Veteran of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Childhood in rural northern Alabama; farm life during the Great Depression; decision to enter CCC at the age of fifteen; experiences at CCC camps at Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi, Florence, Oregon, and Rainier, Washington; memory of Pearl Harbor; wartime rejection from U.S. Army; postwar decision to join U.S. Air Force; career as an engine mechanic in Air Force and Navy; lessons learned in CCC and military.