As You Were

TURRET TRAP

This slide comes from the collection of Betty Jane Lane, who lived in North Fort Myers, Florida. Her husband, Louis Lane, took a number of photos while serving in the 338th Bomb Group in England during World War II. He is seen here working on a turret for one bomber, “Little Willie.”

A Brother in Every Port

DURING World War II, my father-in-law, Gayle Evers, was at sea for two years on a battleship. The prospect of setting foot on shore when they docked for supplies or repairs was irresistible, but only sailors with immediate family in port were permitted to leave the ship.

On five different occasions, Seaman Evers unflinchingly declared that he had a brother in port. The first four times, he was granted leave and enjoyed several days of exploring.

The fifth time was different. The captain ordered the Shore Patrol to escort Gayle to his brother’s location and bring them both back to the ship, where the captain would inspect the brother’s credentials.

On that fateful occasion, Gayle’s brother George happened to be stationed at an Army base near the port.

After verifying the truth, the surprised captain said, “The whole blasted Japanese navy can’t beat me, but Evers, you sure did. Enjoy your leave.”

— William Keller,
Worthington, Ohio

Signal WACs Saw Exotic Locales

DURING MY two years overseas with the 6715th Communications Company, 2629th WAC Battalion, I wrote 250 letters to my immediate family.

I spent eight months in Algiers and 14 months in Italy, and one might think from my letters that we did nothing but dance and relax in Capri and Rome. But outgoing mail was heavily censored, and recreational activities preserved our sanity amidst the terrible war.

Algiers was exotic and exciting, and we encountered a great variety of military personnel everywhere. One repulsive memory of those months involved the 5-inch grasshoppers that jumped into our trucks as we rode to work.

While in Caserta, Italy, in the autumn of 1944, our choir joined forces with a drama group that used the small theater in the palace where I worked as a typist. Our group presented Our Town by Thornton Wilder, and Col. Wilder was even present to autograph all of our programs!

— Mabel Smith, Sushinsky
Parma, Ohio

DESTINED TO FLY

“I wonder if my mother was psychic—or if I had picked out the clothes—when she dressed me in a pilot outfit in 1929, when I was 4 years old,” says Robert Moore of St. Petersburg, Florida. “As you can tell from the 1944 photo, taken during primary training at Cimarron Field in Oklahoma, World War II found me in the Army Air Forces. I went on to graduate and flew in the China-Burma-India theater.”