Louis Black was born in Chicago, Illinois in December 1923. He grew up with one sister. His father was a jazz musician and the family moved with him from city to city in search of work. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], Black’s family lived with his grandmother in Clinton, Iowa. Everyone in the family scraped together whatever money they could for food. As a young boy, Black sold minnows to fishermen out of his grandmother’s house. Early on in the Depression, Black’s father lost his job as a staff musician for a radio station in Des Moines, Iowa and the family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and eventually to Rock Island, Illinois where the family finally settled. After high school, Black was employed by the International Harvester company as a mail clerk. At lunch, Black and some other guys would read from a book called “How to Get into the Army Air Corps”, and would then quiz each other on what they had read. Black celebrated his 18th birthday just one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Everyone was upset and felt compelled to join the service. The guys who Black had quizzed were going to Peoria, Illinois to enlist in the Air Corps and encouraged “Professor” Black to come along. Out of 148 men who took the test required to be accepted, only Black and four others passed. He was now in the Air Corps. When he told his father he enlisted in the service, his father told him he was going to enlist too. Black talked his father out of joining so someone could be with his mother. He did his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri and took basic courses at the University of Missouri [Annotator’s Note: in Kansas City, Missouri] at that time. He attended flight school at Perrin Field, Texas and received his wings at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas on 14 April 1944. His first flight instructor at Perrin Field was a man by the name of John Pelizzari [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling]. Like Black, Pelizzari was an avid duck hunter. Each morning before training, the pair would drive to the various ponds and lakes around the airfield in search of ducks. After receiving his wings at Foster Field, Black became a flight instructor there for nine months. Because the man there already knew how to fly, he was able to have fun with them and teach them aerobatics aboard an AT-6 [Annotator's Note: North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer aircraft]. One day, Black’s CO [Annotator’s Note: Commanding Officer], Major Edwards, came to tell Black goodbye as he was going to the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI) to fly with a newly formed P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] squadron. Black jumped at the opportunity to go with him, but was instead assigned to duty in the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: manmade canal in the country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America] zone.

Louis Black was assigned to the 28th Fighter Squadron known as the “Watchdogs of the Isthmus”. The duty in Panama was like being at a country club. After morning patrols, Black played golf with his commanding officer. Black and the 28th were stationed deep in the jungle at Chame Field [Annotator’s Note: in Bejuco, Panama]. Only once did Black spot a German U-boat [Annotator's Note: German submarine] while on patrol. Flying a P-39 [Annotator's Note: Bell P-39 Aerocobra fighter aircraft], Black signaled the location of the submarine to ground forces. An argument over jurisdiction ensued between the Army and Navy with the Navy winning out and sending a blimp to investigate. By the time the blimp arrived, the U-boat had disappeared. A hospital ship with 934 nurses on board broke down in the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: manmade canal in the country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America]. Many of the nurses sought him out and asked to be taken on flights. Black obliged and describes the few weeks with the nurses as a “festival”. Shortly after this experience, the war was over and Black was asked by his commanding officer if he would like to attend officer training school. Black declined as he had to make it home in time for the opening of trout fishing season, a tradition he had with his father. Black was discharged from Grant Field, Illinois with the rank of first lieutenant and some 1,100 hours of flight time. He joined the reserves and continued to fly for many years. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewee gets up during interview at 0:21:13.000 then fiddles with something that is out of the camera’s view.] Black took advantage of 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].

Louis Black took advantage of 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] and attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois but soon quit to become a salesman and support his young family. Black’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was getting his wings in April 1944. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewee gets up at 0:41:10.000.] He talks about his children and their career successes. Black fought in World War 2 because he was mad at what the Japanese had done to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl]. The war gave him a broader scope of the world and later helped in the advancement of his career. Black is happy to have served in World War 2. He does not know what young Americans think about World War 2 or the armed services. Black 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.