Sandford Robert Willford was born in February 1922 in Los Angeles, California, with a half-brother, younger sister, and younger brother, who thought of Willford as a hero. He flew P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] in combat, the most wonderful airplane that had ever flown at that time. It flew at 150 miles per hour, and it was exciting. He saw a movie called "I Wanted Wings" [Annotator's Note: 1941 American film] and it made him want to fly. Even though he knew one out of three cadets would wash out [Annotator's Note: fail out of the training program], he wanted to be there. His mother asked him to promise her he would fly low and slow, but he could not do that [Annotator's Note: Willford laughs]. He started as a cadet in Santa Ana, California and graduated each two-month element of training. First was primary training, where you learn to fly with an instructor on a single-engine plane. The instructor would fly them up and then suddenly drop the plane down, which was the scariest thing Willford had experienced, but eventually he loved it and was no longer scared at all. He advanced from Santa Ana, and began training on a larger, stronger airplane, learning to do spins and to use the instruments, which were very thorough. He graduated when he was around 17 years old and got his wings. He was assigned as an instructor in instrument flying. It was so much fun and exhilarating to fly, to know that the airplane is under his control and that you were going to be okay.

Sandford Robert Willford [Annotator's Note: a flying instructor with the US Army Air Forces] was sent to school to teach cadets, a few years older than himself. The war was going on at this time. Flying is hard to describe, but so much fun and wonderful. He wanted to fly the P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft]. After his time teaching cadets, he finally got to fly one in California while training for combat. Some of the men were afraid of the plane, because there were rumors it was hard to get out of [Annotator's Note: if one needed to bail out]. His P-38 instructors were veterans who had served in Northern Africa and Italy against the Germans. Willford was never hit or shot down in combat. He was shipped out to New Guinea [Annotator's Note: with the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force]. They were told to stay away from certain places when on missions. On one mission to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines], the Japanese there were numerous. Willford had participated in ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] because he always wanted to be military. A friend of his was shot down over Manila, survived the fall, but was captured by the Japanese and decapitated him with a sword. Willford felt that he was just waiting for his turn. They all knew about Richard Bong [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Major Richard "Dick" Ira Bong], whom Willford saw in Santa Maria [Annotator's Note: Santa Maria, California] where he was showing cadets what the P-38 could do, it was marvelous.

Sandford Robert Willford [Annotator's Note: a fighter pilot with the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force] flew to New Guinea with his unit. He served as a flight leader, which he liked. There were only five men in a squad. He was ready for his first combat mission in New Guinea, where there was nothing but jungle below, although he did not know what combat would be like. They recorded every mission they flew, where they went, how long the flight last, and other details. The P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] was a twin-engine airplane. The planes were equipped with a tube for urination while in-flight, but since fighters often flew upside down, he would hold it so the liquid would not be dumped back onto of him [Annotator's Note: Willford laughs]. The men did not particularly like MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area], who seemed to be a braggadocio, but he was a skilled tactician.

After one mission, Sandford Robert Willford [Annotator's Note: a fighter pilot with the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force] was coming into land at their base near the front line in Tacloban, the Philippines. He was flying in a formation of five airplanes consisting of two element leaders, one of whom was the captain, two wingmen, and "tail end Charlie". When coming in, there were Marine Corsairs [Annotator's Note: Vought F4U Corsair carrier-based fighter-bomber] in the air. The P-38 was equipped with power steering, even better than the P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft]. They were having trouble flying into Tacloban but had to get down as they were running out of fuel. Two of the planes landed in a rice paddy. The P-38s were fitted with a 20-millimeter cannon [Annotator's Note: Hispano M2(C) 20 mm cannon]. When landing, Willford saw a Japanese ship in the water. No one had told him to kill the men on the ship, so he did not. He could not pull the trigger. He felt terrible. They were young Japanese soldiers and it reminded Willford of fellow Japanese students at Hamilton High School in L.A. [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California], who were nice kids. He still thinks about the episode to this day and feels guilty about not shooting because they were in a war. The pilots were not given any specific instructions. He failed his duty by not shooting the Japanese. Willford would complete 119 combat missions, but the first was a tough one for him.

Sandford Robert Willford [Annotator's Note: a fighter pilot with the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force] flew the P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft, which Willford flew]. It landed at about 85 miles per hour. Landings were always fun as was getting to discuss what happened on their missions. He served in both New Guinea and the Philippines. One of Willford's most memorable events, which he still thinks about, were Japanese pilots coming after him. He could outfly them in the P-38, which was new to the war at this point. The American planes were slowly catching up with the Japanese [Annotator's Note: technologically]. By September 1945, the atomic bomb had been dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. In the Philippines, there was a lagoon they could land in. The Japanese had dug holes into the sides of hills and mountains, creating a cave system, about eight or nine feet tall. They were able to fire at the US aircraft from those emplacements. There was a prisoner of war camp in Baguio [Annotator's Note: Baguio, Philippines]. The belly tanks of the planes were filled with napalm to drop onto the caves. Lou Elling [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], the flight leader, was a good guy, but missed his target. Willford, however, succeeded. He wanted the Distinguished Flying Cross [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].

Sandford Robert Willford [Annotator's Note: a fighter pilot with the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force] was not recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight; Willford had successfully hit a Japanese target in the Philippines] by his intelligence officer [Annotator's Note: for a mission he describes in Segment05-Flying in the Philippines of this interview series]. When the war ended in August 1945, Willford was sent home. He got married in October [Annotator's Note: October 1945] and had two kids. His wife did not want him to go away again. While waiting in the Philippines to be sent home, some of the enlisted men had rented a house as a place to go when they had time off. Willford was able to stay there for the last few days. The pilot who flew Willford's plane after he was finished, crashed and was killed. They stayed in the capital of the Philippines [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. There was a nice library in the Philippines where he read about law and got enthused. He went to law school at USC [Annotator's Note: University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California] and became a litigator for about 20 years, enjoying trial cases, it was like flying a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft].

Sandford Robert Willford served with the 5th Air Force, 49th Fighter Group, 9th Fighter Squadron stationed in the South Pacific. Willford retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, having served in the Reserves after the war. His time in the war was incredibly valuable, letting him grow up among men, and to work together. He would do it over again. He is proud that he is able to send his granddaughter to medical school. He is proud to have been able to do what he did for America. It gave him a direction in life. He would have liked to be an astronaut. Everything he was able to do after the war, was thanks to being in the military. Willford got to meet Charles Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American aviator] once when he was in the Pacific teaching them how to increase their gas mileage. Willford's missions lasted four to five hours, sometimes flying to China in a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft]. He had been in Army ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] in high school and knew he did not want to join the Army.

Sandford Robert Willford had three children. He was happy when his granddaughter asked him to tell her about the war. The war made him grow up, it was wonderful. Willford became a lawyer. Being in the military made him appreciative.