Military training and instruction

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Field, Edward Entering the military and Becoming a Poet
Edward Field entered the military to escape his background and the oppression of anti-Semitism. It was wonderful and...
Beyer, Walter Entering the Navy
[Annotator's Note: The video is glitchy in this segment] Walter Louis Beyer was born in Savannah, Georgia in March 1918...
Guyote, Walter Entering the Navy
Walter John Guyote cheated on the eye exam to get into the Navy. He was sent to San Diego, California for boot camp. He...
Troemel, Ben Entering the Navy, Learning to Fly and Assignment to the USS Enterprise (CV-6)
Benjamin Troemel was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was three years old, and it was joked that his...
Spint, Robert Entering the Service
Robert Spint lost a good friend who had gone in the service, was shipped to the Philippines, and was killed when his...
Riddle, Clinton "Clint" Entering the Service
Clinton E. Riddle was born in Loudon County, Tennessee in February 1921. He was the only child in his family and grew...
Smith, Charles Entering the War
The hardest part of boot camp was being told what to do. Charles R. Smith was 18 years old when he went in. He had to...
Shaw, Claude Entrance Into Military Service and Deployment
Life at the Academy [Annotator's Note: United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland] was very good, and Claude...
Whitaker, Fred Entrance into Service
Fred Whitaker was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His family lived in a working-class community. His maternal...
Ramsey, Frank Entrance into Service
Frank Ramsey was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in March 1925. His father worked in real...
White, Charles Entrance into Service
Charles White was born in 1924 in Coraopolis [Annotator’s Note: Coraopolis, Pennsylvania]. He served from 1941 to 1945...
Jenkins, Frederick Entrance into Service
Frederick Jenkins thought it was hard to get organized. He had a school teacher as his company commander during boot...
Hill, Wayne Entrance into Service
Wayne O. Hill thought it was his patriotic duty to go to war. He had to join the Army because of his eyesight. He...
Reilly, Joseph Entrance into Service
Joseph Dean Reilly had a deferment [Annotator's Note: postponement of military service] because he was working for a...
Wolff, Robert Entrance into Service
Robert Wolff was called to active duty on 29 April 1942. He went to a class in Santa Ana [Annotator’s Note: Santa Ana,...
Linscott, Jack Entrance into Service
Jack Linscott was 16 years old when the war broke out. He did not know there was something going on in the Pacific. The...
Barnes, Otis Entrance into Service
Otis Barnes was born in Texas. He grew up when times were tight. His father was able to raise vegetables. Times were...
Laughlin, Alexander Entrance into Service
Alexander Laughlin went out west in the summer times. His mother thought he had asthma. He went to St. Paul’s for four...
Lewis, Claude Entrance into Service
Claude L. Lewis was born in 1922. The Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that...
Donaldson, Buck Entrance into Service
Buck Donaldson joined the Navy. He went to San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] for boot camp by train....
Bennett, Loren Entrance into Service
Loren Bennett went to boot camp at Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois]....
Rice, Rip Entrance into Service
Rip Rice was born in New York City, New York in April 1924. His family was in the restaurant business in lower...
Donovan, Robert Entrance into Service
Robert L. Donovan did not want to be in the infantry. He was working at the Goodrich Company when he learned that the...
Howard, William Entrance into Service
William Howard was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1921. He lived in Fort Worth until he was 11 years old then they moved...
Aleksandrowicz, Frank Entrance into Service
Frank Aleksandrowicz went to central Pennsylvania to report for duty. He had to take several exams. He thought he would...
Offenbacher, Robert Entrance into Service
Robert Offenbacher was born in Lima, Ohio in September 1922. He had five brothers. He was a twin and one brother was...
Burkett, William Entrance into Service
William Burkett was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school] was not hard...
Mitchel, Lyle Entrance into Service
Lyle Mitchell met his wife while he was in school at RIT [Annotator’s Note: Rochester Institute of Technology in...
Waldman, Leon Entrance into Service
Leon Waldman enlisted in the Air Force in November 1942. [Annotator’s Note: Waldman talks about different high schools...
Townsend, Joseph Entrance into Service
Joseph Townsend wanted to join the Marine Corps. His mother objected. His father had served in the Army in the First...
Solomon, Robert Entrance into Service
Robert M. Solomon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in July 1920. His father was an inspector and they moved to...
Camp, Ray Entrance into Service
Ray Camp was born in December 1924 in Friendship, Tennessee. He lived there on a farm until he got drafted. He received...
Dawson, David Entrance into Service
David Dawson was born in October 1924 in Tampa, Florida. They moved to Gary, Indiana when he was two years old. His...
Daley, Chris Entrance into Service
Chris Daley was born in October 1923 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He grew up in a small town. His father owned a wholesale...
Maynard, Joe Entrance into Service
Joseph “Joe” Maynard went to Jacksonville, Florida for aviation school for three months. When he finished school, he...
Denault, Leo Entrance into Service
Leo Denault finished school in June and went into the service on 16 August 1943. He went to basic training in Gulfport...

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