In the late 1930’s Hitler had decided to get started conquering the world. He had put German production on a war-time footing turning out arms for the Army he had assembled and trained.

By 1940 Uncle Sam finally got his act together, and put the “Selective Service” law together. “The Draft”. On either September or October 20, 1940 all men between the ages of 21 and 25 were required to sign up at the local draft board offices.

I was at Pingree, Idaho near Blackfoot, Idaho at the time helping my brother-in-law harvest spuds and sugar beets, so when I signed up, Blackfoot, Idaho became my draft board.

I went to California where I worked for Lockheed Air Craft Company at Burbank, California in March 1941. After working here for two and one half years I quit and returned to Idaho. I had received deferments from the draft board as long as I was working building airplanes, P-38 Lightning fighters, but after quitting I was drafted in November of 1943. I was sent to Boise for a physical, sworn into the Army and went home.

About two weeks later I was ordered to report to Fort Douglas, Utah. Other draftees and my self boarded a bus in Twin Falls, Idaho for Salt Lake City and Fort Douglas. Here we received our uniforms, shots and other good stuff. Few of the boys had ever had shots, and much kidding was done at the expense of the ones having not had them. How rough it was and how it made some pass out. I had spent time in the Civilian Conservation Corp which was run on a military basis, and so knew about what to expect in the army. This made me much more at ease than some of the younger boys who had never been away from home.

We spent many hours policing the yards of cigarette butts and other junk, but also took tests of different kinds. A memo came out saying any one who wanted to join the Army Air Force could volunteer if they wanted to. This I did and then came more tests. I was accepted along with my two friends, Bill Marsh and Harold Reid. Bill was from Paul, Idaho and Harold was from Emmett, Idaho. Bill was later to be shot down and killed in a Berlin raid. We were soon shipped to Buckley Field, Colorado near Denver for basic training.

The most interesting part of basic training was firing the different kinds of guns per: 45 ACP Thompson sub machine gun: 45 semi auto pistol: 30 Carbine: 30-06 Springfield Rifle. Hey this was great. Always before I had been forced to buy my own ammunition, and here it was all free.

One evening for supper the mess hall served creamed chicken. Luckily I had never cared for creamed chicken so ate none. Within two hours boys began to pop up out of there bunks and make a dash to the company latrine. One would think that a magnificent 23 holler would be sufficient to handle any emergency, but soon every one was occupied and men could be seen lined up along the outside wall, the icy wind whistling around their exposed posterior, doing their thing.

I was normally not one to take advantage of some one else’s bad luck, however I did ask a few questions such as, “What is your hurry”? “Where are you going”? and etc., when the boys would leave the barracks. Few of them seemed to see any humor in these remarks, probably just because they had something else on their minds.

At the end of basic raining we were offered the chance to volunteer for Air Crew Cadet Training. My friends, Bill and Harold and me, all volunteered and made it. We were sent to the Denver University and were well into the training schedule two months later when an order came down to cancel all the latest Cadet classes, some 35,000 if my memory serves me correctly, (I have found personal memory to be a fickle thing) all over the nation. We were offered the choice of going to the infantry or Arial Gunnery Training so we all three took Arial Gunnery.

Here we go again, this time to Las Vegas Army Air Field, (I think this was Nell’s Air Force base) near Las Vegas, Nevada. Most of the training here was on the 50 caliber Browning Air Cooled machine gun, to take care of it, and make it work. We also had training on shooting from a moving base at a moving target. We were put in the bed of a pickup truck with 12 gauge shot guns. With the truck at about 30 miles an hour it was driven around an oval track. Every so far a clay pigeon was tossed into the air and we would try to hit it. More fun with free ammunition.

Finally the ground training was over and we made our first flight out to Indian Springs airfield, Nevada in a B-17 bomber, where we made a few flights and fired at ground targets. It was in July and the desert was hot. Now and then we would hit an up draft or down draft at which time every thing that was not tied down, including me, done funny things.

When we returned to Vegas we were issued our gunners wings and a fifteen day delay in route to Lincoln, Nebraska. I stopped off in Twin Falls for my first time home. The girls seemed to like the uniform and every one treated me great, but I seemed a little bit out of place with all these civilians.

I boarded a train for Lincoln where flying crews were put together. Bill, Harold and I all three were put in different crews. This was the last I saw of them until they visited me at Nuthamstead, England. Once again I was on my way to another base, Biggs Field at El Paso, Texas for over seas Arial Gunnery training.

Here we flew in B-17 air planes and shot at targets towed by other air planes, with live ammunition. Then at P-40 fighters with cameras. After several months of this with flights over New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, we were sent back to Lincoln, Nebraska where we waited until the 18th of January, 1945. At this time orders came down to leave for Boston, and a ship for overseas. I was glad to be heading east to Europe instead of the Pacific. I had lost nothing there.

We were soon on another troop train to Boston where we boarded the troop ship, The El de France. This as stated above, in January with winter storms wracking the North Atlantic, and many of the men soon became sea sick. To make it more uncomfortable we were stacked up six bunks high. It was hard to pass another person in the aisles because they were so narrow. Very few of the air force men were sea sick as flying had conditioned them to the movement, but the infantry and ground crew men had a rough time. Eight days day’s after we left Boston we landed in Glasgow, Scotland, then south by train to our new home at Nuthamstead, England. After training here in England we were assigned our first mission over Germany.

Training is all well and good, and it is hoped you are trained well, but you really don’t know what it is like when other men start shooting at you, trying to kill you. Hey the fun is over, this is the real thing. I wasn’t nervous, just quick. Looking back on that time long ago I think I may have been more afraid of not measuring up than I was about facing the Germans. The thought of my family hearing that I had failed to face up to the danger of combat was something I could not cope with. Being killed yes, but not that.