U.S. Army -- World War II

Dad enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the fall of 1941, before the U.S. entered the war in December. From induction at Ft. Hayes, Columbus, he went first to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and then to Chanute Field at Rantoul, Illinois. Following training as an aircraft maintenance technician, he spent most of three years in India, during 1943 - 1945, at an Army Air Corps base near Chabua in Assam Province, in the foothills of the Himalayas.  He was a non-commissioned officer, working as a service technician in support of aircraft flying "The Hump" from India, to resupply the Chinese who were fighting the Japanese army of occupation.  As a result of this experience, Dad had zero interest in tent camping when we were kids, although he did ultimately enjoy camping in a pop-top camper that fit in his 1974 Dodge pickup truck.  Dad told a few stories about life in the Army and in India -- mostly observations on the culture and human conditions that he observed there.  He was interested in the culture, and learned a smattering of Hindi.  He had two scrapbooks, one that he made himself of stateside photos, and one which appears to have been assembled by his mother using photos and information that Dad sent back from India.  There are typed captions, which fell loose from the pages over the decades, and it's not always crystal clear which photo is described by a given caption.

Official U.S. Army portrait.

About 1941

51 Air Service Group was his outfit in India, so that is probably where this was taken.

Ardys and Don Jr., April 1942.

With his father, July 1942

Downtown Rantoul, Illinois, summer of 1942.

Rantoul, Illinois train station, summer of 1942.

This is described as a museum next to a temple.

The tent behind him was his home during 1943-1945.

I remember Dad describing how he had acquired a bicycle and a single-cylinder gasoline engine, and proceeded to handcraft a motor bike out of scrap from the Army base where he lived and worked. On that bike, when he had a day off he would take very bumpy rides on the dirt roads in the district, observing the people and their dwellings.

Dad bought these Hindu prayer boxes from some gentlemen who "came down from the mountains" to find buyers. They have "belt loops" on the sides, and originally came with cloth loops attached with which a person would hang the prayer boxes around their neck or otherwise on the body. Dad said the cloth loops were horribly filthy and he immediately discarded them.

Names of his three tent mates are not known, unfortunately.

Dad is the 13th from left in the back row of the top group.

August 1943 Assam Province, India

Army discharge certificate

Record of return from the China-Burma-India Theater of the Second World War.