| Description | Textile businessman. His experiences as a PBJ (B-25) pilot in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. Prewar experience at Clemson University in ROTC at Citizen’s Military Training, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1940-41; decision to enter the Navy V-5 Program, December, 1941; pre-flight training, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 1941-42; elementary flight training, Lambert Field, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1942; advanced flight training, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, 1942-43; decision to opt for multi-engine aircraft training and transfer to the Marine Corps, 1943; assignment to Cherry Point, North Carolina, and placement in Operational Training Squadron 8; training in the PBJ; assignment to VMB-433 and crew formation at Peterfield Point, North Carolina, 1943-44; his close friendship with co-pilot Dick Graves; combat training, El Centro, California, 1944; voyage to Espiritu Santo, May, 1944; assignment to Green Island, August, 1944; his first mission to Rabaul; thoughts about combat; “night-heckling” missions; his experiences on a PT boat mission; transfer to Emirau, August, 1944; mission to Paluwet in the Truk Group; rest and relaxation in Australia; his evacuation from Emirau in February, 1945, because of combat fatigue and psychological problems due to Graves’s death; his postwar career. |
