Charles "Chuck" Wisher was born in Toledo, Ohio in February 1926. His father was in construction so at five years of age, Wisher and the family moved to Thibodeaux, Louisiana. After the job was completed, the family moved to Florida for another construction job. After the completion of that job, his father decided to stay in Florida which allowed year-round work instead of six months off due to inclement weather further up north. Consequently, Wisher grew up in Florida and attended school there. Wisher was the oldest of six children. Some of his siblings passed away early in life. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Wisher let his mother know that he wanted to enlist. She told him he looked too young, he was only 15 years of age at the time. She said he would not be accepted in the military at that point. He thereupon completed his high school education then joined the service in July 1944 having reached 18 years of age. He did well on the examinations for the Navy V-5 program [Annotator's Note: V-5 US Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1939 to 1943], but the program had sufficient applicants. He was advised that he could wait it out, but he might be drafted and that was what happened. The Army Air Corps got him. At least he was in aviation. [Annotator’s Note: Wisher laughs.]

Charles "Chuck" Wisher went through basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita, Texas. Training was good, but tough. Unlike the boys from the South, Yankee boys were not used to the heat. The Civil War [Annotator's Note: American Civil War, 1861 to 1865] would be fought frequently in the barracks, but it was all good. There were a lot of nice guys from up north. The trainees got along well. After basic training, Wisher was assigned to aerial gunnery school in Fort Myers, Florida [Annotator's Note: Buckingham Army Airfield near Fort Myers, Florida]. Wisher enjoyed the shooting involved in the training. He flew in B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] taking off from runways poured by his father [Annotator’s Note: his father worked construction across Florida]. Wisher felt productive and busy in Fort Myers during training. After completion, he was prepared for the next step. He followed the wartime events in Europe very closely. He was anxious to get into combat no matter where he was deployed. He heard from the scuttlebutt [Annotator's Note: a period slang term for a rumor] that the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] long range bombers would be going to the Pacific. The crew was assembled at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. There again, he was on runways his father had poured. The B-29 crew was made up 11 men. The crew trained together as a unit was from February until July [Annotator’s Note: July 1945]. They then flew to Kearney, Nebraska and then Hamilton Field in California before flying overseas. They were accompanied by several planes en route to Tinian in the Marinas Islands. During the trip he spent a short time on Guam which was interesting because the Marines based with them in the jungle said the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] were known to get in the chow line dressed as Guam natives. The Marines were very upset about the Japs since one of their own had been mutilated by the enemy in the dense jungle. Despite all the concerns, Wisher never saw any Japanese.

Charles “Chuck” Wisher was based on Tinian [Annotator’s Note: as a crewman on a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber when he arrived in July 1945 on Tinian in the Marianas Islands as part of the 505th Bombardment Group, Twentieth Air Force]. Living conditions were great. He lived in a Quonset Hut [Annotator's Note: prefabricated metal building] with good ventilation. He was used to sleeping in mosquito nets on the island since he had done so in basic training [Annotator’s Note: while at Sheppard Field at Wichita, Texas] so that was not a problem. The first B-29 crew to land on Tinian did so on Christmas Day 1944 [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1944]. The six enlisted men of that crew were in the same Quonset Hut as Wisher and his five crewmates. They got to know the veterans very well. A B-29 also had five officers in its crew. Wisher remained on Tinian until January after the war [Annotator’s Note: January 1946]. He was there when Tibbets [Annotator’s Note: US Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel, later US Air Force Brigadier General, Paul Warfield Tibbets; pilot of the B-29 “Enola Gay”] took off with the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Tibbets and his group [Annotator’s Note: 509th Composite Group] had trained a long time in the United States for the mission. Scuttlebutt [Annotator's Note: a period slang term for a rumor] about the bomb and its destructive power circulated throughout the island. The mission was kept very secret, though. The area where the bomb and its delivery crew were situated was restricted. “Swampy” Summerall [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify], an active member of the 505th Association, sent Wisher an article from the Baton Rouge [Annotator’s Note: Baton Rouge, Louisiana] newspaper indicating that he was a member of the crew that fueled the planes that delivered the atomic bomb. Swampy was an early member of the 505th and made every reunion. Wisher flew five missions off Tinian. He dropped prisoner of war supplies over the Japanese empire. One engine went out on one of the missions. The plane had to stay four days on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] for the repairs. Wisher looked over the island, including Mount Suribachi, and talked to many Marines. He was familiar with the battle and even had a cousin who was wounded there. It was a bloody battle because the enemy was under-ground. They had to be bombed out to get them out. He explored some of the caves, or what was left of them. [Annotator’s Note: Wisher goes off camera to retrieve a book and then shows an image to the interviewer.] On page 87 of the book [Annotator’s Note: no title is provided], Wisher’s Quonset Hut is shown in a photograph [Annotator’s Note: Wisher goes off camera in explaining the location to the interviewer]. Wisher flew one combat mission over a Japanese-occupied island. It was a training mission more than anything else. Only a few bombs were dropped to give them some experience. Three missions were flown low over POW [Annotator’s Note: prisoner of war] camps with parachutes set to open quickly. Flying low was necessary to allow the B-29 to hit their drop location. He saw some of the inmates of the camps. They ran out into the yard when they heard the plane come over. They wore only shorts and appeared emaciated looking like stick people. Wisher felt good about providing them aid after hearing about how badly they were treated. Wisher was on Tinian when Paul Tibbets took off. That was the only mission his plane flew off the island. It was only after the fact that Wisher and others on the island knew the truth about Tibbets’ mission. The plane [Annotator’s Note: the B-29 named "Enola Gay"] left predawn and returned in the afternoon. News of the mission was let out at that point. The secret was maintained well beforehand. The bomb was actually loaded only two hours before reaching the target.

