[Annotator's Note: The interview begins with Roberto "Bob” Ruiz and the interviewer midsentence in a story.] Ruiz was born in September 1922 in Pacific Beach, California. He had three sisters, and one brother who flew B-29's [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress, a very heavy bomber] in the Pacific [Annotator's Note: Pacific Theater of Operations during World War 2]. He grew up and went to school in Pacific Beach, and high school in La Jolla [Annotator's Note: La Jolla, California]. Ruiz's father came to California from Mazatlán, Mexico in 1915 never having known his father, and his mother died when he was born. He came alone and worked odd jobs. He met a woman who was instrumental in the design of Balboa Park [Annotator's Note: in San Diego, California] and he learned nursery. He bought a home in Pacific Beach and started his own nursery business that took up the whole block. They did maintenance and landscape work in La Jolla. His father did not speak English when he came to the United States, and only had a second-grade education. He learned to speak English once he was here. Ruiz admired him. This was during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], 1929, but his family did not suffer. Lorenzo [Annotator's Note: Ruiz's brother] had a pickup. When Ruiz talks to groups of kids today, he emphasizes that they remember one thing: if you want to grow up to be someone, no drugs, no gangs, and alcohol only moderately when you are old enough. Ruiz's mother took care of the kids and helped with the nursery business. He never saw his parents argue in all his time living with them. After the war, Ruiz got his degree from San Diego State [Annotator's Note: San Diego State University in San Diego, California] and headed to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], finally ending up in Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California]. He met a pharmacist working for a packaging company based in New York and worked with him for two years when the pharmacist started his own company. Ruiz went with him and managed the plant. They then started a company in New Jersey, where he met his wife when she was 21 years old. Ruiz's family did not suffer too much during the Depression. Ruiz graduated high school in June 1941 and had just turned 19 when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was riding horses with friends on that Sunday, then they went to a malt shop which is where he heard about the attack. The attack did not really hit him because he was only 19. He was aware that England was on its last leg, being bombed by Germany, and that Japan was moving into the islands, and that it was just a matter of time before the United States got involved. Churchill [Annotator's Note: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill; Prime Minister, United Kingdom, 1940 to 1945] called Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] to thank him for getting into the war. If the United States had not gotten into the war, England would not be here. Westminster Abbey [Annotator's Note: in London, England] and the Parliament [Annotator's Note: Parliament of the United Kingdom in London, England] were not hit by the bombs.

When the draft began in 1942, everyone from the ages 17 and a half to 35 years old had to sign up. Roberto "Bob” Ruiz completed the required physical and was classified 1A [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification for individuals available for unrestricted military service]. In the meantime, he had applied for the Air Force, and passed physical and mental tests for qualification. Ruiz chose the Air Force because he had a friend there who talked him into it, and because he knew that when not flying, he would have a bed to sleep in and meals to eat, and he would receive slightly more pay. As an officer, Ruiz only saw his crew in the air. He did not like that the officers and enlisted men were so separated. He trained in Lincoln, Nebraska; Missoula, Montana; and Santa Ana, California. The first week of training consisted of a physical exam, and several tests in order to be classified as pilot, navigator, or bombardier. From Santa Ana, he went to primary training in Santa Maria, California where they learned how to fly. They were required to fly solo after seven hours of training. If unable to do so, they were not allowed to fly. From Santa Maria, Ruiz went to Fresno [Annotator's Note: Fresno, California] where he trained on heavier planes, such as the PT-13 [Annotator's Note: Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Kaydet or PT-13 primary trainer aircraft]. After three months, he progressed to advanced training in Douglas, Arizona. He was put onto twin-engine planes rather than fightesr and had ten or eleven hours before solo flight. He lost two roommates during advanced training. From Douglas, he went back to Lincoln and was assigned a crew whom he met in Pueblo, Colorado where they remained three or four months flying the B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber].

