Frank Finklang was born in April 1924 in Saint Louis [Annotator's Note: Saint Louis, Missouri]. He served with the 419th Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in Italy during World War 2. In high school, he took a class about flying to help him get into the cadet program. In June 1943, after he graduated from high school, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He reported to Jefferson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Lemay, Missouri] for induction and basic training. He was then sent to a college training detachment program in Springfield, Missouri. Next, he was sent to Texas to be tested and placed in bombardier school. Finklang was sent to Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] for pre-flight school and then sent to bombardier advanced training in Big Springs, Texas in January 1944. He trained on the AT-11 [Annotator's Note: Beech AT-11 Kansan advanced trainer aircraft]. His training consisted of accurately hitting his target and learning navigation. He graduated from flight school in July 1944 and went home for one week.

Frank Finklang reported to Tampa [Annotator's Note: Tampa, Florida] where he was assigned to a group [Annotator's Note: 419th Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force]. They trained as a crew in Avon Park [Annotator's Note: Avon Park, Florida] on B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. He recalled the mosquitoes were large and frequent. He was given leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] for a week before being shipped out. He attempted to catch a ride home on a B-17, but it did not go as planned, so he ended up taking a crowded train. On his return to Tampa, he was able to take a flight back, and during a two-hour layover, he found a place to drink alcohol and dance with girls. He made it back to the barracks with only minutes to spare. His crew was sent to Hunters Field in Savannah, Georgia and then set out for Europe. They stopped at Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia] where they almost killed themselves by going through a salvage yard of German equipment that contained hidden mines. His crew received orders and flew Foggia, Italy.

Frank Finklang quickly learned from the "old timers" to hold onto K-rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals]. In November 1944, as soon as he arrived at the airfield, many of the air crew asked for their rations. Confused, Finklang surrendered a case of rations to the men. He found out later that he would prefer them over mess hall food. When he found out he was living in a tent with three other officers in an olive field, he was not very happy with the situation. The "old timers" showed them how to heat their tent with a stove, which was a complicated process. One of the officers in his tent had a mishap one night and ended up burning the mustache off his face. There was an incident with another officers' tent that caught on fire while they were on a mission because they did not turn off the stove. The firemen refused to put the fire out because there was ammunition going off caused by the heat of the fire.

Frank Finklang was put with experienced crews for nine missions, and then his original crew was reformed to fly their remaining missions together. It was important to fly a tight formation to keep the group protected from the enemy. On 7 February 1945, Finklang was put on a different crew and the mission was to bomb an oil refinery outside Vienna [Annotator's Note: Vienna, Austria]. His original crew had to bail out of their plane because their engine was shot up. Finklang did not know about his crewmates until he got back to base. Two days later, his crew still did not return, and they were classified as MIA [Annotator's Note: Missing in Action]. Not long after, new men replaced his friends in the tent. Finklang was never assigned to a new crew. He flew with different crews for 23 more missions until the war in Europe ended.

In late May 1945, because Frank Finklang did not have enough points to go home, he was transferred to 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group [Annotator's Note: 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force] and sent to Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany] for occupation duty until September. He took a trip to Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome, Italy] with a friend. They bought a lot of beer and were drinking it at the hotel bar when Finklang got word he received orders to go back to the United States. He and a crew took a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] that "flew sideways" to Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy]. The plane was weighed, and they took off again with much difficulty getting it off the ground. After some bad weather and a close call with not having enough gas, they landed in Brazil and stayed for a couple of days, then began their route to America, stopping a couple of times to fuel up and rest. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 1:00:53:000.] They landed in West Palm Beach [Annotator's Note: West Palm Beach, Florida] where he had to turn in all his military equipment, including the best watch he had ever had. He later learned that the military destroyed the watches.

Frank Finklang had intentions to go to pilot training but learned that the Air Force closed pilot school. He decided to get a commission as a first lieutenant in the Reserves and go to pilot school when he became active. While he was on a 45 day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], he visited the parents of one of his friends who went missing in action. Finklang enrolled in college part time, worked part time, and drank with his buddies at bars and taverns for a while. He eventually went to a civilian airport and got his pilot's license using the G.I. Bill. He flew for four years and became a wing intelligence officer in 1959. Finklang was recalled to active duty in October 1961 during the Berlin Wall Crisis. Finklang recalls witnessing a pilot flying too low who tore an antenna off a tank and then hit a bunch of trees. He was some how able to land at the base. He returned home in July 1962. Finklang remained in the reserves for several more years before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

[Annotator's Note: Frank Finklang served with the 419th Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force out of Foggia, Italy. On one mission, he was assigned to a different crew than his original one and during that mission, his original crew members were shot down. One crew member went missing, while the others became prisoners of war.] Finklang met with a friend, and former crew member, who had become a prisoner of war when his plane was shot down. Their friend went missing and never returned. At a reunion years later, Finklang discovered that his friend was blown up by flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] as he was parachuting down after bailing out of the plane. Finklang later published the story of his friend's demise.

Frank Finklang's first combat mission was to bomb Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany], however the weather was too bad, so they bombed another target in Regensburg [Annotator's Note: Regensburg, Germany]. He had a close call where shrapnel came through the plane and just missed his right shoulder. On Easter Sunday 1945, Finklang was on another mission bombing bridges in Yugoslavia. This mission was supposed to be a "milk run," or an easy mission. As he was about to release the bombs, a cloud came across, blocking the view of the bridge. His plane was hit by flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and the navigator was in no condition to find an emergency landing field, so the rest of the crew had to read the charts and found a safe landing zone. [Annotator's Note: Someone can be heard entering the room off camera and interrupts the interview at 1:36:26:000.] They had a rough landing in Zaire. When Finklang returned home, he received several medals including an Air Medal [Annotator's Note: US Armed Forces medal for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while in aerial flight] and cluster. He stayed in the Air Reserves for 30 years.

Frank Finklang recalls a mission where a plane in front of him was hit and the pilot bailed out but did not have time to get his parachute open. He hit a mountain but survived. He also talks about another mission where the navigator on his plane realized how much flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] was around the plane and put on his helmet after he had peed in it, but the urine was frozen.

Frank Finklang's most memorable experience of the war was when he found out that his crew members were missing in action and he was alone in his tent. He also felt relieved when war ended and he would not be shot at anymore. World War 2 changed his life by giving him an aeronautical background which he used to his advantage in his career. Finklang believes it's important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana].