Robert Kenneth “Bob” Boehm was born in August 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up there until he enlisted in the Air Corps. He had three brothers and a sister. He has a son in McKinney and grandchildren there as well as in Dallas [Annotator’s Note: McKinney and Dallas are both in Texas] and Los Angeles [Annotator’s Note: Los Angeles, California]. He moved to Texas in 2008 after his real estate business tumbled along with the overall downslide in that business. His wife is in assisted living now. He resides close to her and sees her often. Boehm has four sons and a daughter. He is happy with his family life. He was estranged from his father. However, his stepfather is the dad that he knows. Much of Boehm’s family resides in St. Louis. Boehm visits St. Louis for that reason, but also because he is a huge Cardinals fan [Annotator’s Note: Saint Louis Cardinals professional baseball team]. He loves to see their ballgames. Boehm’s mother worked for as long as he can remember. She was employed when he was young in a new Kroger grocery store. Grocery stores evolved over the years from small corner stores to what exists today with Sam Walton and his Walmart stores. The Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] was not as rough on Boehm at the time because 90 percent of the people suffered the same as his family did. You were not alone. Everyone was having tough times. He remembers bringing a pail to school and getting free milk after it was delivered there. Boehm was a small child. He enjoyed baseball, but could not survive football. He had a rough time meeting weight requirements for being a pilot in the military which will be discussed later. Boehm listened to Cardinals ballgames on the radio and could go to home games for free before he reached the age of ten. He was a member of what was known as the knothole gang as a result. When Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], he was working at a drug store as a soda jerk and prescription delivery boy for two dollars a week. The average wage at the time was 25 dollars a week. Ten cents would purchase a loaf or bread or a quart of milk. At the time of the attack, Boehm was in the Civil Air Patrol and frequently hung around the airport. He was a licensed pilot by the time he was 16 years of age. He had thoughts of enlisting in the Air Corps and becoming a combat pilot after high school graduation. He wanted to fly in combat but that did not happen. He made the contribution he could. He graduated from high school in 1943 [Annotator’s Note: June 1943].

Robert Kenneth “Bob” Boehm graduated from high school and turned 18, but had no thoughts about going to college or getting a job despite the fact that he had started working at 17 years old. He was employed in a defense plant at age18 in St. Louis [Annotator’s Note: St. Louis, Missouri] manufacturing big shells. He wanted to get another year or two and join the Air Corps. He had envisioned that role for himself since Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He graduated high school in June 1943 while he was still 17 years old. He had committed to the Air Corps recruiters while in high school. He had no difficulty deciding to commit to them. He was sworn into the Air Corps in October [Annotator’s Note: October 1943]. A few weeks later, he was called up to report to Sheppard Field in Texas [Annotator’s Note: Sheppard Field is now Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls, Texas] for basic training. It was his first real trip out of Saint Louis. He went to La Grande, Oregon for his preflight training. Santa Ana [Annotator’s Note: Santa Ana, California] would become his next stop for further training. During the induction physical at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, he did not readily make the weight limitation. His doctor prescribed him to constantly eat bananas prior to retaking his physical after 30 days. Returning for his next examination, he was still underweight, but the doctor allowed him an extra pound or two. He passed the physical [Annotator’s Note: Boehm laughs]. Boehm’s family disapproved of him joining the Air Force. Likely, those feelings were due to his older brother joining the Merchant Marine and not staying in contact with the family. German submarine dominance worried the family following the loss of so many merchant ships. Boot camp was tough on Boehm, but he was able to take the physical requirements of the training. As a small man, he had to prove he could handle the situation to the larger individuals undergoing the same physical demands. As a young fellow, Boehm had often ridden on his bicycle and had strong legs. Nevertheless, it was a bit scary. One did not know what was around the corner. Boehm was a thinker with good aptitude, but it was worrisome to go into areas and do things that he had never done before. America was turning the tide of battle after a couple of years of difficult combat. It was early 1943. He was a licensed pilot and felt he was doing what he should do. He took his flight specialist examinations in Santa Ana. His squadron was scheduled for the TP-38 which was a tandem version of the P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft]. The pilot pod was to be enlarged. Upon reaching Santa Ana, there were no TP-38s because of design issues with the pilot pod. Awaiting the modified aircraft for weeks or possibly months, the squadrons began to be dispersed. Another group was on the way in 60 days to replace them in training. The squadron members were offered various other opportunities as pilots. After three months in Santa Ana, the seven or eight in the squadron were offered different assignments. That eventually happened to Boehm.

