National Museum of the Pacific War - 2 Matching Results
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- Oral History Interview with Charles H. Tucker, April 18, 2017
- The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles H. Tucker from Orange, California. He discusses volunteering for the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and going to basic training in Miami Beach, Florida, then going to Aircraft Armament School in Buckley Field, Colorado, and finally air gunnery school in Fort Myers, Florida. In air gunnery school, Mr. Tucker learned to shoot in B-17 by shooting into the Gulf of Mexico. After gunnery school he was sent to the B-25 crew training at Columbia, South Carolina for 5 months. After Mr. Tucker completed his training, he was transferred to Dacca to a B-25 base and joined the 10th Air Force, the 12th Bomb Group. When he arrived his crew pilots were reassigned, and Mr. Tucker was not able to fly much until he was assigned to a regular crew again. Mr. Tucker was put in the 729th bomb squadron tasked with supporting the British 14th Army against the Japanese forces in Burma. The campaign he was involved in ended in May 1945 with the capture of Rangoon, the main city of Burma and Mr. tucker was in one of the squadron planes that flew over the celebration parade after the victory. When the war ended, Mr. Tucker was training at Madeaiganji airfield in India and celebrated by drinking, only to get frightened when his fellow servicemen started drunkenly shooting into the air. Mr. Tucker left on a ship headed for New York on October 1, 1945, and reached there on October 31 and was granted 45 days of leave. After his leave, Mr. Tucker reported to San Antonio, Texas, and was discharged December 22, 1945. When the Korean War started, he volunteered to be a pilot but was denied because of his vison, so instead Mr. …
- Oral History Interview with Alan Hildebrandt, November 12, 2009
- The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alan Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt enlisted in the Army Air Forces in July of 1942. He describes the planes he flew during training, including the PT-19, the BT-13 and the UC-78. Hildebrandt was commissioned and received his pilot rating in November of 1943. Upon graduation he trained on the B-26 at Laughlin Field. Hildebrandt served as a pilot in the 95th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. They first traveled to Morocco, North Africa, then to northern Italy and Southern France. Their job was to bomb Marshaling yards, bridges and troop replacements. Hildebrandt describes some of his missions. He flew a total of 64 missions and was discharged in July of 1945.