OH 1492 | Oral History

OH 1492

Commercial airline pilot. His experiences as a B-24 pilot in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. His prewar education through college at the University of Houston; Junior ROTC in high school; joining the Texas Air Guard (111th Observation Squadron) before World War II; flying lessons at Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas; participation in the Civilian Pilot Training Program and the Citizen Military Training Camp; his commissioning as a 2nd lieutenant in the field artillery, August, 1941; his transfer to the Army Air Forces, December 17, 1942; physical training at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, 1942; primary flight training, Corsicana, Texas, 1942; basic flight training, Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas, 1942; advanced flight training in multi-engine planes, Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, 1942; B-17 training, Sebring, Florida, 1942; B-24 training, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona, 1943; crew formation at Davis-Monthan; bomber transition training, Clovis, New Mexico, 1943; assignment to the CBI Theater; crash landing at McDewgwi, Nigeria, April 27, 1943; stationing at Bishnupur, India, 1943; base living conditions; various bombing missions to Rangoon, Burma; Japanese fighter and antiaircraft opposition; night missions against Japanese shipping; mining the Bangkok, Thailand, harbor; comments about Indian culture and living conditions; combat death of his co-pilot; his navigator’s psychological problems; detailed descriptions of two raids on the Burma-Thailand “Death Railway,” Spring, 1944, and the wounding of his arm on the second raid; recuperation; his return to combat eight weeks later; his reaction to the combat death of his brother in Europe; his return to the States, July, 1944; date with Judy Garland; his postwar career in commercial aviation and his later return to active duty in the Air Force.

About this Oral History

Physical Description 186 pp. plus documents (4 pp.)
Terms of Use Open
Interviewer(s) Ronald E. Marcello
Date of Interview June 12, 2003

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