Carl Constein was born in August 1920 in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. He grew up with an older brother and an older sister. His older brother served in World War 2. Constein went into service in January 1943 in Allentown [Annotator’s Note: Allentown, Pennsylvania] and was discharged in January 1946. Constein had already been through college when he volunteered for service, and he wanted to be in and do his part. Everyone wanted to join the service at that time. He worked at a factory in Fleetwood that made mattresses for the Navy. However, he was bored and wanted some adventure. He recalled that during the war, everyone endured rationing, especially gasoline. One morning, Constein stopped for gas and the attendant told him that Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] had been bombed. His family had a respect for Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] and his efforts during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] and World War 2. Constein’s father worked as a timekeeper for the WPA [Annotator's Note: The Works Progress Administration was a federally sponsored program that put unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression]. He worked on a project removing trolly tracks from the main street of Fleetwood. When he signed up for the draft, he did not especially want to go into the Air Corps. He recalled being a boy and flying in a biplane airplane for the first time in 1933. He had to pay one dollar for the ride, which his mother gave him even though it was expensive at the time. Constein was on limited service because his father had had a stroke and could not work at the mattress factory, so Constein filled in for him through the spring and continued his education. He also was an MP [Annotator’s Note: Military Police] in Philadelphia [Annotator’s Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] guarding coal piles. The only way he could get out was by applying to aviation cadet school, which he did and was accepted. He completed his preflight training in San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center [Annotator’s Note: San Antonio, Texas]. He then completed three months of primary training on a Fairchild PT-19, three months of basic training in a Vultee BT-13 Valiant, and then three more months in twin-engine training. He returned home for a furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and got married. He then reported to Reno [Annotator’s Note: Reno, Nevada] and completed transition training on a C-46 [Annotator’s Note: Curtis C-46 Commando]. When he went overseas to India, he flew over 200 hours as a co-pilot.

Carl Constein reported to Reno [Annotator’s Note: Reno, Nevada] to complete transition training on a C-46 [Annotator’s Note: Curtis C-46 Commando] for six weeks. Constein thought the plane was a handful to fly, and that the C-47 [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain] was more comfortable to fly. The C-46 had many mechanical issues. On 6 January 1945, 13 planes were lost due to weather. After his training in Reno, he was sent to Miami Beach [Annotator’s Note: Miami Beach, Florida] where he was housed until he made his way to India. He stopped at several locations, but he made it to Karachi, India [Annotator’s Note: now Karachi, Pakistan] and reported to Chabua Base [Annotator’s Note: Chabua Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force base located at Chabua of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam, India]. He flew co-pilot for 200 hours and supervised the navigation of the plane before becoming pilot. He thought the management of the base was deplorable and did not care for the commander of the base, General Joseph Stilwell [Annotator’s Note: General Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell]. Constein returned to his living quarters one day and on his bed was a Distinguished Fly Cross medal [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight], which was how Stilwell decided to present the honor to him. He found out about his mission one day in advance. The weather was always bad. He dealt with monsoons and cumulus clouds. If a plane had to bail out, the terrain the crew encountered was very dangerous. Every so often, Constein visited Shillong, India where the British military had a club for their officers. However, during his down time, he mostly stayed on base and played chess or read books. Many of the pilots gambled and drank beer. Pilots also received two shots of liquor after each mission for medicinal purposes. His quarters were bashas that were built by the local people. Most of Constein’s missions were to fly supplies of aviation gasoline in 55-gallon drums to China. He flew at an altitude of 18,000 feet. It took three hours to fly from his base in India to the base in China, and four hours to return.

Carl Constein flew a mission every three days while he was a pilot for the air operations in the CBI campaign [Annotator’s Note: China-Burma-India Theater]. During Constein’s deployment, the policy of mandatory flight hours was changed by General Tunner [Annotation Note: General William Henry Tunner] to a minimum of one year of service. He completed 96 round trips and 750 flight hours during his time in service. During one flight, he lost an engine but was able to safely land the plane without incident. Constein’s unit lost approximately 500 aircraft and approximately 1,800 crewmen during his deployment. Most of the losses were due to the weather and mechanical problems of the planes. There was always time for fear, and it mostly happened during times of anticipation. For example, when he saw a bad storm a few hours up head or when he reached the China base, but was stuck in a holding pattern. During his time in the China-Burma-India theater, he flew the hump [Annotator's Note: aerial supply route over the Himalayan Mountains between India and China] and there were no cancellations due to weather. Constein blames General Tunner’s ambitions for never canceling a mission over the Hump. He lost many best friends while he was deployed. One friend could not descend properly and ended up crashing his plane into a small village, killing himself and many Chinese villagers. Constein never thought about his death, but more about just wanting to go home and see his wife again, which was the mentality of most men. He also remarked that aviation probably learned a lot from the experiences of the Hump. He recalled the event of 6 January 1945 when 13 planes were lost in a mission due to the weather. Constein completed his hours in February 1945.

Carl Constein flew as a pilot for the air operations of the CBI campaign [Annotator’s Note: China-Burma-India Theater]. He was not confident that the supplies he delivered to China made it to their destination. Through word of mouth, he heard that warlords took some of the supplies. Constein does not recall any official announcement about the end of World War 2. By the time the war ended, he was assigned as the assistant training officer and did that for three months before he was shipped home. He wrote often to his family while he was overseas. He left India on a troop ship during winter, and many were overcome with sickness. When he landed in the United States, his ship was met by a bagpipe band. The war did not change Constein. He kept his morality as it was before he left for overseas deployment. Constein had a scary experience at the Taj Mahal. One of his friends from cadet school convinced Constein to fly with him, and his friend flew the plane through the dome and outside pillars. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewer and interviewee end interview, but the video continues to record from 1:01:54.000 to the end.]