Running between Des Moines and Ottumwa was the Des Moines River
on its way to the Mississippi River. This was a stretch of 90
miles as the crow flies or about 200 miles of "S" turns
as a snake crawls. There was one guy in our platoon who had been
a roommate of Don Bopp in pre-flight and was of the same conceited
nature as Bopp, a "Hot Pilot". One day, on one of his
solo flights, he was getting his "Jollies" by skimming
just above the water making "S" turns between the trees.
What he didn't see was this electric cable stretched between
two poles on either side of the river. The cable caught the wheels
of his training plane and flipped it on it's back in the river.
The guy got out of the plane and swam to shore with his parachute
on his back. Was picked up, returned to the field, reported to
the flight office, was discharged and was on his way home that
afternoon. The administration was somewhat considerate of errors
but was completely intolerant of horseplay and foolishness.
Stateside Training Stations
 |
Cities and dates of assigned training stations from
enlistment until departure from San Diego, Ca enroute to combat
in South Pacific
|
A |
July 11, 1942 Des Moines, Ia |
B |
Nov. 15, 1942 Maryville, Mo |
|
B |
Jan. 15, 1943 Maryville, Mo |
A |
Jan. 15, 1943 Des Moines, Ia |
|
A |
Feb. 1, 1943 Des Moines Ia |
C |
Feb. 1, 1943 Norfolk, Ne |
|
C |
Feb. 22,1943 Norfolk, Ne |
D |
Feb. 22, 1943 Iowa City, Ia |
|
D |
May 19, 1943 Iowa City, Ia |
E |
May19, 1943 Ottumwa, Ia |
|
E |
Aug. 23, 1943 Ottumwa, Ia |
F |
Aug. 23, 1943 Pensacola, Fl |
|
F |
Jan. 25, 1944 Pensacola, Fl |
G |
Jan. 25, 1944 Green Cove Springs, Fl |
|
G |
May 15, 1944 Green Cove Springs, Fl |
H |
May 15, 1944 Glenview, Il |
|
H |
May 22, 1944 Glenview, Il |
I |
May 22, 1944 Norfolk, Va |
|
I |
May 30, 1944 Norfolk, Va |
J |
May 30, 1944 Harrisburg, Pa |
|
J |
July 1, 1944 Harrisburg, Pa |
K |
Aug. 1, 1944 San Diego, CA |
|
K |
Aug. 15, 1944 San Diego, Ca |
L |
Aug. 15, 1944 North Bend, Or |
|
L |
Aug. 15, 1944 North Bend, Or |
M |
Sept. 1, 1944 Holtville, Ca |
|
M |
Sept. 1, 1944 Holtville, Ca |
N |
Oct. 15, 1944 Los Alamitos, Ca |
|
N |
Oct. 15, 1944 Los Alamitos, Ca |
K |
Dec. 3, 1944 San Diego, Ca |
|
K |
Dec. 3, 1944 San Diego, Ca |
|
To South Pacific |
After returning from the Pacific
|
|
From Pacific |
K |
Aug. 10, 1945 San Diego, Ca |
|
K |
Sept. 15, 1945 San Diego, Ca |
O |
Sept. 18, 1945 Klammath Falls, Or |
|
O |
Oct. 15, 1945 Klammath Falls, Or |
P |
Oct. 15, 1945 Pascal, Wa |
|
P |
Dec. 10, 1945 Pascal, Wa |
Q |
Dec. 12, Great Lakes, Il |
|
Q |
Dec. 15, 1945 Great Lakes, Il |
|
Home! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the service you meet very few people you knew in civilian
life. This happened to me on only three occasions during my time
in the service. The first time was here at Ottumwa. One day a
whole bunch of us cadets were getting on one of the cattle cars
(buses that ferried people around the station) when I suddenly
recognized the sailor who was driving the bus. It was a guy by
the name of Clifford Anderson. He and I entered kindergarten
at Park Avenue elementary school and were in the same homerooms
and classes in every grade and graduated together. I was surprised
to find him driving a bus because he was not only a fairly bright
guy but was a first string halfback on our high school football
team. He was also a good-looking guy and quite the ladies man.
Needless to say, I was quite envious of him in high school. On
several occasions when I had the time I would jump in the cab
with him and ride around the station discussing good old times.
The only time I was ever in the hospital was here at Ottumwa.
In pre-flight I had gotten blisters on the back of both my legs
where the tops of my boots constantly were rubbing. The blisters
turned into nasty sores and after a couple of months I went to
sick bay to have them treated. They not only treated the sores
but also kept me in bed for three days.
Every time a person arrives at a station or leaves a station
he is given a physical and a dental check. When I was checking
out of Ottumwa I was told that I had about five minor cavities
which the dentist filled. Upon arriving at Pensacola I was checked
and told I had several minor cavities and these were also filled.
I didn't have guts enough or brains enough to ask what the hell
was coming off. My guess is that these dentists were getting
in a lot of practice at the expense of a bunch of defenseless
cadets. We suspected that our squadron doctor operated at the
drop of a complaint just to keep his hand in. There were very
few calls for surgery with a bunch of healthy young men.
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