Howard Cain was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in November 1926. At age seven, the family moved to Chicago [Annotator’s Note: Chicago, Illinois]. His parents were Russian immigrants who spoke very little English. Once the family arrived in Chicago, his father opened a mattress factory and shop. His father moved the family and his business around several times, but the family always managed to get by during the lean years of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. Cain recalls the presence of the WPA [Annotator's Note: The Works Progress Administration was a federally sponsored program that put unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression], CCC [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] and NRA [Annotator’s Note: National Recovery Act] in Chicago during the period. Cain attended Parker High School where he was an excellent basketball player. As a Jewish teenager, he knew some of what Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was doing to Germany’s Jews in the 1930s. This likely had much to do with creating his “patriotic bent.” As a result, he was happy to contribute to the war effort in whatever ways he could. Cain knew full well that he could be drafted, as 10 of his cousins were drafted before he was. On 7 December 1941, Cain was at a friend's house when news of the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] arrived. He was unaware of where or what Pearl Harbor was and was unsure what the attack meant for him at the time. However, he realized that the war would come for him as he began to see newsreel footage of the frontlines at local movie theaters. Cain felt that the United States had to then become involved, and they had to win. A swell of patriotism came over him and compelled him to want to enlist. Some things changed due to certain ration restrictions, but other facets of life remained the same for the high schooler. He did not notice a real change until his older brother, Norman, was drafted and his mother hung a blue star in their window [Annotator’s Note: During the war, families with members in the service would often display one blue star for each person serving.]. Because his parents could not write in English, Cain was responsible for writing to his brother while he was away in Europe. The family lived in dread of a War Department telegram.

In 1944 as a senior in high school, Howard Cain avoided the draft by enlisting in the Army Air Force. He was gung-ho and had been totally brainwashed by the Hollywood version of fighter pilots. He then forged his parents’ signatures, enlisted, and was inducted promptly thereafter. Upon telling his parents of his decision, Cain’s mother beat him with a broomstick. The anger she showed to him was the closest he came to death while in the Air Force. He knows his parents were proud of him for serving, but having both of their children in the service at one time was the reason behind the negative reaction he received. Thinking back on it now, Cain finds it unbelievable that 17 and 18 year old kids were fighting the war. They were fearless, crazy, and did what they had to do. They grew up in a hurry. He reflected on the irony of the situation as he was not yet old enough to vote or drink alcohol, but he was old enough to die for his country. Cain was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi for basic training. Aside from the usual physical training and KP [Annotator’s Note: kitchen patrol] duty, Cain qualified on the M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] and grease gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M3 submachine gun, also referred to as a grease gun], but did not qualify on the .45 caliber pistol [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol]. They bivouacked [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite] in the Mississippi swamp and attended aircraft recognition classes. If lucky, Cain would be awarded weekend passes to Biloxi [Annotator’s Note: Biloxi, Mississippi], Gulfport [Annotator’s Note: Gulfport, Mississippi], or New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. While in training, he learned to get along and make friends. The lack of privacy in the military came as a shock to him and he did not get a good night’s sleep for the first week of training.

Because the war in Europe had begun to die down and the need for additional pilots was decreasing by the time he entered training, Howard Cain began training as an aircraft mechanic and was sent to B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] flight engineer training. In his position as a flight engineer, Cain sat behind the co-pilot facing aft and operated the B-29s throttles and fuel controls. He was a flying mechanic. He speaks in detail about the shortcomings and successes of the B-29. It was the first pressurized plane, and instruments were controlled by remote. The engines ran hot which caused crashes. The planes cruised at a high altitude. Cain sailed across the Pacific on a troop ship to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] and arrived after the end of hostilities [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. He spoke about the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] and the B-29 planes that dropped the bombs. He also spoke about the Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] bombings and the destruction it caused to Japan.

Howard Cain sailed across the Pacific on a troop ship to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He was assigned to the 460th Bombardment Squadron of the 333rd Bombardment Group. He spoke about life on Okinawa and maintaining four hours of flight time per week to retain flight pay. Though he did not worry about enemy fire on his first mission in the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber], he was very nervous about flying with a completely new and unknown crew. The mission was over Japan and was a piece of cake for the crew who were only flying to become acclimated with one another and the aircraft. One mission that stands out to Cain was a photo reconnaissance mission flown by the entire squadron over Hiroshima [Annotator’s Note: Hiroshima, Japan] and Nagasaki [Annotator’s Note: Nagasaki, Japan]. They flew above the destroyed cities [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] at around 4,000 feet. When they reached the target, Cain climbed into the nose turret and looked out at the destruction below. He saw nothing that moved and nothing that stood save for a few piles of rubble. The cities were a vastness of nothing. Years after the war, after being asked repeatedly to describe what the cities looked like from the air, Cain recalled a memory from his boyhood in which he lit a pile of matches, watched them burn, and swept away the ashes. The ash piles are the only way Cain can describe exactly what he saw. After his retirement, he read a book about the Vietnam War [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975] in which a former soldier commented, “I hope to go to heaven, because I’ve done my time in hell.” Cain said Hiroshima and Nagasaki were his visions of hell. A photographer issued each man photographs from the mission, but each man risked a summary court martial and were forced to turn the photos over. A second notable mission for Cain involved a harrowing landing at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. The runway was completely shrouded in fog and they were faced with the prospect of bailing out or executing a blind landing. The pilot successfully landed the plane, but the fear is something Cain will never forget.

After 16 months on Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan], Howard Cain was ordered to pack his things and prepare for the journey home. Upon arriving in Seattle [Annotator’s Note: Seattle, Washington], Cain called his father to let him know he would be home soon. Cain was discharged at Fort Sheridan [Annotator’s Note: Fort Sheridan, Illinois] as a sergeant. 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] to attend a veterans-only business curriculum at Northwestern University based in Chicago [Annotator’s Note: Chicago, Illinois]. Upon graduating, Cain went into advertising and had a successful career with the Leo Burnett advertising agency.

Howard Cain’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when he flew over Hiroshima [Annotator’s Note: Hiroshima, Japan] and Nagasaki [Annotator’s Note: Nagasaki, Japan] and saw the utter destruction of the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Cain fought for a variety of reasons. Firstly, he had no choice, he would have been drafted eventually. Secondly, his friends were all joining. And lastly, because as a Jew, he wanted to prove he was worthy in the face of Nazism. World War 2 made a man out of him and instilled in him senses of obligation, duty, love of country, and discipline. His ability to take and give orders served him well in his career. His service is a source of pride for him today, and he honors it by wearing pieces of clothing that indicate that he is a World War 2 veteran. He believes America is a great country and that we need to do our part. He thinks that most young Americans do not know damn thing about World War 2 today. Cain believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because its about our American history.