Items from the service of Technician Fourth Grade Paul Eisley Geckle, who served in the Headquarters, 830th Engineer Aviation Battalion, IX Engineer Command, Ninth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations. Born on 23 May 1917 in Marion, Ohio, Geckle left his job as a farmhand when he enlisted in the United States Army on 27 February 1942. He was sent to pontoon school at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in March and then left for Hammer Field in Fresno, California, at the beginning of May. By the end of 1942, Geckle was in England and assigned to the Headquarters, 830th Engineer Aviation Battalion based in Great Barrington, County of Gloucestershire. While there, he was assigned to kitchen duty in the Officers Mess Hall. Geckle was able to visit Paris, France, after its liberation in August 1944 before returning to the United States and stationed at Camp Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. He was honorably discharged in January 1946 and returned to Marion,where he remained until his death on 27 May 2000. The collection consists of photographs, the bulk of which were taken in Missouri and England.