Jerome "Jerry" Riga graduated from high school and went to work soon afterwards. It was not long before the draft came along. Riga decided to enlist in the Air Force. He and some friends went to Dayton, Ohio and passed the test. Two months later he reported to San Antone [Annotator's Note: slang for San Antonio, Texas]. He classified as a pilot and began flight school. Riga was interested in flying but had never been in an airplane prior to joining the Air Force. The first time up in a PT-19 [Annotator's Note: Fairchild PT-19 primary trainer aircraft], he got sick. He decided in the future to skip his meal prior to flying. Riga became a natural at flying. He flew a BT-13 [Annotator's Note: Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic trainer aircraft; also known as the Vultee Vibrator] during his basic training. The plane was noisy but he enjoyed flying it. During every level of training, many servicemen were washed out. He flew AT-6s [Annotator's Note: North American AT-6 Texan; AT-6 advanced trainer aircraft] in Missions, Texas where he practiced various types of landings. When he graduated in January 1944, he went home for two weeks. He soon reported in Marianna, Florida and flew P-40s [Annotator's Note: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft]. There was more power on take-off with the P-40. When he reported to Hartford, Connecticut, he was assigned to fly P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft]. He practiced hitting targets and formation flying. Riga liked the "Jug" [Annotator's Note: nickname for the P-47 Thunderbolt] and the way it flew and maneuvered well even though it was a large aircraft. He was glad he did not have to fly P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] because it would require long formation missions. Flying the P-47, he knew he would be used for ground support for the infantry and tank divisions.

Jerome "Jerry" Riga assisted with ground support for the infantry and tank divisions [Annotator's Note: as a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot]. He was sent to England and did ten missions there before being sent to Sainte-Mere-Eglise [Annotator's Note: Sainte-Mère-Église, France]. One night, he strafed Saint-Lo [Annotator's Note: Saint-Lô, France] and then the Air Force came through and bombed the town. The next few days they experienced bad weather and did not fly. He flew missions in one day trying to stop the Germans advancement near Saint-Lo. The sky was so smoky that he had to look for the wing tip lights of the other planes. By the end of the three missions that day, it was reported that his group shot over 60 tanks, 240 trucks, and nine antiaircraft guns. Soon after that, his missions were focused on supporting the troops as they advanced to Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France]. Riga arrived in England on a cruise ship. He slept on the top deck in a hammock because there were civilians that resided in the lower decks. Prior to being in England, his flights were very restricted. As soon as he arrived overseas, he was able to fly by the seat of his pants. He did not have to follow all the rules or regulations like in his training. He was able to really feel the plane. He was assigned to the 405th Fighter Group, 510 Squadron [Annotator's Note: 510th Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] in May 1944 in Christchurch, England, prior to D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. The base was very primitive. He had to take off on a metal matting laid on grass. It was also the first time he took off with two 500 pound bombs. He was the tail end plane which got a lot of draft. On his first mission his target was a bridge. He dropped his bombs, saw the explosion, and thought he wiped the bridge out. When he returned to base and was interrogated by his superior, he found out that he hit two cows. His targets prior to D-Day were bridges and roads, which were easy because they did not have to deal with flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire].

Jerome "Jerry" Riga was on a mission and saw a tank. As he went down to strafe it, Riga was hit by antiaircraft fire. He bailed out. After he hit the ground, Riga immediately took out his rescue kit and began figuring out how to get to safety. He climbed on top of a hedgerow [Annotator's Note: man-made earthen walls that surround a field that are often overgrown with impenetrable vegetation] and saw a couple guys in a jeep. He was not sure if they were enemies until he heard them talk. They were Americans coming to rescue him. They pulled him out of the hedgerow, dropped him in the jeep and took off in a hurry. They took Riga to an artillery division, and they gave him lunch and schnapps [Annotator's Note: type of alcoholic beverage]. He broke his leg in the fall. He was transferred from one airport to another until he reached his squadron [Annotator's Note: 510th Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] again. Riga was then transferred to an emergency hospital, where he stayed for two weeks before being transferred to England for three months. In October 1944, he received orders to report to Rothschild Estates [Annotator's Note: in Paris, France]. Riga's toughest mission was his last one to Bastogne [Annotator's Note: Bastogne, Belgium]. He could not see a thing while flying, until he found a hole in the overcast. All of a sudden he was hit, and his guns began to go off without him firing them himself. After receiving more flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and running out of ammunition, he hit the water injection, and his plane went straight up in the sky. As he was trying to figure out where he was and what direction he needed to head toward, he saw another plane coming toward his direction. He realized it was his wingman, who looked like he had some mechanical problems too. They both headed back to the base to make an emergency landing. His brakes did not work. He turned off his ignition to make the landing. His left wheel hit a frozen lake, and he began to spin around, but he eventually stopped.

Jerome "Jerry" Riga completed over 40 missions [Annotator's Note: as a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot] in Europe. The Air Force wanted to send him home for a 30 day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], and then to the Pacific. Riga did not want to go to the Pacific because he had four brothers fighting in Europe. While he was serving in Europe, he was able to see two of his brothers. He was then assigned to the 29th Tactical Air Command [Annotator's Note: 29th Tactical Air Command (Provisional)]. His job was to plan missions and analyze how to best a target. He spent time with infantry divisions. While working with the infantry, he saw dead German soldiers. [Annotator's Note: There is a break in the video at 0:53:25.000.] Riga gave plane rides on a C-45 [Annotator's Note: Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor utility aircraft] from Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany] to another destination. Riga was in Germany when the war in Europe concluded. He was a pilot for General Nugent [Annotator's Note: later US Air Force Lieutenant General Richard Emmel Nugent] at the time, transporting him around Europe and staying in the same hotels as him. Riga flew the General back to the United States, by way of Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France]. While he was waiting to return to the United States, he would take G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also, a slang term for an American soldier] on airplane rides.

Jerome "Jerry" Riga's most vivid memory was his last flight over Bastogne [Annotator's Note: Bastogne, Belgium]. The weather was bad, and he had a difficult time flying to his target. That winter was the worst weather he had experienced. They were often grounded because they could not see the end of the runway. Riga believes it's important to continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He believes America has a lot of enemies and this country always needs to be prepared. He thinks people do not think about the hardships people have gone through for this country. Riga would fight in World War 2 again if he had to. He also does not like Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] because of the way he treated pilots. After Riga was discharged from the service, he worked for his mother-in-law's soft serve [Annotator's Note: ice cream] business. He eventually bought the business.