OH 1358 | Oral History

OH 1358

Business executive. His experiences as a pilot trainee in the United States during World War II. Life in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, during the Great Depression; the decision of the twin Silar brothers to enter the Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; basic training, Miami Beach, Florida, 1943; Air Crew Student Training, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, 1943; Aviation Cadet Classification Center, Nashville, Tennessee,1943; pre-flight training, Maxwell Field, Alabama, 1943; primary flight training, Southern Aviation School, Camden, South Carolina, 1943; basic flight training, Sumter, South Carolina, 1943; advanced flight training, Seymour, Indiana, 1943-44; comments about going through all phases of flight training with his twin brother, Ted; B-17 transitional training, Sebring, Florida, 1944; B-24 transitional training, Smyrna, Tennessee, 1944; assignment as a co-pilot instructor, Laredo, Texas, 1944-45; his various accounts of flying with his twin brother; forming of his permanent B-17 crew, Plant Park, Florida, 1945; his brother Ted’s marriage at Smyrna; mustering out of the service on December 15, 1945, and enrollment at Centre College with his brother, 1946; law school at Vanderbilt University with his brother, 1949; enlistment in the Air National Guard; Ted’s death as a result of a P-47 crash on March 28, 1949.

About this Oral History

Physical Description 114 pp. plus documents (4 pp.)
Terms of Use Open
Interviewer(s) Ronald E. Marcello
Date of Interview August 11, 2000

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