My induction into the army was at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, July 1943 and after processing I was sent, along with 20 other men, to North Fort Hood Texas, for basic training. During processing at Fort Snelling, the mention of the Army Air Force was made. So on arrival at Fort Hood, Texas, I requested a transfer to the Army Air Force. This came about mid-October and I was soon off by troop train to Gulfport, Mississippi, to a holding group for testing as to what military type of assignment I might be best suited for. I passed the pilot training exams, except for the color blind test; but, I did qualify for air crew. Again, by troop train, it was off to Tyndall Field, Panama City, Florida, for air gunnery training. Arriving about mid-March, the weather was warm and after the usual hurry up and wait we started our aerial gunnery training which included hours of shotgun trap shooting, turret operation and the firing of the turret on the ground. The ground turret trainer made you feel as though you were actually in the aircraft.

Because of the number of persons taking the training, headquarters sent a group of men to a sub-base at Apalachicola, Florida, for the air part of our training (flying). That first flight was still something that I will always remember. The flight was to familiarize us with the aircraft and what it was like to fire the 50 caliber machine gun mounted in the aircraft. This was my first flight in an aircraft. The instructor was assigned eight to ten students and after a short briefing we got aboard a B-17 and off to the wild blue of our first flight. The instructor had taken many other trainees on their first flight as was the case with our group. With the noise of the engines and the open windows one could not hear unless yelled into your ear, therefore most instructions were by hand signals. His favorite trick on the new trainees was to show each how the wings would move and have them watch to see how far they moved, and then see how sick they would get. I had heard of this before so did not get sick myself. But the airstream noise and the noise from the vibration of the machine gun firing was something that the average person would not believe.

After that first flight, and with small groups of four to six trainees, the rest of the aerial gunnery training went well and I graduated with no problems. Initial training completed, we shipped out in May 1944 to Westover Field, Springfield, Massachusetts, by troop train. We received our crew assignment and prepared for overseas duty.

Westover was a very good, comfortable and nice town just outside the main gate. During my stay at Westover for about three months, the crew assignment was as follows: