Initially, I received an F on this paper ... the instructor felt that the events described were beyond those that he understood from WWII as he had studied it. He required proof and I put him in contact with Grandpa. In the end, I got an A for this work.
We know much more today than we did 15 years ago. You are now free to read and experience the coming of age of a 24-year-old ... I can tell you that this interview changed my life forever ...
For all questions, I am the questioner. For any answers, my Grandfather and Grandmother were in attendance. My Grandfather answered most questions, my Grandmother cried a lot. It was a very tough interview. Unfortunately, I did not capture all of the questions or answers in an interview that lasted 2+ hours. The result is still worth reading. I can also say that in the hundreds and hundreds of hours that I spent with these same grandparents, this topic was not raised. Only through direct questioning did I come to understand this part of their lives.
Q) When did you serve during the war?
A) March 1942 until the end
Q) What was your job during the war?
A) I was a pilot.
Q) What type of pilot?
A) I was an instuctor in the Air Training Command, preparing new recruits for the Advanced Air Training taught on the Pacific.
Q) Where were you stationed?
A) Midland, Texas
Q) What exactly did you teach?
A) I trained navigators and flew practice bombing missions over Dallas and El Paso. We were pretty close to half-way between the two, which is why it's called Midland.
Q) Did you teach pilots how to deal with the Kamikaze problem?
A) The Kamikazes were a Navy problem, and those schools were on the carriers in the Pacific.
Q) Did you experience any of the accelerated officer promotions as a result of the War?
A) No really. It was 14 months between 2nd Lieutenant and Captain.
Q) Is that a normal promotion period?
A) Yes.
Q) What was your eventual rank?
A) Lieutenant Colonel.
Q) I know that you did not graduate college until after the war, how did you get to be an officer?
A) There was a desperate need for pilots, so I became an officer with High School eductation. Later the Air Force helped me graduate from the University of Omaha in Nebraska.
Q) What was it like in the United States before the War? In other words, what was the US opinion of the conflict in Europe?
A) The Morale in the United States was very high. We had been in a few battles and successful at those. I didn't pay attention to until Pearl Harbor, though.
Q) Was Pearl Harbor a motivation in your decision to join the war effort?
A) Yes
Q) Did you struggle with the concept of dying for your country?
A) You always think someone else is going to get killed.
Q) Were you ever in the position of going to battle?
A) I was supposed to go to India with Neder(?), and most of those people got killed, but I stayed behind to marry your grandmother.
Q) What was the attitude in the US after the war? Did the Holocaust have a big affect on the US public?
A) The Holocaust was very poorly publicized. We did not understand the devastation until were were stationed just south of Frankfurt, Germany in 1946. There you could not escape it. We were in a min-base, made by moving the Germans out of their homes so we could move in. The Germans hated us. You could smell the bodies left outside of the camp.
Q) What about the German people?
A) They were desperate. There was no food. We often left a bag of groceries at the gate for someone to come and collect.
Q) How long was it before the economy seemed to recovery in Germany?
A) We left Germany in '48 and came back in '50, so it was probably '51 before thing seemed O.K. We left again and came back in '56. By then they were booming. Much better than the US seemed to be doing.
Q) Were you at fear for your life while in Germany?
A) Yes. Your Grandmother couldn't walk down the street outside the camp because the Germans would spit on her. When I was gone on missions she would sleep with my service revolver under her pillow. We were encouraged to stay inside because there was fighting in the woods off of the base.
Q) There was fighting a year after the War ended?
A) The tanks were still in the woods. Nazis and other radical groups resisting the end.
Q) Did you get a feel for the devastation due to loss of life in Russia and Poland, or were you overwhelmed with the problems in Germany?
A) We knew of Russia's problems because the French wanted us (the US) to attack them while their army was diminished.
Q) How did the French feel about the recent occupation of their country?
A) We were stationed in Paris after the War, but before we went to Germany. The Parisians felt that they had won the war, and we (the US) had stood by and watched. There were still problems getting rid of the pro-Nazis that have been the government of France.
Q) What was your reaction to the end of the war?
A) Elated! Jubilated!
Q) What was the US reaction to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A) We did not know what an atomic bomb was, and did not comprehend what we (the US) had done to them (Japan) until the early 1960's.
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