 348th...
Rinas, Bruno Life in the Philippines
Bruno S. Rinas arrived in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Luzon, Philippines] in late February [Annotator's Note:...
Buckner, Jack Life in Tunisia
Jack Buckner and his crew moved from Constantine [Annotator's Note: Constantine, Algeria] to around Tunis [Annotator's...
Keller, Jack Life Inside the B-17
[Annotator's Note: Jack Keller's wife assists him throughout this clip as he had a stroke and has trouble remembering...
Butcher, Chester Life on a British Air Base
Chester J. Butcher was sent overseas to England [Annotator's Note: with the 357th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group...
McLaurine, Luke Life on an Airfield and Bomb Runs
Luke Layton McLaurine, Jr. was based in Italy in 1944. Card playing consumed a big part of the idle time spent on base...
Buckner, Jack Life on Base
Jack Buckner says the biggest problem with Army life is the boredom. They played baseball and card games. On a day off...
Boyer, Ralph Life on Base and in the Plane
Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force at...
Gilmore, Selwyn Life on Guam
[Annotator's Note: Selwyn Gilmore served in the United States Army Air Forces as a ground crew armorer in the 52nd...
Borders, Charles "Wes" Life on New Guinea
When Charles Weskey Borders got to New Guinea it had not been secured. The worst time was when he was based at Noemfoor...
Hamilton, Richard Life on the Farm
Richard Henry Hamilton was born in September 1922 in Brattleboro, Vermont with three brothers and one sister. His...
Sedran, Edwin Life on Tinian
[Annotator’s Note: The sound is choppy in this segment.] When Edwin Sedran landed on Tinian [Annotator’s Note: Tinian,...
Berman, Stanley Life Stationed Overseas
Stanley Berman's [Annotator's Note: with the 8th Air Force] daily routine overseas was waking up, going to wash up in...
Dolsen, Francis "Frank" Listening to Another Veteran
Francis Dolsen is listening to another veteran speak. [Annotator’s Note: Another veteran and the interviewer are...
McGee, Charles Living Conditions, Race Relations and Training B-25 Crews
When Charles McGee first got to Italy, a lot of work was done trying to improve the living conditions. They still...
Childs, Charles "Chuck" Living Day by Day
Charles Childs did not like the Nazis. He admired the Luftwaffe [Annotator's Note: German Air Force] pilots, but did...
Rickel, Robert London Visits and Last Mission
During his free time, Robert "Bob" Rickel slept, went to aircraft classes, or visited relatives in London [Annotator's...
Siracuse, James Long March to Moosburg
[Annotator's Note: James Siracuse served in the USAAF as a pilot flying Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombers in the 669th...
Davis, William Long Missions
[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving...
Heilbrun, Herbert Looking Back
Herbert Heilbrun is happy he made friends with John, the Tuskegee Airman. Heilbrun has yet to visit The National WWII...
Bridger, Harley Losing Aircraft and Men
It was normal to lose two or three airplanes on any mission over a good target like Vienna [Annotator's Note: Vienna,...
Becker, Clarence Losing an Airplane
[Annotator's Note: Clarence Becker was a pilot flying photo reconnaissance mapping missions in Alaska in 1943.] They...
Aldous, Robert Losing Crewmembers
Robert G. Aldous and his crew lost their radar operator. Their copilot went to get a suntan and went to sleep. He fell...
Brewer, Chester Losing His Crew
[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Chester Brewer how he found out about his crew being shot down during a mission...
Cauble, Raymond Losing His Crew
Raymond Cauble lost his crew after he was wounded and was in recovery. His crew was shot down later. Cauble was wounded...
Samuelson, Daniel Losing Oxygen
Strange things would happen in the air for Daniel Samuelson. He was well-trained. He would wear a mask for oxygen....
Borders, Charles "Wes" Losing Pilots
Charles Wesley Borders and his fellow pilots all started at about the same time. They had three flights of 11 pilots,...
Tangradi, Richard Losing Planes
Richard Tangradi went to Casper, Wyoming to get his crew. [Annotator’s Note: Tangradi talks about his crew.] The crews...

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