Robert "Bob” Ruiz was sent overseas on a ship in a convoy from New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. The trip lasted 14 days, because in the North Atlantic the going was slow to avoid U-boats [Annotator's Note: German submarine]. They eventually arrived in Southampton, England, then went on to Norwich, England where Ruiz was assigned to the 389th Bomber Group [Annotator's Note: 389th Bombardment Group], 8th Air Force. They flew practice missions, then on actual missions with experienced pilots. His first was over Hanover, Germany. Ruiz thought it was easy, as he saw no fighters and no flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire], until they approached the target and the ack-ack [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] started. The plane next to them received a direct hit and blew up; one of the men aboard had trained with Ruiz in Douglas, Arizona. They bombed practically every city in Germany as, unfortunately, the major factories were in cities and many innocent people were killed. Radar was only in its infancy and not very accurate, so targeting was imperfect. The fighters, such as Messerschmitts [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] and Focke-Wulfs [Annotator's Note: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Wurger; English: Shrike; fighter aircraft] would come in after the bombers hit their targets. Ruiz never saw them as he was the pilot and was flying the plane, but he did see the tracers [Annotator's Note: tracer ammunition, special bullets that burn brightly to enable the shooter to follow the bullets' trajectories]. For missions, they woke up at three in the morning, went to breakfast, and were then briefed on where they were going. They always hoped for cloud cover so that they would be more difficult to detect. There was a priest called Pappy that would meet them in the locker room to give the Catholics communion before heading on their missions. He would go to the airstrip to bless the planes. Once in the air, it took three or four hours to get into formation above the base; the two pilots would take turns. When ready, they would fly over the English Channel, the bombardier [Annotator's Note: the crew member of a bomber aircraft responsible for the targeting of aerial bombs] would activate the bombs and at 10,000 feet they would put on their oxygen masks. They never went directly to their targets, instead flying so as to avoid anti-aircraft artillery. On one mission over Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany], Ruiz's plane was hit after having dropped their bombs, so he was flying with only three engines and had to drop out of formation because he could not keep up. When they were approaching the town of Dunkirk [Annotator's Note: Dunkirk, France] Ruiz's plane was being shot at, but just made it back to England after having thrown the machine guns out to lighten the load. Just as they were crossing over, they lost another engine but managed to land.

Robert "Bob” Ruiz [Annotator's Note: a pilot in the 389th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, stationed in England] flew 35 missions, each one ten to 12 hours, with and without heavy flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire], some attacked by fighters, others not. On one mission, an enemy fighter came in nose first, hitting an 8th Air Force Liberator, killing all aboard including a CO [Annotator's Note: Commanding Officer], the only CO killed within the 8th Air Force. The B-24s were also escorted by P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft]. Ruiz, as the pilot, was always keeping his eye on the plane next to him and rarely saw the fighters. The hardest mission Ruiz flew was the one for which he was awarded the DFC [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight]. They lost their engines and power and did not know where they were because they had fallen out of formation. He stayed in the clouds for cover.

Robert "Bob” Ruiz [Annotator's Note: a pilot in the 389th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] managed a plant after the war, and not being around other veterans, did not think much about his wartime experiences. It was not until he joined the 2nd Air Division [Annotator's Note: 2nd Air Division, 23rd Air Force], formed in the 1950s and met other veterans that he began to think and talk about it more. As a pilot, Ruiz attained the rank of Captain during World War 2. He worked closely with enlisted men as a team. Ruiz regrets that the members of his team have all died [Annotator's Note: at the time of the interview] and he can no longer speak with them. B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] pilots were critical of each other. The payload of a B-17 was 5,000 pounds while the B-24 carried 8,000 pounds. When the bombs were dropped, the plane would pop up due to the quick loss of weight. Ruiz was playing cards when he learned of the German surrender [Annotator's Note: 8 May 1945]. After the war, Ruiz could have stayed in the Air Force but wanted an education. He used 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] to attend San Diego State University [Annotator's Note: in San Diego, California]. He married in 1946 and had two children. He later remarried. Ruiz joined the Inactive Reserve [Annotator's Note: Inactive or Individual Ready Reserve]. His postwar job was managing a pharmaceutical packaging plant. He retired in 1992.

Robert "Bob” Ruiz regrets the loss of so many young lives during the war, as well as during the subsequent Korean [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and Vietnam wars [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. War should be the last resort. Veteran groups exist so that today's generations do not forget about the war. The infantry suffered and made more sacrifices than the Air Force. The 1960s, when Ruiz met his second wife, was his favorite decade. He volunteered for Korea, but there were enough men who volunteered that he did not have to go. When reading about or watching films about the war, Ruiz finds that they are often glamorized, exaggerated, and inaccurate.