OH 1421 | Oral History

OH 1421

Farmer. His experiences as a PBJ (B-25) pilot in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. North Texas State Teachers College, 1938-42; Civilian Pilot Training, Hartlee Field, Denton, Texas; enlistment in the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; primary flight training, Grand Prairie Naval Air Station, Grand Prairie, Texas, 1942; basic and advanced flight training, Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1942-43; his decision to select twin-engine aircraft training; initial twin-engine training in the PBY; his transfer to the Marine Corps, 1943; training in the DC-3, Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Texas, with American Airlines, 1943; OTS-8, Cherry Point Marine Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina, 1943; bomber transition training in the PBJ; forming of VMB-433 at Cherry Point, 1943; crew training, El Centro, California, 1944; voyage across the Pacific to Espiritu Santo, 1944; stationing at Green Island, July, 1944; night-heckling missions to Rabaul, 1944; comment s about weather conditions and Japanese antiaircraft defenses; transfer to Emirau and daylight missions to Kavieng, 1944-45; low-level missions to Kavieng; his bout with vertigo on a night-heckling mission; living conditions on Green Island and Emirau; comments about airplane maintenance crews; rest leave in Australia, 1945; his return to the States, May, 1945; his postwar career in farming.

About this Oral History

Physical Description 94 pp. plus documents (92 pp.)
Terms of Use Open
Interviewer(s) Ronald E. Marcello
Date of Interview August 22, 2001

Additional Resources

The following lists of links include general-purpose research sites that may have materials related to oral history research methodolgies, or the topic you are interested in.