Revis Dale Haslett was born in July 1922 in Brownstown, Illinois. He lived in Illinois until after he graduated high school. He worked at odd jobs after graduation until Pearl Harbor. At one time, Haslett thought about joining the Marines because of the lure of the uniform. Instead, he went to Scott Field and applied for aviation cadet training. He was accepted but he was informed that he had to have dental and other medical work done before the training could start. During this time, but prior to entry into the training, he got married. The couple did not tell anyone or live together because they knew that Haslett would be going into the service. When the call for service induction came, he was sent to Kessler Field for basic training for a month and then to Penn State for seven weeks of training and testing. [Annotator's Note: the interview is briefly interrupted by a clock chiming.] He was then sent to Nashville for assignment to a pilot training group. His basic flight training was at Dorr Field in Florida. There, he received word that his wife had given birth to a daughter but the child was not expected to live. He immediately took leave to return home to be with his wife and child. He had a series of three day passes extended so that he was able to remain home with his wife and premature child for about 28 days. After his daughter was released to go home, Haslett returned to training. He proceeded with the next class of flight training. Next, he went to Bainbridge, Georgia for basic flight training and successfully soloed. His next stop was Albany, Georgia for advanced flight training. Haslett flew stripped down B-25 bombers in advanced flight training. In June 1944, Haslett went to Columbia, South Carolina for replacement combat training.

Revis Haslett went to Miami, Florida for the trip overseas around the middle of November [Annotator's Note: November 1944]. He flew overseas in a transport plane through South America and North Africa and finally to India. Haslett ended up in Feni, India which was a small airfield. Haslett flew out of Feni with the 81st Bombardment Squadron, 12th Bombardment Group, 10th Air Force. He flew B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] over the little Hump between India and Burma. They supported British and Indian troops by hitting marshalling yards and supply areas. They flew a mission to French Indochina. The mission lasted two days and was the longest medium bomber mission flown during the war and was Haslett’s last mission. The group landed on Akyab in the Indian Ocean where they spent the night sleeping under their planes. When the group took off the next morning the weather was terrible. During the flight they were called by their base and told to return home. The lieutenant colonel leading the mission continued on and the group bombed and airfield named Bantacli in French Indochina then returned to base. That was the last mission of the war in Burma. After the return to base, the squadron received A-26 [Annotator's Note: Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber] aircraft and began training to carry out low level missions over Japan. Fortunately, the war ended before that occurred. Haslett was in New Delhi when he learned that the war was over. The surrender of Japan brought on a large celebration back at the base. After the war, Haslett flew a Red Cross director to Kunming, China. It was the only time he ever used oxygen flying over the Hump. Haslett flew over areas in India and later China which were heavily populated. Because of lower points in the military point system, Haslett was not shipped home right away. Since there was no Army of Occupation in the CBI [Annotator's Note: China-Burma-India Theater], they flew their planes to an airfield near Munich, Germany. Haslett shipped back to the United States in February 1946. After landing in New Jersey, he was shipped to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri for discharge. He remained in the reserves while he went to work for what is now Exxon. He was permanently discharged in Springfield, Illinois from the reserves. His wife was not anxious for him to fly again.

Revis Haslett initially wanted to join the Marines but went into the Army Air Forces instead. He was working with a friend at a bakery delivering bread when he was struck by the idea of joining the Marines. His friend did not enlist, so Haslett did not join either. As the war went on, Haslett decided the best thing to do was to get into the cadet program. He was having dinner with his girlfriend when he heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He knew nothing about Pearl Harbor or Hawaii at the time. He did not recollect anything particularly interesting about the incident at the time. While in Germany, Haslett was based at a small airfield outside of Munich for about a week. He went by one of the German concentration camps near Munich, Dachau. He saw the ovens and the jars of ashes along with mounds of hair and teeth. He knew nothing about the concentration camps while he was in India. He saw the Taj Mahal while he was in New Delhi but did not go into it. He also saw the pyramids and the Sphinx twice. In Naples, Haslett saw Pompeii and the ruins. The next morning when he was getting ready to take off, Haslett was asked by a serviceman if he could hitch a ride on the A-26 [Annotator's Note: Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber]. With only a three man crew capacity, there was no room for the hitchhiker. Haslett told him that he could ride in the bomb bay which he did. After reaching Marseilles, France, the hitchhiker left them. Haslett was always curious as to the full story of the hitchhiker. During one night flying training mission, he almost hit a hill on takeoff. Haslett felt he was fortunate to be assigned to the wartime duty that he performed. The only plane they lost in combat was shot down by enemy small arms fire. Another plane collided with a cliff and broke in two. No one survived that crash. Toward the end of the war, the troops in India were moving so fast that it was difficult for command to get information to the squadron as to where friendly forces were located. They did fly supply missions carrying gasoline needed by the ground forces. The fuel was carried in special gas tanks installed in the bomb bays of the B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. During one flight, Haslett saw a shallow grave with arms and hands sticking up out of it. He was not sure whether the bodies were Allied or Japanese. Haslett felt this was as close to the real war as he got. He had classmates who were killed in the war. During the time Haslett was overseas he saw no enemy fighters. He did see antiaircraft fire from the enemy, especially during a mission over Mandalay. Haslett feels that he must have been living right to have an assignment where the enemy action was limited. Haslett's brother-in-law went up through North Africa, Sicily, France and Germany. He was wounded three times but never seriously. Haslett also always slept in a dry bed and had meals in a mess hall. To him, he had it easy compared to what his brother-in-law went through.