Charles “Chuck” Wisher thought the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] was the prettiest airplane in the sky. The B-29 was bigger than anything else and could fly further. It was pressurized so it was not necessary to stand in the open doors to man the guns and wear the heavy gear like in B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber]. The advantage with the B-17s and B-24s was that they experienced less engine trouble than the B-29s. That was the only negative about the B-29. Tibbets [Annotator’s Note: US Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel, later US Air Force Brigadier general, Paul Warfield Tibbets flew the B-29 “Enola Gay” as commander of the 509th Composite Group of B-29s training to drop a nuclear weapon] figured out a solution to the preheating problems on the engines. Tibbets got two women from the WASPS [Annotator’s Note: Women Airforce Service Pilots] to aid him in overcoming his crew’s concerns on the B-29. Tibbets had been a veteran pilot from the European Theater before taking on the mission to train a crew to drop the big bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. With the engine pre-takeoff overheating problems on the B-29, his pilots were anxious about going up in the plane. Tibbets recruited two women flyers to go up in a four engine B-29s despite them only having minor two engine aircraft experience. After three days of training, the women did what Tibbets wanted them to do in the aircraft during takeoff. Afterward, Tibbets challenged his men to go up with him. The men could not refuse the challenge since women had recently done so with Tibbets without an issue. Two women helped Tibbets sell his B-29 program, but they never got the credit they deserved. The 505th flew a big flight over the deck of the Missouri [Annotator’s Note: USS Missouri (BB-63)] on the day the Japanese surrendered [Annotator’s Note: the Japanese surrendered onboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945]. In January 1946, the B-29s were to be flown from Tinian to Clark Field in the Philippines. Wisher had to be part of that flight because he was too young and lacked the points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to return home. Most of his crew had enough points and age to return home. Only two other enlisted men in Wisher’s crew had to make the flight. They were the recruits and the babies on the crew and consequently had to go to the Philippines. [Annotator’s Note: Wisher chuckles.]

Charles “Chuck” Wisher reached the Philippines [Annotator’s Note: as a crewman on a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber when he arrived at Clark Field near Angeles City, Philippines in January 1946 after serving on Tinian, Marianas Islands with the 505th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force]. He was assigned to another crew. In February 1946, Wisher turned 20 years of age and was the only veteran in the new crew. He felt good as a veteran. He checked on his aircraft daily. One particular day, his crewmates wanted to get donuts from the Red Cross across the field. That morning, his buddy, Donald Brown, wanted Wisher to join him for a donut. Wisher had already had breakfast and refused the offer. When Brown and three others crossed the field, they detonated an anti-personnel mine. The men were significantly injured mostly around their eyes. Three thought they were blind. Wisher rushed to their aid. He ran track in high school and could run like the wind. He took off quickly toward them. He had first aid training in the Boy Scouts [Annotator’s Note: Boy Scouts of America; youth organization in the United States] and in the service. He was able to identify their wounds and have the wounded crewmates apply pressure to slow the head wound bleeding. Brown had stepped on the mine. Had Wisher joined him, he would have been messed up, too. Wisher stopped Brown’s bleeding [Annotator’s Note: he indicates with his thumbs how he had them apply pressure to slow the bleeding] and then worked successfully on the others. The medics did not arrive until 15 to 20 minutes later. Considering that, Wisher likely prevented the men from bleeding out and maybe saved their lives. They all survived the ordeal. Wisher remained in the Philippines at Clark Field from January to August [Annotator’s Note: January to August 1946]. Originally, the enlisted men were to fly home in their B-29. However, dirty politics resulted in them being replaced on the flight to the United States by officers returning home. Wisher and his enlisted crewmates had to take a Liberty Ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] back to the States instead. Another aggravation occurred two days out of Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines] when a case of polio was discovered on the ship. It had to berth at Yokohama, Japan for a week awaiting an iron-lung. No one was permitted to leave the ship while secured in the harbor [Annotator’s Note: he shows his exasperation with being forced to stay on the ship]. Wisher desired to see how badly the bombing had torn Japan up. The pictures that Wisher saw showed massive destruction of the industrial centers. Locations were leveled flat. The men being quarantined on the ship almost caused a revolution. After departing Japan, the ship arrived in Oakland, California. Wisher then proceeded to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio [Annotator’s Note: San Antonio, Texas] where he was discharged. He then returned to Florida. He used 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] after his service. He took a few classes in high school to get his study habits back. It was a great time with him looking high school age. He took two classes in the morning and worked in a paint and body shop in the afternoons for spending money. Afterward, he worked during the summer on road construction with his father and then attended Florida State [Annotator’s Note: Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida] for two years. It had just turned co-ed after being Florida State College for Women. He took science and mathematics courses during that time. He transferred to Auburn [Annotator’s Note: Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama] and completed his degree in mechanical engineering in 1952.

Charles “Chuck” Wisher grew up fast in the service. Many young men he has seen could benefit from that. Wisher liked the brotherhood he experienced with guys from other parts of the country. They meshed together and became a strong unit. They looked out for one another. He utilized that loyalty through the rest of his life. He particularly used it with the group he was associated with in his work career. It may not have helped with headquarters, but he believed in protecting the people who worked for him. It may have hurt him a few times, but he managed to overcome it.