| Description | His experiences as a dive-bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Childhood and adolescence in Elgin, Illinois; enrollment at Iowa State University, 1940; enlistment in Naval Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; basic flight training, Wheaton, College, 1942; pre-flightschool, Ottumwa, Iowa, 1943; advanced training, Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, 1943; decision to become a Marine Corps pilot; Cherry Point Marine Air Station; dive-bomber training, Camp Lejeune; assignment as an SBD pilot; additional SBD training, Newport, Arkansas; assignment to 1st Marine Aircraft Group (Squadron 143) at Mangaldan, Luzon, during the Philippines Campaign, February, 1945; comments about General Douglas MacArthur; ground-support operations; comments about his love for combat; operations on Mindanao; Battle for Manila, Corregidor; thoughts about the Japanese; the Japanese surrender and the end of the war; postwar readjustment; changing attitudes toward Japanese as a result of service in Japan during the Korean War. |
