His experiences in the Pacific Theater as a combat pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. Fall of Singapore; Guadalcanal operations; air combat against Japanese Zeros; release from duty, December 1943.

Musician, vocalist. His experiences as a musician/vocalist with Bob Wills’s”Texas Playboys” and the “Light Crust Doughboys” western swing bands, 1936-42; comments about Bob Wills and band members Marvin Montgomery, Kenneth Pitts, AL Stricklin, “Smoky” Dacus, “Knocky” Parker, Leon McAuliffe, Eldon Shamblin; forming his own groups and playing the Fort Worth, Texas, nightclub circuit, 1950-70; comments about western swing, big band, and pop music.

His experiences in the Battle of Midway and his role as a fighter pilot; Guadalcanal operations, August-November, 1942; shot down over water, November, 1942; assignment to Vella Lavella and fighter sweeps over Rabaul; postwar activities as a test pilot; photographic missions over the People’s Republic of China; air operations in Vietnam.

Musician. His experiences as a member of the “Light Crust Doughboys” western swing band, 1935-42. Early radio career in Tyler, Texas; comments about “Light Crust Doughboys” band members; appearances in Gene Autry movies (“Oh, Susanna” and “The Big Show”) for Republic Pictures; employment with Burrus Mill and Elevator Company promotional band; radio appearances; influence of jazz artists, particularly Django Reinhardt, on his style of guitar playing.

Welder. His experiences while employed by of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in the Dallas-Fort Worth area; joining the CCC; assignment to camps near Laramie, Wyoming (Camp 3876); Santa Paula, California; Coquille, Oregon; and Lake Worth, Texas (Camp 1816); description of camps; life in camps; post-CCC work.

His experiences as a dive-bomber pilot during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; his participation in the Aleutians Campaign, June 1942, and the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,” May 1944; surrender of Rota Island, September 2, 1945.