Walter Kloc served in the Air Force during World War II. He joined the Air Force prior to the attacks on Pearl Harbor, and was called up for active duty on December 10, 1941. He worked as a bombardier on a B-24 aircraft in the Pacific Theatre. Some…

Robert Frederiksen was born on October 29, 1925 in West Point, New York but grew up in Newaygo, Michigan. On February 3, 1944 he enlisted in the Army Air Force with the intention of becoming a pilot. He received basic training at Miami Beach, Florida…

Ross Vincent was drafted into the Army during World War II. Initially assigned as an MP, Ross took the Air Corps exam, and was sent to Army Air Corps training, eventually becoming a navigator in the Pacific, specifically based off the island of…

Julius Van Oss was drafted into the US Army in 1943 and initially assigned to the Army Air Corps. In training, he qualified for the ASTP program, which sent men to college to prepare them to become engineers, but the program was cancelled after he…

Tom Westbrook was born in 1919 in Ionia, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor and trained as an aircraft mechanic at Keesler Field, Mississippi. Immediately after training, he was sent to Australia, where he worked at bases in…

Bruce was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 16, 1922. He grew up in Fowler, Michigan and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on February 12, 1942. Bruce served as a medic. He was sent to Scotland during the war and helped coordinate flights home…

Ted Weatherhead was attending college at Ohio University when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps, but had to wait for some time before starting his training. After surviving the initial screening and…

Adrian Sytsma grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was drafted into the Army in 1943. Because he already had some technical training and work experience, he was assigned to the Army Air Corps to be a mechanic. After initially training on B-17s, he…

Lawrence Scheidel grew up in Michigan and enlisted in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. He went to basic training in Miami Beach, and then to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for radio school. He was then shifted to different bases in the…

Myrtle Zietlow was born outside of Chicago in 1921. She attended the University of Illinois, and after graduating she went to work for Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut, where they made aircraft engines. She tells her own story as well as that of…

Donald Thomas joined the Army after he graduated from high school, intending to fly airplanes in World War II. Initially, the Army sent him to Engineering school, but after a two week break, he switched into the Air Cadet school. The program ended in…

Cappy Rowe served in the U.S. Air Force from 1941 to 1971. He enlisted in the Army prior to the start of the war, and trained initially as an artillerist, but eventually was accepted for pilot training. He served in the Pacific during the latter part…