Albert Sieck was born in Norfolk, Nebraska in October 1921. He graduated from high school in 1939 and found a job working as a truck driver and laborer. He also attended business college and later found a job as a clerk. Sieck returned from hunting one Sunday afternoon when his family informed him about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Six months before the war broke out, the government started a civilian pilot training program [Annotator's Note: Civilian Pilot Training Program or CPTP was a federal program to increase the number of pilots in the country], and his local junior chamber of commerce sponsored a class. Sieck registered for the class. The 10 students with the highest grades would be given free private pilot training. Sieck was one of the 10 students. He started his training in June, and completed his training in August 1941. Apparently, he received an invitation to join the Navy aviation cadets, but his family hid it from him. Sieck did not discover the letter until years after the war. On 8 December 1941, he told his family he was volunteering for the Army Air Corps. He had to go through the whole process of applying, passing tests, and waiting to get into school, something he could have avoided if he knew about the letter from the Navy. He finally got into primary school in July 1942. He was sent to Santa Ana [Annotator’s Note: Santa Ana, California] for preflight training, and his primary and basic were also in California. He was transferred to Roswell, New Mexico for advanced training. His brother also served in the Army Air Corps. He trained on the PT-13 Stearman [Annotator's Note: Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Kaydet or PT-13 primary trainer aircraft] during primary school, the BT-13 Vultee [Annotator's Note: Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic trainer aircraft; also known as the Vultee Vibrator] during basic training, and the AT-17 [Annotator’s Note: The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane] during advanced training. He received his wings in February 1943. He received orders to report to Columbia, South Carolina for replacement training. He flew B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. He was later assigned to instruct pilots on B-25s. He was finally given a crew to train for overseas duty and they were shipped out in October 1943. He boarded a train to Miami Beach [Annotator’s Note: Miami Beach, Florida] and stayed there for about 10 days before he received orders to ship overseas. He boarded a DC-4 [Annotator’s Note: DC-4 Douglas]. He opened his crews’ orders when they were an hour in flight to find out where their destination would be. He found out they were headed to Delhi, India to join the 10th Air Force. After a long trip stopping in various places, he found out that his orders had been rescinded. He later connected with the 10th Air Force and was assigned to the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group, 10th Air Force in late October 1944.

Albert Sieck was assigned as a pilot with the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group, 10th Air Force in late October 1944 and completed his first mission in November of that year. He flew as co-pilot on his first few missions so he could get acclimated to combat flying to Burma [Annotator’s Note: modern day Myanmar]. He was in the last plane of the last formation. He could hear every piece of shrapnel that hit the B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] and saw black smoke puffs all around him. His squadron completed their mission and returned home. He liked the B-25 because it was well fortified. He was able to fly home with one of his tails completely shot off. It took a lot of power to shoot down the B-25. The first mission he was on as the first pilot was to hit a Japanese column near the lines of Burma and India. Starting in January 1945, his squadron was transferred to the 14th Air Force, which was the Flying Tigers [Annotator's Note: The First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force composed of American airmen and ground crew]. During the same time, the 22nd moved across the Hump [Annotator's Note: aerial supply route over the Himalayan Mountains between India and China] to their new base at Yangkai, China, about 50 miles northeast of Kunming [Annotator’s Note: Kunming, China]. His unit supported the offensive on the Salween front [Annotator’s Note: the Salween Offensive, April 1944 to January 1945], attacking supply lines, bridges, and military areas in Thailand and along the Burma-China border. The longest mission he was on was at night. He led the second flight to skip bomb on a cruiser in dry dock in the middle of the night with no moon. At first everything was going well, and when they crossed the border into French Indochina, it was hard to keep sight of everything and remain in formation. He almost flew into a mountain because he could not see anything. He later got into anti-aircraft fire and decided to fly over a little island. After he flew over the island twice, he saw anti-aircraft, but began to strafe and dropped his bombs. He landed in a small field in China and was able to re-fuel.

Albert Sieck served as a pilot with the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 14th Air Force, which was the Flying Tigers [Annotator's Note: The First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force composed of American airmen and ground crew]. It was difficult to fly at night because he could not see a thing. He completed 43 missions while he served overseas. He did not have a regular crew that he flew with. He flew with new crews to break them in, or to replace a sick pilot. His squadron was credited with shooting down nine planes, but he thinks they got more. On one mission, he flew as a co-pilot to break in a new pilot. During the mission, one of their engines was shot out. They had to throw out a lot of equipment so they could make it back to base which was 600 miles away. When they came close to the base, it was overcast and they had difficulty seeing the runway. Then they learned that one of the planes had just landed on its belly on the runway. Sieck took over and landed the plane in the grass. He thought all the crews were an exceptional bunch of men and all of them adjusted well to civilian life and became successful in their careers. Sieck made first lieutenant and flight leader when he was transferred to China. He left China in November 1944, as his brother was on his way to the China-Burma-India Theater to fly cargo planes. Sieck became a civil engineer and worked in construction after the war. Sieck was never wounded while he was in combat service, but came close. [Annotator’s Note: Clock dings in background at 0:49:39.000.]

Albert Sieck served as a pilot with the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 14th Air Force, which was the Flying Tigers [Annotator's Note: The First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force composed of American airmen and ground crew] in the China-Burma-India Theater flying B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. Some of his missions were to hit bridges. He fought the Japanese to push them away from the Burma Road [Annotator's Note: a road linking Burma with southwest China]. He flew over The Hump [Annotator's Note: aerial supply route over the Himalayan Mountains between India and China] seven times and the weather was always bad. Most of his targets were rail yards, airfields, bridges, submarine pens, and other shipping vessels. Sieck served in the military for four years and never received leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. He went across the country by train three times. When he was discharged, the military took all his equipment except for his A2 flight jacket. He found out later that all his equipment was discarded in the ocean. His group was the Flying Eagles, but the nickname was eventually changed to the Bulldogs after he returned in December 1944. His commander for most of his service was Major Lauren Nicholls [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling].