Dad received his West Point Assignment as a Flight Instructor in 1942. He sent a telegram to my mother, Louise Johnson, announcing his new assignment. They would soon marry and reside at West Point. Dad had undergone basic flight training at Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Texas, at Parks Air College and was preparing to take his place in the newly expanded US Army Air Corp as a flying second lieutenant. Read more here…
Category: us army air corp
Dad’s Graduation from US Army Air Corp Advanced Flying School.
Brooksfield Texas. Saturday, March 7th, 1942.
Dad’s card is on the inside of the announcement.
He wrote to my mother on the back:
To Louise, In memory of all the lovely times we spent together. If I ever get home again I’ll drop in. I’m sure a long way from Maine now. With regards, “Gene.”
Soon, Dad received his assignment to West Point.
Dad sounds homesick. He used to tell stories about Texas. He hated the weather, infernally hot to a man from Lubec, Maine. His dating experiences were not good either. He and a buddy took two women to a restaurant for dinner.
“They were so stuck on themselves. Puffy hair and all. They thought their s#^t was ice cream.” Dad said. After a boring conversation, the two men quietly paid the bill, went to the restroom, and crawled out the window to escape a nightmare double date. I expect they wanted these women to know they were not impressed with their highfalutin attitudes.
Dad missed that woman from Machias, Maine, Louise Johnson. He must have decided to propose as they married less than a year later, February 15th, 1943.
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Mom Keeps Men at Stewart Field Air Force Base on High Alert. 1944.
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