On the road

On the road

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Profiles Spring-Summer 2013 HFDFW


 

William was working as a Civil Service employee at a nearby air force base when he was drafted into the military. He was inducted into the Army Air Forces on March 15, 1943. He was 20 years old.

After basic training, William was sent to the southwest Pacific and became part of the famous 5th AAF. During his tenure with the AAF he was a sergeant major at several air bases including Darwin, Australia. William remembers entering Darwin harbor after an attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy and observed the massive devastation brought on to that beautiful harbor.

He was also assigned to bases in the Philippines and for a short time in New Guinea. Another memory of William’s is when he entered the battle worn Philippine capital of Manila just after the U.S. Army liberated the city from the Japanese.

At another point in William’s interesting career in the AAF, he sailed on two very uncomfortable 29 day trips on Liberty ships crossing the Pacific, even having the terrible experience of once being caught in a Typhoon which is what hurricanes are called in the Pacific region. William states that he was awarded the usual service medals and ribbons including the Philippine Liberation medal.

He was discharged from the AAF on January 16, 1946.

 

 

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