Entrance into Service

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Pendleton, Arthur Early Life and Joining the Marines
[Annotator's Note: Interviewer is setting up the interview and it begins with small talk about the war.] Arthur...
Oral history interview with Ray Felts on 15 September 2016 Early Life and Joining the Navy
Ray Felts was born in Cameron, Oklahoma in September 1926, the eldest of three children. He was 15, and on a double-...
Davis, Arthur Early Life and Joining the Navy
Arthur Q. Davis was born in March 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His family lived on a rice plantation in Pointe a la...
Slay, Charles Early Life and Losing a Friend to the Japanese
Charles Slay was born in December 1921 in Holloway, Louisiana. He was one of the first boys in the area to finish high...
Patti, Frank Early Life and the Draft
Frank Patti was born in December 1924 in Hammond, Louisiana and grew up on a produce farm where his parents shared the...
Muller, Henry Early Life to Commission
Henry J. Muller, Jr. born 7 April 1917 just one day after the US entered World War One. He was brought up on the...
Skare, Theodore Early Life to Drafted
Theodore Skare was born in April 1924 in Two Harbors, Minnesota. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was baby...
Moran, John "Jack" Early Life to Tiger Tanks
John Moran was born in Superior, Wisconsin. He had a great youth and enlisted in the Army at 17. He was then sent to...
Dunford, Philip Early Life, Basic Training and Overseas Deployment
Philip Dunford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 1925. He lived in Chester, Virginia when he was five...
Caraway, John Early Life, Commissioning and Deployment
John F. Caraway was born on in November 1922 in Baytown, Texas, the son of an antiques dealer. At an early age, his...
Scholl, Richard Early Life, Enlisting and Freezing in Texas
Richard Scholl was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1920. His father worked for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance...
Henleben, Edwin Early Life, Enlistment and Amphibious Training
Edwin Henlebin was born in 1921 in St. Louis, Missouri, and lived there his entire life, except for when he was in the...
Caffarel, Carl Early Life, Enlistment and Education
Carl Caffarel was born in 1925 in Plaquemines, Louisiana, and grew up in the nearby town of Port Allen, Louisiana. The...
Long, Thomas Early Life, Enlistment and Overseas Deployment
Thomas Long was born in January 1926 in Saint Louis, Missouri. His father died when he was only three years old,...
Koukos, Harry Early Life, Enlistment and Overseas Deployment
Harry Koukos, of Greek decent, was born in Albania in 1925 and came to the United States at the age of 13. His first...
Montalbano, Mickey Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Mickey Montalbano was born in 1927 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but from the time he was one year old, he lived in Baton...
Abbenhaus, Gerald Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Gerald Abbenhaus was born in January 1920 on a farm in northeast Nebraska. He went to Bloomfield High [Annotator's Note...
Marca, Carl Early Life, Enlistment, Training and Deployment to Australia
Carl Marca was born in March 1918 in Sheffield, Pennsylvania. His parents moved around a bit before settling in...
Schleider Jr., Benjamin Early Life, Enlistment, Training and Overseas Deployment
Benjamin Schleider was born in Brenham, Texas in 1921. His grandfather was a successful businessman and was very...
Rans, Robert Early Life, Entering the Service, Training and Overseas Deployment
Robert Rans was born in Chicago, Illinois in April 1921. Family life was mostly normal until the war started. He worked...
Brignac, Martin Early Life, Losing His Father and Seeing a Wooden Washing Machine
Martin Brignac was born in November 1921 in Lutcher, Louisiana. He only lived there the first year and then moved to...
Pizzolongo, Paul Early Life, Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge
Paul Pizzolongo was born in February 1923 in Bronx, New York. His father picked numbers for the bookies and his mom did...
Massengale, Louis Early Life, the Draft, and Training
Louis Massengale was born in February 1926, and spent his first five years in Goodwater, Alabama, living with his...
Praetorius, Leo Early Life, Working for Higgins Industries and Joining the Navy
Leo Praetorius was born in October 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father worked in a haberdashery. His...
Blouin, Joseph England and the Fascinating Lady
It took a good month for Joseph Blouin to fly from West Palm Beach, Florida to England. The captain checking them in in...
Hardy, George Enlisting as an Aviation Cadet
George Hardy's father persuaded him to not join his brother in the Navy because of the race problem. He would be...
Ebersole, William Enlisting in the Army Air Forces
William Ebersole was born in September 1924 in Arcadia, Florida. He graduated from high school there in June 1942 then...
Davis, Jackson Enlistment to Pearl Harbor
Jackson Davis went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to practice law. The Draft Act [Annotator's Note: Selective Training and...
Bussel, Norman Evading a U-boat
Norman Bussel left his final training base and took a train to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. He and the crew were pretty...
Marovelli, Robert Finding A Calling
Robert Marovelli clearly remembers being in the bathtub on 7 December 1941, when the announcement came over the radio...
Alexander, Samson First Black Fireman in the Air Force
Samson Alexander was the first black fireman in the Air Force. He was given a certificate from the Treasury Department...
Loring, Bud Flight Training
Learning how to fly was quite a job for Bud Loring. He had never flown before in his life. They had civilian...
Reese, Lloyd Flight training and Europe
Lloyd Reese trained to be a bombardier on the AT-11 [Annotator’s Note: Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan] and then the B-24 [...
Jordan, Bryce Flying and Teaching Acrobatics
For Bryce Jordan, PT-19 training [Annotator's Note: Fairchild PT-19 primary trainer aircraft] was not his first trip in...
McDermott, James Flying to England
James McDermott considered the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress the best airplane there was. He did not like the B-24 [...
Jacobson, Martin Forming the Underwater Demolition Teams
Martin Jacobson underwent demolition training at Fort Pierce, Florida. He also learned sneak and peek, or surreptitious...

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