| Description | Businessman. His experiences as a PBY and PBM pilot in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. His youth and education around Brenham, Texas; graduation from high school and employment with the A&P grocery chain, 1933-42; enlistment in the Navy as a member of the “Houston Hurricanes,” 1942; pre-flight training at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 1942; primary flight training, Naval Air Station, Dallas, Texas, 1942; advanced flight training, Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1942-43; transition to multi-engine planes at Corpus Christi, 1943; Kaneohe Naval Air Station, Oahu, Hawaii, 1943; transfer to the Southwest Pacific and flying patrols in the PBY as a member of Patrol Squadron 14, March, 1944; night patrols as a member of a “Black Cat” squadron; operations in the PBM around Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, March, 1945; anti-shipping patrols off the Chinese coast; Japanese fighter opposition; life aboard a seaplane tender; his plane credited with sinking five Japanese ships in the Hong Kong-Hainan Island area, June 23, 1945; his being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; his postwar business career. |
