Charles Struble was born in June 1924 in Benton, Illinois. He grew up there with one brother and one sister. He also had two half-sisters who were not with the family. His father was a laborer in an explosives factory and had been gassed during World War 1. He could hardly breathe with his asthma. He died as a young man. Growing up during those years, Struble neither had not expected anything. He made his own toys. Struble had a paper route while attending grade school. He worked in a grocery store meat market during high school. He dated his future wife, Betty, during those years. Struble was at a movie when the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] was announced. He could not believe it happened or the destruction that had occurred. He no idea of the future impact on him personally. He was still in high school at the time. He graduated in May 1943. The next month, he was inducted into the service. After reporting to Fort Sheridan [Annotator's Note: in Lake Forest, Illinois], he was assigned to the Army Air Forces. It may have been due to him declaring that he liked to build balsa wood airplanes.

Charles Struble had basic training at Amarillo, Texas. Aircraft maintenance instructions were also provided there. Next, there was power plant specialist training at Chanute Field [Annotator's Note: later Chanute Air Force Base in Champaign County, Illinois]. He was there for six months followed by a short leave. His next assignment was Fairmont, Nebraska for crew training. Fairmont was a little town with some hangers and airstrips in the middle of cornfields. Struble worked on B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers] at that time. He worked as a flight engineer and provided general maintenance during flights. Next, he transferred to Seattle, Washington where the weather was foggy and rainy. At Seattle, he boarded a troopship which began a 41-day voyage to his destination, Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands]. En route, the ship stopped in Hawaii and Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands]. The latter was barren, and battle scarred. The first thing he was told to do [Annotator's Note: as part of the 421st Bombardment Squadron, 504th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force] at Tinian was to dig a foxhole. The soil level was thin before hitting coral below. The foxhole was shallow as a result. After a Japanese bomber raid that night, picks were used the next day to dig deeper foxholes through the coral. The Marines secured the island and Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions] built revetments and runways for the B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber]. The ground crews had trained on B-17s not B-29s. They were totally unfamiliar with the B-29. The new bombers were much larger than the B-17s. The engines were similar but larger. There was a pressurized cabin not requiring the crew to have oxygen. That was a big plus for the crew. There was a pressurized tunnel in the aircraft to transit from one end to the other of the plane. Flight crews were specially trained for the new bomber. Once missions started, the ground crew had to work hard to assure their plane was available for the next mission. There were plexiglass bubbles on each side for the gunners. Any holes in them had to be patched. A blitz was started to lay water mines in all Japanese harbors. Incendiary bombs contained about 30 miniature firebombs that would be released when the bomb's cover came off after it was dropped. That was how Japan was burned up. Japan would not surrender despite the firebombing. A new group came to the island. The Tinian crews did not know the new group was destined to drop the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] until after the missions were completed. The Enola Gay [Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber Model 45-MO; Serial number 44-86292] dropped the first atomic bomb and then a second was dropped before the enemy gave up. Struble witnessed a P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter] nosedive straight down and crash. He has always been curious as to what happened to cause that catastrophe. The plane Struble and his ground crew worked on was shot down by antiaircraft fire. The remains of the aircrew were brought back to the United States and buried in Jefferson City, Missouri. Struble stayed in contact with W. T. Hodges [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] with whom he had mechanic training and overseas deployment. Reaching Tinian, Struble did not know what to expect. That brought on a level of fear when he was posted with a rifle for guard duty. It was nerve racking. He had KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] duty. Sleeping in four-man tents after arrival, the Seabees built barracks later for the ground crews. Amarillo was much less sophisticated in accommodations. Winter and summer climate changes were harsh. Chanute Field was rough also. Neither are there anymore. Struble enjoyed his time in the service. Every young man should spend time in the military. It either makes or breaks a person. Struble believes in the draft. He has flown with the Honor Flight [Annotator's Note: a national network of independent Hubs working together to honor our nation's veterans with an all-expenses paid trip to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to visit the war memorials] to Washington, D.C. Struble would like to visit New Orleans [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The interviewer discusses some of the features in the museum in New Orleans.]. A B-29 landed in Iceland and stayed there for 40 years until an attempted restoration during which it crashed. One flyable B-29 named Fifi remains.

