Alonzo Emerson was born in April 1923 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The oldest of three children [Annotator's Note: one brother, one sister], he was raised in New Orleans and attended Fortier High School. He remembers a tight-knit family where they did everything together. The Great Depression resulted in his father losing his job, but he was able to find employment with the WPA [Annotator's Note: Works Progress Administration, a federal project that employed people to carry out public works projects]. The family managed to make ends meet, and he recalls going to and from high school via bicycle, which was very common. He remembers hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor and that it came as a surprise to his community. Everyone was angered at the Japanese and felt that the unprovoked attack could not go unpunished. He graduated from high school in 1941 and worked as a payroll clerk at the Port of Embarkation [Annotator's Note: New Orleans Port of Embarkation] prior to enlisting in 1943. He recounts that his family was saddened by his departure; he volunteered as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps. He had become interested in aviation as a child and wanted to be an officer and pilot. He describes the aviation training program in which he participated as very smooth and complete. The schools, aircraft, instruction, etc. were all well-coordinated. Arriving first in Lubbock, Texas, his initial training was at Southwest Teacher's College in San Marcos, Texas. Following this instruction, he was sent to the five-week classification center in San Antonio, Texas, where he and the others in his class underwent a variety of physical and mental evaluations. During this phase of training, one would be classified for training as either a pilot, bombardier, navigator, or be washed out of the program. He got his wish to be a pilot as was then sent to the 12-week preflight training syllabus in San Antonio where he learned Morse code and blinker light code. After preflight, he went through 13 weeks of primary flight training, which was both ground school and flying. He flew the PT-19 [Annotator's Note: Fairchild PT-19 trainer aircraft] trainer and he recalls an attrition rate of approximately 15 percent. The PT-19 was a very simple aircraft with a wooden propeller. After primary he proceeded into Basic flight training; here, the aircraft were more complex and had variable-pitch, metal propellers and the students were introduced to night flying. In this phase, students selected either single- or twin-engined aircraft for their follow-on training. Emerson had always wanted to fly the B-25 Mitchell [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber], so he selected twin-engine. Successfully completing the Basic phase, he went to the 13-week Advanced course in Lubbock. He flew day and night training flights, practiced formation flying during both day and night, and he remembers night cross-country flights as being especially challenging. [Annotator's Note: Later in the interview, Emerson recounts they were flying the twin-engined Beech AT-10 Wichita trainer aircraft during advanced training.] At any point along the way a student could be washed out. Most of the instructors were civilian pilots. He successfully completed the syllabus and received his wings. He very proudly remembers that his parents participated in the ceremony and pinned them on his uniform.

Having completed multi-engined flight training as an Army Air Force pilot, Alonzo Emerson reported to Greenville, South Carolina, for ten weeks of transition training to fly the B-25 Mitchell [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. He recalls being a very proud second lieutenant and briefly discusses the basic aircraft handling and night flying that was part of the course. He recounts that as a 20 year old officer, he was enjoying himself so much that he neglected to write his family as they had wanted. His sister chastised him via telegram and he comments that he felt bad that he had only been concerned with himself and had ignored his family. After initial transition training, he reported for ten weeks of combat flying training in Columbia, South Carolina, which included practice bombing flights. He was sent overseas in early 1945 where he reported as a replacement pilot with the 321st Bombardment Group [Annotator's Note: 448th Bombardment Squadron, 321st Bombardment Group, 12th Air Force] located at Ancona, Italy. He recalls leaving Norfolk, Virginia, on a troop transport loaded with 5,000 troops. Headed for Naples, Italy, he recounts that the ship traveled without escort and hit a storm that made part of the journey unpleasant. Once he arrived, he comments that the country was devastated; it was unfortunate that such an old, established country had to be destroyed in order to drive the Germans out. The missions he flew were largely against the German lines in the Po Valley as the Allies pushed them back and out of Italy. Pilots had to complete a tour of 25 missions; he replaced pilots who had been killed, captured, or had completed their tour. He comments that Germany and Japan had no such luxury. Their pilots flew until they were killed or captured. They had no such mission completion goal for which to look forward. He recalls living in a six-man tent on base and that his ground duties were conventional. He describes one incident where he was the duty officer and had to go into town to retrieve a squadron member who had become intoxicated and created a disturbance.

Alonzo Emerson recaps a typical mission he flew as a B-25 Mitchell [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] pilot stationed in Acona, Italy [Annotator’s Note: with the 448th Bombardment Squadron, 321st Bombardment Group, 12th Air Force]. His day began at four in the morning, followed by a mission briefing that included the target, weather, enemy antiaircraft guns and positions and enemy aircraft expected. A typical mission was to the Po Valley in Italy and the target a bridge. He took off at nine, flew for two hours and began looking for the target. At this point in the war, German resistance was minimal. He mentions Messerschmitt Me-109 and Focke-Wulf Fw-190 fighters, but comments that they knew the war was over and had no desire to be shot down and killed. His aircraft was equipped with the Norden bombsight, but he recalls that bombing was very inaccurate. A flight of 16 B-25s might result in a single bomb hit on a bridge. The planes would return to base and the crews would debrief. He discusses that B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24 bombers [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] were high-altitude and focused on strategic targets; the B-25 flew at lower altitudes and flew against tactical targets. He recounts the end of the war and the final events involving Mussolini [Annotator's Note: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini] and Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. When the war ended, German Me-109s flew to his base to surrender. Once hostilities ceased, he and others flew their B-25s back to Florida in the United States. Their route of flight took them across the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the South Atlantic and Brazil. The trip took five days, after which he called home. His family was very happy to hear from him.

Returning home from overseas, Alonzo Emerson remembers enjoying steak and fresh milk, two foods they didn't have while overseas. He comments that they had a decent life and they certainly had more creature comforts than the infantry. Once he was discharged, he went to business school, became an accountant, and worked as an office manager for a local manufacturing plant. [Annotator's Note: Interviewee doesn't specify the name of the company.] He worked and raised a family, enjoying recreational pursuits like golf and fishing. Regarding his military service, he was glad to serve. Military life made him grow up quickly and he learned respect for other people and how fortunate he is to live in the United States. He feels that it's important for future generations to learn and understand World War 2 and he comments that the children with whom he's shared his experience are all eager to learn and want to see and touch artifacts from the war and talk to someone who lived it. He feels museums and other such learning institutions are important in this regard. He closes the interview by expressing gratitude that he had the opportunity to meet Dick Cole [Annotator's Note: U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Richard E "Dick" Cole], who was General Jimmie Doolittle's co-pilot on the now-famous Tokyo raid in April, 1942. That mission was flown by B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber], so was particularly relevant to Emerson.