Revis Haslett flew the Hump [Annotator's Note: the nickname given to the stretch of the Himalayas that American pilots had to fly over to get from India into China] from India to Burma. At about 12,000 feet the crew could feel the need to go on oxygen. The shuttle flights were not very exciting. There was no obvious air activity in that area as the Flying Tigers were nowhere near the Hump. Only minimal loses were experienced by the transport aircraft. Haslett had a ten year old Indian boy who acted as his bearer and cleaned his bamboo basha, or barracks. The young man bought cattle with the money he earned. He was paid well for his services compared to the Indian economy at the time. After the war when Haslett was transferred inland in India to train with their new airplanes, the young man hitched a ride with the Americans. At the new base, the young man was ostracized due to his religion so he returned to the former base at Feni. Except for when he was in Cairo, most of the assignments kept the airmen on base so they did not have much chance to sightsee. Haslett's impression of the various Asian and Indian locations he saw was not positive. Cairo was the exception. After seeing Karachi, Kunming and Calcutta, Cairo looked a lot better. Likewise, the time he spent in Paris was better since he stayed in a hotel just a few blocks from the George V Hotel. Haslett's group was able to write themselves three day passes. From October through January, Haslett stayed in the same room in the same hotel. Haslett was sent to Germany in the winter and he gained an appreciation for the difficulty experienced by the European combat troops in that environment. The aircraft Haslett flew was the B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. It was a very dependable aircraft. While in training in Columbia, South Carolina one night, Haslett was flying as copilot and one engine began to back fire. They were given clearance to land and did not get down until the third pass over the airstrip. The next morning they were told that seven of twelve cylinders in the engine were not functioning. Still, the plane got them safely on the ground. Haslett's combat training crew came from all over the country. He did not stay in touch with that crew. The crew was split up when they got to India so they rarely saw each other until the war ended. On the day the war ended, the estranged crewmen commandeered a jeep and went to see Haslett. They had been celebrating for awhile and collided with the supports for one of the huts. That was the last he saw of them as they had more points than Haslett. Because Haslett rotated aircraft, he never had a constant name for his aircraft.

In primary training, Revis Haslett flew a P-17 [Annotator's Note: the PT-17 Stearman]. In basic training, he flew a B-14 [Annotator's Note: BT-14 Yale] which was much more difficult to fly. The ship was so powerful that it was hard to fly. During advanced training, Haslett flew a small twin engine Beechcraft [Annotator's Note: the Beechcraft AT-7] and then moved to B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. Both of these airplanes were better to fly than the previous twin engine plane because they were stable and did not have the big nose to look around when landing. They spent nine weeks of training at each location. The B-25s they flew were stripped down and the instructors kept trying to get them to drag the tail when they landed. The Doolittle Raiders flew B-25s and Haslett could appreciate their short runway takeoff on the aircraft carrier. Haslett liked the B-25. When a B-25 was flown into an airport near Haslett's home he went to see it. The crew offered to take him up but he declined. Haslett entered the service when he was 20 years old.

After the war, Revis Haslett and his dad bought a grocery store but he wished he had gone to school instead. The store was not very successful so he went to work for the Carter Oil Company in New Jersey. The company eventually became Exxon. In 1961, Haslett was transferred to a plant where he became the shop steward. Then he was elected president of the Employees Federation that covered 20 states. There was a no strike-no lock out clause so that was a pleasant experience. While in Oklahoma, Haslett went to Phillips University and tried to enroll but was not able to meet the attendance requirements. He went back a year later and enrolled. It took him eight years of night and day classes to graduate. Haslett got his degree in May 1972. He turned 50 two months later. He retired from Exxon on 3 July 1972. He had obtained a real estate license in 1967 and worked in the real estate market in Enid full time. He received the only Real Estate Emeritus in Arkansas since he had 50 years in real estate. He and his girlfriend travel to Florida every year for Cardinal spring training. They enjoy seeing the games but getting around is becoming more difficult.

The war changed Revis Haslett but it is hard to predict what he would have done without that experience. He grew up in a small town and was not really going anywhere with his life at the time. During his service, he learned a lot about geography. As he hears of various locations today, he recognizes the places and knows about them. He feels that museums like The National WWII Museum are important and that educating young people on the war is a necessity. He hopes that museums will teach future generations but he is not so sure about that. Haslett's generation fought the war to end all wars and yet there have been constant conflicts since. Haslett feels that more female leaders may result in less combative leadership than with male leaders. There are never any winners in warfare. While visiting Washington, the Hasletts stayed in a resort in the middle of a Civil War battlefield. They saw the small church used as a hospital with all the bullet holes. They thought about what is happening today and there does not seem to be any answers. We are still fighting in Iraq and it separates many families. It seems such a waste. Haslett appreciates the work of The National WWII Museum oral historians. He is so grateful for the way the war treated him and is compassionate for those that served and had it much worse.