Childhood and early adulthood in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. World War II-era Army Air Corps training in armaments and electronics. Stateside service in 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force; aviation cadet training; service as a B-25 instructor pilot; DC-3 tow pilot for the glider program.

Childhood and early adulthood in Houston, Texas; education at Rice Institute. World War II-era service in U.S. Navy aboard the USS Turner; convoy missions across the Atlantic Ocean; January 4, 1944, sinking of the Turner while moored in New York Harbor and court of inquiry regarding the sinking; service aboard USS Wren in Pacific Theater, including actions in the Aleutian Islands, Attu, Okinawa, and Philippine campaigns and anti-kamikaze warfare; piloting ship into Tokyo Bay immediately following the Japanese surrender; account of effects Allied bombing campaign had on Tokyo.

His experiences aboard the aircraft tender USS Curtiss during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.