His experiences in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. His youth during the Great Depression; his father’s leather shop in Kilgore, Texas, during the oil boom of the 1930s; influence of German leather carver Solon Aaron on his life; his education; his decision to join the Texas National Guard, November 18, 1940; his work in the repair and maintenance of cavalry equipment; New Caledonia, August, 1942-June, 1943; Woodlark Island landings, 1943; operations at Arawe, New Britain, 1943-44; Battle of the Driniumor River, New Guinea, June-August, 1944; problems with inaccurate maps; his evacuation due to intestinal ulcers, malaria, and dengue fever.