Robert Kenneth “Bob” Boehm was called into personnel one day [Annotator’s Note: Boehm was working toward acceptance as a pilot in the US Army Air Forces flight training program]. He was told navigational upgrades needed to be expedited in the field more efficiently. Boehm was complimented by his captain for his aptitude and capabilities. Then he was told that Philco and Helicraft [Annotator’s Note: Philco, short for Philadelphia Battery Company, is an electronics company. Helicraft (spelling uncertain) details could not be located] had need for an individual to be put on detached service working for them to speed up the upgrades. Boehm declined the opportunity at first, but was not given the option to do so. He then began navigation equipment training and ended up on Saipan [Annotator’s Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands] after the island was secured. He calibrated navigation equipment. He would no longer fly a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] as he envisioned, but rather smaller planes with limited flight time. He did see many unique islands after Saipan. He shipped to Peleliu which was 400 miles from Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila is in the Philippines]. He went next to Tinian and Guam [Annotator’s Note: both in the Mariana Islands] followed by Mindanao [Annotator’s Note: Mindanao, the Philippines] while making equipment upgrades. He settled into a routine and ended up in Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Life in the Pacific was not what he expected after seeing Bob Hope and Lana Turner movies [Annotator’s Note: both were popular actors during the war. Bob Hope also entertained troops overseas] supposedly based in the islands. Many of the islands were still a mess after being secured. It shocked Boehm. There was not much to see that was funny. He had to find things to laugh about. The men he served with were in the same predicament. They told stories about back home. Some were unhappy, but Boehm accepted his situation. There were no comfortable barracks, only tents. Everyone wished they were home. He did his job. Mail had a difficult time catching up with him because he moved so frequently. It cost him a girlfriend [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. His constant movement between islands meant that mail often missed him. It worried his family. It was rough to constantly move from island to island without a partner. He traveled in a DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner] going somewhere else constantly. Boehm did not like that aspect of his work. Sometimes, he saw men he knew when he returned to an island. He would stay three or four weeks in one location, but then it was time to move again. Saipan became his hub between assignments. He returned there every three or four months. He was with the 415th AACS—Army Airways Communications System, 500th Bomb Group. After the Okinawa campaign ended, that island became his hub.

Robert Kenneth “Bob” Boehm [Annotator’s Note: a navigational equipment technician assigned to the 415th AACS (Army Airways Communications System), 500th Bomb Group] was on Okinawa as it became a staging area for the invasion of Japan. The island was secured in July 1945 and Boehm arrived a month later. It was days prior to the first atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: the first nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945]. He heard about the bombing of Hiroshima while in a jeep returning from a navigational tower. The men in the jeep knew the war was over after the level of destruction was revealed. In March 1945, an incendiary raid over Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] by 400 B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombers] off of Saipan and Tinian [Annotator’s Note: both were major airbases in the Marianas Islands] killed 200,000 Japanese civilians. A request through the Swiss embassy for the Japanese surrender was declined. The city of Tokyo burned readily because of the construction materials used in the buildings. Boehm could decrypt the encrypted transmissions saying the enemy refused to surrender. Upon discovering the Japanese reluctance to give up despite the heavy losses, it was very disappointing. It seemed to indicate that the invasion of the home islands had to move forward [Annotator’s Note: Operation Downfall was the plan to begin the amphibious assault of Japan in November 1945]. The Eighth Air Force with its B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] was moving to Okinawa in preparation for the offensive. Boehm knew that 5,000 bombers would soon be airborne over Japan. It did not have to happen because the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator’s Note: a second nuclear weapon was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945]. It was a joyous moment because the men wanted to go home. Boehm remained in Okinawa for four months doing nothing. He worried that he would have to go to Japan because of his skills. Everyone seemed to be going home, limited only by the number of available transport ships to return them. After his four added months on Okinawa, he returned home. Okinawa had been cleared of large unit combat troops. It was reasonable that they should return as a priority. Small groups like Boehm’s were kept on the island longer. When he did get home, it was a fantastic feeling. He was asked to stay in the military, but he declined. He was discharged as a technical or staff sergeant in February 1946.

Robert Kenneth “Bob” Boehm returned from the war and was happy that the G.I. Bill was available [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]. He was offered a job by Philco [Annotator’s Note: Philco, short for Philadelphia Battery Company, is an electronics company]. There was a ramp up in consumer goods in lieu of defense work. Boehm became a regional manager with Philco to expand the consumer market in radios, dishwashers, refrigerators and soon television sets which really came on in 1948. It was a good job. He raised his family. He changed jobs a few times, and by his 40s, he started building houseboats in Florence, Alabama with his brother, a fellow veteran. That began his entrepreneurial career. He started at least eight different businesses and then sold them. He is 92 years of age and has never retired [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. He is still building houses in Springfield [Annotator’s Note: Springfield, Missouri] with a partner there. Boehm is glad he served in the military. It was a better education than college. The war changed him significantly. He became more disciplined by the military. It made a man out of him. It was good for him. Without the war, he would have been a totally different person. He always had a good head on his shoulders. He made average or just passable grades in high school without studying. He is not particularly proud of that. The Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is doing a great job of teaching the lessons of the war. Boehm speaks to ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] units about his experiences. He tells them war is hell and hopes they never have to serve in one. When they say they are ready, he just thanks them.