Lana
Thanks
for sending the photos of your Dad. The single picture
of John is how I remember him. I really enjoyed
talking to you. It really brought back a lot of
memories.
I
told you that I reported to Ft. Sill, about an hour
out of Oklahoma City, on June 14th. I signed up
for Aviation Cadet Training the next day. I don't
know what day John arrived at Ft. Sill but it had
to be around the same time. He apparently signed
up for Cadets, also. We shipped out on July 16th
for Miami Beach. We went by troop train. The rail
cars were very old. They were coaches by day and
then converted into upper and lower berths at night.
It was very hot day and night going through the
south. Of course there was no air conditioning.
Our first stop was Dallas, Texas where we had dinner.
The next day we found ourselves in Shreveport, LA.
The train windows were always open since it was
so hot and the engine was a coal burner so the smoke
all came in the windows with the cinders which permeated
our clothes, hair, eyes, nose, etc. etc.
We
then headed for Jackson, Mississippi and then on
to Alabama and Georgia. We had a 4 hour layover
in Atlanta so we were able to go to the USO. There
we got our first shower in three days. Then on to
Florida and we arrived in Miami Beach on the 5th
day at about 10 PM.
The
Air Corps had taken over all of the luxury hotels
on Miami Beach, made them in to barracks by taking
out all of the carpeting, furniture, etc. They also
turned off the hot water. They put in army bunks
and chests. No amenities at all. If you were on
the first five floors of a hotel, you walked up
the stairs. Only 5th and up got to use the elevators.
It was beautiful, but spartan.
I
think I actually met your Dad a week or so after
we arrived. He had applied to play the drum in the
drum and bugle corps and suggested I do the same,
that he could teach me the drum beats very quickly.
That way we got out of standing in review for hours
in the hot sun. John taught me to play the drum.
We would march the troops out to the review field
and then we sat down under the palm trees and waited
to take the troops back to the main area. The troops
had to stand at attention in the hot sun and many
would faint. I will always be grateful to John for
introducing me to the drums.
We
had classes on various subjects, physical training
and constant marching. We did a lot of marching
back and forth through town singing all the service
songs. There wasn't much time for resting, we were
kept busy most of the day. We learned what it meant
to be a cadet, lots of work and sweat.
We were in Miami Beach until October 3rd when we
shipped out for Indianapolis, IN to Butler University
for the college phase of our training. John and
I both joined the band. I played the clarinet in
high school and of course John played the drums.
Eventually we moved in to one of the fraternity
houses and John and I and another cadet roomed together
for the next four months. Being in the band got
us out of a lot of scut work and marching. We had
about 85 members and played at many events in the
Indianapolis area.
John
came to my rescue again when I was having trouble
with Geometry and he tutored me in the evenings
and after lights out when we went in to a large
closet which had a light in it. I will always appreciate
that a great deal. We had classes in Physics, History,
English, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry. We also
got out of physical training because we were in
the band. We earned a years college credit in 4
months.
It
was winter time and got quite cold and it often
snowed so it was quite different from Miami Beach.
We got 10 hours flying time in Piper Cubs the last
month we were there, which was a lot of fun.
We
shipped out of Butler on February 5, 1944 for San
Antonio, Texas to the Classification center. We
had all kinds of phychomotor tests which were like
various styles of games of skill, eye coordination
and the like. Then in a couple of weeks we were
notified if we would continue training as pilots,
navigators or bombardiers. As you know, John was
classified a bombardier which he did not want. He
really wanted to go on to pilot training and he
was disappointed. I was fortunate to get pilot training.
So after February 19th John went on to bombardier
training in Big Spring, Texas and I went to Preflight
in San Antonio.
Your
father was a very good friend to me and I appreciated
being in training with him. We were both sorry that
we had to go different directions. I have a distant
memory that I saw John again once more after he
graduated from bombardier school. I will have to
check out my letters to my brother which I wrote
while in training. He and his wife kept all my letters
and put them in an album for me after the war. They
are a big help if I want to wander down memory lane.
I
hope this information helps you to know what your
Dad experienced in his training and the dates and
places.
Best
Regards
Harry Johnson
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