After my furlough, I went to Tampa, Florida, for assembly of my crew and to train in the B-29 in preparation for assignment in the Pacific. That did not take place because the atomic bomb was dropped, and the war ended August 1945. I was separated from active duty on September 21, 1945, at Tampa, Florida, as a first lieutenant. I received the Air Medal with one cluster, and the Italian Theater Operations Ribbon with four clusters. I returned home to my wife Verla, and firstborn son Larry (whom I had never seen). I entered Weber College and graduated in June, 1948 in Mechanical Engineering. Joseph Norman Hill Joseph served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from October 3, 1942, to August 6, 1945, with the rank of private first class. He served in the South Pacific stationed mainly on the island of New Guinea. As an air munitions technician of the 38th Bomb Group, his job was to care for and load all munitions on the planes. Don Hogan_ Don was a lieutenant colonel in the 8th Air Force who served as a bomber combat pilot and flew strictly out of England. He flew 35 combat missions in the ETO (European Theater Operation), piloting B-17s, B-24s and B-29s. Ira Gordon Huggins Ira G. Huggins was a captain in the Army Air Corps serving as an instructor pilot for B-29s and B-17s. He specialized in instructing pilots in 'emergency procedures.' Robert Gampton James Robert Gampton James served in the Army Air Corps and attained the rank of lieutenant. He was aj 'rated pilot' and an instructor pilot. He flew B-24s and the P-61 night fighter. John E. Janke John 'Jack' Janke was a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Air Corps during WWII. He was a pilot for B-24s and C-47s as well as an instrument training instructor, a navigation training pilot and a link trainer instructor for navigation. LaVerd John The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, generated a deep feeling of patriotism within me. I resigned my job as an automobile mechanic in April of 1942 and accepted employment as an aircraft engine mechanic at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. Within a few months, I qualified for the position of shift foreman 36 of the Aircraft Engine Repair Shop. Even though this work was essential to the war effort, I still felt I should be doing more. In May of 1943, I took a military furlough from Hill Air Force Base and reported for basic training in the Merchant Marines on Catalina Island, off California. In September of 1943, I was inducted into the United States Army Air Force, and I was stationed at Hill Field, where my assignment was to water the lawn around the Aircraft Engine Repair Shop. The same place that I, as a civilian, had served as shift foreman! Within just a few weeks, I was transferred to Fresno, California for basic training and then on to Mobile, Alabama, for assignment in the Sixth Engine Overhaul Squadron. After this stint, I was sent to Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, for further training. Finally, in November of 1944, I was shipped to the southwest Pacific. On December 20, 1944, after thirty three days on a Dutch merchant ship (which had been converted into a troop ship), we landed on Biak Island off the coast of New Guinea in the Netherlands East Indies. My first encounter with the enemy occurred the day after I landed on Biak. We had been informed there were some Japanese soldiers hiding in the caves on the island. However (and more importantly), I found that being on the edge of a real jungle left me compelled to see if jungles were really like Tarzan's home! Within a hundred steps, I came upon a dead Japanese soldier, in full battle uniform, lying on his back with his left leg dangling over the edge of a large coral rock. Obviously, he had been lying there for a long time. As I turned to leave, my hand bumped his knee. To my shock and surprise, his footstill in its shoedropped off onto the ground! I turned away, muttering to myself, 'It serves you right!' My previous experiences as an automobile and aircraft engine mechanic qualified me for the position of Air Force area inspector. My responsibilities were to determine the condition of all Air Force property (engine parts, uniforms, watches, parachutes, life rafts, etc.) and then classify them as: serviceable, repairable, or to be condemned. I was then to recommend the appropriate action to be taken. A TURNING POINT IN LIFE- One night the air raid warning flares were fired. As I sat on the edge of my foxhole waiting for the bombs to start falling, the thought came to me, 'What will I take with me if I do not survive this bombing raid?' As I Pondered this question, I concluded that I would take only two things: the degree of intelligence I had attained thus far in my life, and the friendships I had developed during my sojourn in mortality. Then a second question came, 'What should I do to improve my intellect, and to develop more friendships?' The answer was, 'You should qualify yourself to be a teacher.' A teacher spends full time each day increasing intellectually and developing lasting friendships. In addition, a teacher of truth offers his students the greatest gift that can be offered: immortality and eternal life. At that moment I decided I would prepare myself to become a teacher if I survived the war. The atomic bombs brought the war to a sudden, unexpected end. Incidentally, I have heard some suggest the United States should not have exploded the two atomic bombs. Obviously, they were not involved in the preparations being made to invade Japan. Had an invasion of Japan been carried out, the suffering and loss of lives on both sides would have exceeded, many, many times over, the loss of lives caused by the explosion of the two bombs. Prior to the bombings, leaflets were dropped over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warning the people to evacuate those cities. At the close of the war, our squadron and other military units sailed to Yokohama, Japan. Many of the troops aboard had served three, four, and five years overseas. They had seen much of the war and were battle hardened. When our ship had anchored in the harbor, everyone came out on deck to view the city and enjoy a peek at civilization, even if it was not our own. Everyone was quiet until a steam engine train came into view along the shoreline. We had not seen a train since leaving the States. When its steam whistle sounded, tears filled our eyes and cheers filled the air as this whistle was a touch of home we had almost forgotten. A few days earlier, the Japanese people were our enemies. We were killing them and they were killing us. We quickly learned that their train whistle sounded the same as ours; their rooster's crow sounded the same; their flowers bloomed just like ours; the cries of their newborns were no different, and Japanese mothers cried when their sons were killed in the same way as our mothers cried when theirs were killed. What's more, the younger generation of Japanese liked our music! We quickly changed from hating and killing to loving and protecting each other. A handsome, young, likeable, Japanese man was assigned to serve as our interpreter. In a private moment, he whispered to me, 'My home was destroyed during the fire-bombings of Tokyo.' He paused to regain his composure then continued, 'My wife, my son, and all of my relatives died in the fire. The canals on the outskirts of Yokohama and Tokyo were filled with people who perished as they piled into the water trying to escape the fires.' 37