Robert W. Paschal was born in November 1924 in the small town of Corsicana, Texas. He attended public school and enjoyed going to school because he had a lot of friends. He worked as a paper boy and did other jobs growing up. His mother stayed at home while his father worked in the oil business. 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] his father went broke, but they managed to get by. Paschal attended the local junior college and applied for the Air Corps. He grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot. He was drafted when he turned 18 years old. Paschal was not aware of the hostilities rising in Europe and Asia in the 1930s. He was working at a movie theater when he heard news of the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] and admits that it was hard to comprehend the magnitude of the situation at the time. He was mad at the Germans and the Japanese. However, his brother had already entered the service and Paschal was gung-ho to join, too. His brother-in-law became a P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] pilot. While Paschal waited to join the service, he continued to go to school and worked. He wanted to get into service and do his part for his country. He was drafted in June 1943 and joined the Army Air Corps for basic training in Amarillo, Texas. Following basic training, Paschal was assigned to a college training detachment as a cadet, but ultimately was washed out of the program, his hopes of becoming a pilot were dashed. There was strict discipline during his training. He was then sent to Buckley Field, Colorado for armament training before he volunteered for gunnery training in Peyote, Texas. Paschal suffered with severe air sickness while in training and was nearly cut from the program. [Annotator’s Note: Phone rings in the background at 0:14:55.000.] However, his company doctor, an amateur hypnotist, used hypnosis to cure Paschal’s air sickness. Following completion of gunnery training, Paschal was sent to MacDill Field, Florida for advanced training.

Following completion of gunnery training, Robert W. Paschal was sent to MacDill Field, Florida for advanced training. After multiple delays due to weather conditions, he arrived in Europe as a replacement in February 1945 and was assigned to the 613th Bombardment Squadron, 401st Bombardment Group. While in London [Annotator’s Note: London, England] on a pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], just before he was to fly his first mission as a togglier [Annotator’s Note: responsible for arming and dropping bombs in place of a bombardier], Paschal contracted food poisoning and was put into the hospital. He missed the first three missions flown by his crew. As togglier, it was Paschal’s duty to arm and drop the bombs from the B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. His missions were to target marshaling [Annotator’s Note: railroad] yards and submarine pens. After flying his first several missions, Paschal began to have qualms about dropping bombs and killing indiscriminately. While in London, he told his radio operator that he was planning on speaking to the chaplain and their commanding officer to seek a new assignment. On this trip to London, a V-2 rocket [Annotator's Note: German Vergeltungswaffe 2, or Retribution Weapon 2, ballistic missile] landed nearby Paschal’s hotel. The sight of the destruction and death convinced him to continue dropping bombs to do his part in ensuring the war ended as soon as possible. Paschal even dropped bombs on three buildings with red crosses painted on their roofs without a second thought. Photo reconnaissance later showed that these buildings were part of a German ammunition dump. After each mission he was given a shot of vodka or cognac. He never drank it, but kept it in his canteen. One jet attacked his plane, but he did not see it. His plane dealt with a lot of flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] on missions. Closer to the end of the war, the military issued him a side arm in case he had to defend himself after bailing out in the countryside.

Robert W. Paschal was trained to hate the Germans and the Japanese so that troops would not have a problem shooting at them. When he found out about the concentration camps, it angered him and felt ill will toward the Germans. When the German anti-aircraft had radar, the flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] became worse. On one mission, his plane was hit by anti-aircraft artillery blowing one of their propellers. Then shrapnel came up right between Pascal’s legs, missing him by inches. However, it pulverized the Plexiglass which hit his throat. He began to be scared that he was not going to survive the mission. By the end of the mission, only one of the three engines was working properly. His plane dropped out of formation and two P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] came over to support them. The pilot of the plane was able to bring them back to base safely. He had great respect for the pilot. Paschal felt close camaraderie with his flight crew and they took their job very seriously. He roomed in a Quonset hut [Annotator's Note: prefabricated metal building] with men in his squadron and other squadrons, and became close with some of them. It was odd when some of the men did not return from a mission and their belongings were removed.

Robert W. Paschal and his crew [Annotator’s Note: serving in the 613th Bombardment Squadron, 401st Bombardment Group] were ordered to stand down, but he had three less missions than the rest of his crew, so he volunteered seven times, and each time the missions were cancelled because Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] had already taken the city before the Air Corps could come in. One of his jobs in the plane was to remove the pin from the bomb before releasing it. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewee asks to take a break at 0:49:59.000.] On VE-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], the military would not let the Americans go into town. People were shooting off flares, drinking beer, and going to church. Paschal missed the celebrations because he had guard duty. He was relieved that the war in Europe was over, but he was concerned about going to Japan. After the German surrender, Paschal went into training for navigation, but it did not work out. He was due to return to the United States with orders to report to Japan after a 30-day furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. However, the Japanese surrendered after the United States dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He was discharged in November 1945 as a staff sergeant. He did not have trouble readjusting to civilian life after the war, and married his girlfriend when he returned. They had three children. Paschal 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 went to school in Arlington, Texas.

Robert W. Paschal’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when his plane was shot up on a mission. He fought because he felt obligated to do it for his parents. His service granted him more opportunities because 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]. The G.I. Bill was the best thing that came out of the war. He is proud of his service and pleased with what he did. Later in life, he got his pilot’s license and owned a few planes. He believes that World War 2 is not considered as a major event anymore. Paschal believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.