Charles Struble [Annotator's Note: of the 421st Bombardment Squadron, 504th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force] witnessed a lot of problems at first with engines overheating [Annotator's Note: in the Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. There were many crashes since there were so many bugs in the aircraft. Struble got married in 1946 after getting out of the service. He had left the States in December 1944 and arrived in Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands] in January 1945. The voyage was bad. Seasickness abounded. Food was bad on the ship. The troops tired of SPAM [Annotator's Note: canned cooked pork made by Hormel Foods Corporation] and eventually found onions to make onion sandwiches. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer discusses his family feelings towards SPAM.] When Struble reached Tinian, he found a box of Hershey candy bars [Annotator's Note: Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar]. To the surprise of his crewmates, he lived off that rather than the rations. Cigarettes were given to the troops. Struble even began to smoke. Air crews had better living facilities and chow. That was true on the voyage over to the island, also. Everything on Tinian was built from scratch. Some local inhabitants were there. After six to eight months, the island was secured from the Japanese. He could see Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] from his base. Debris including human remains could be found on the beaches. There was nothing but card games to do during what little downtime there was. The crews helped one another to pick up the slack on more heavily damaged planes. Guard duty over the assigned plane was constant. A plane with water mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] crashed and blew up two other bombers. The water mines had a gasket that would evaporate in the seawater thus arming the ordnance. The mines were dangerous. Some planes dropped their bombs on the runway. They carried incendiary bombs that burned Japan. Some planes were distorted by the intense heat generated during the firebombing attacks. Those had to be junked. Even with the battle damage, Struble felt the crews were fortunate to return to base. His first airplane, Satan's Lady [Annotator's Note: B-29 Serial Number 42-24779], was lost in combat. That was hard to take. It was a sorrowful day when Satan's Lady did not return. The ground crew got acquainted with the aircrews. It was a big loss. One member of the aircrew did not make the fatal flight. He had a hard time knowing the others were lost. When Struble saw the extent of development at Tinian and the numbers of aircraft taking off, he knew the war would be won. The taxiways for the runways had revetments for the planes. [Annotator's Note: Struble proceeds to show the interviewer photographs of the facilities and B-29s on Tinian.] Struble made sergeant but never drew the pay because he left the service. He kept in touch with folks and his future wife back home through the mail.

Charles Struble learned about the atomic bombs being dropped after the aircraft returned [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He did not know what an atomic bomb was, only the cities that were destroyed. Struble was on Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands with the 421st Bombardment Squadron, 504th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force] for about a year. The Enola Gay [Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber Model 45-MO; Serial number 44-86292] dropped the bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945], and the war was still not over. Rumors circulated that the war was over. Everyone was happy it was over. Nothing happened until Struble received word that his mother was injured. He managed to fly home through the efforts of the Red Cross. That was a big blessing. He saw one enemy soldier on Tinian who was scavenging for food. There were caves on the island. When he and some others tried to explore a cave, they heard voices and left immediately. He carried a carbine [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic carbine] when off the base. Struble was discharged at Scott Field [Annotator's Note: now Scott Air Force Base in Saint Clair County, Illinois] in early 1946 as a sergeant. He had reserve duty for five or six years. He found no work other than union work in the coal mines. He could not afford the fees. He hoped to be called up for Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] but was not. He took advantage of G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] benefits after moving to Washington, D.C. with his wife Betty. They were file reviewers. He went to night school to become an FBI [Annotator's Note: United States Federal Bureau of Investigation] agent but that did not work out. He moved back to Benton [Annotator's Note: Benton, Illinois] and became a state trooper. He retired after 29 years. After discharge, he had trouble sleeping at night. He saw Japanese coming through the windows. He fought through the nightmares. He would tussle with his wife while asleep during those nightmares. Jobs were not available in 1946 and 1947. Coal mine work was all there was. He had no trouble adjusting to civilian life. Unlike some of his fellow veterans, he did not swear or drink. During training, he alternated flying with different crews all the time. They mainly practiced landings and takeoffs.

Charles Struble remembers planes [Annotator's Note: of the 421st Bombardment Squadron, 504th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force] returning from missions crashing on the runways or crews bailing out offshore. Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions] liked to fly on repaired bombers until one lost three of its four engines. After that none of them wanted to fly on test runs again. A P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter] pilot loved to buzz the ground crews going to their aircraft. Struble brought home a lambskin-lined flight jacket. He entrusted his Army .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol] to a man to bring home for him. He never saw the man nor his pistol again. A person could not bring much home with them. Struble felt it was his patriotic duty to serve in the war. The draft would get you anyway. There were no jobs available after he returned home. He was going to use the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to take flight lessons but he decided not to do so. He is glad that he served. The war means very little to people today. It is slipping into the distance past. Struble never got the love of airplanes out of his system. He has taken the opportunity to skydive and loves it. A friend went on an expensive flight in a P-51. Struble never passes on an occasion to take an airplane flight. He feels it is important to teach World War 2 history. Many of the aspects of the war and the memory of the war have been lost by the young. The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is wonderful.