During WWII, I was a Signalman Second Class (SM2) undergoing Naval Aviation pilot training at Pensacola, Florida. Upon graduation in September 1942, I was designated Aviation Pilot Second Class (AP2) and received orders to the Aleutian Islands.
Stopping in Dutch Harbor, I was directed to stow my seabag and Navy uniforms in the Lucky Bag and then issued long underwear and wool army clothing. From there, I proceeded to Adak Island and reported to the PATSU Unit.
The Master-at-Arms issued me an army cot and sleeping bag and assigned me to a tent. My dreams of becoming a hot-shot pilot disappeared when he informed me that I would be assigned to the coal hauling detail.
Life was primitive on Adak at this time, with personnel living in tents and using coal-burning stoves for warmth. My duties were to drop off sacks of coal at various tents each day. After about two weeks of this humiliating experience, I went to see the Officer-in-Charge of the PATSU Unit and asked him if the Navy trained me to fly airplanes so I could come out here and haul coal. He asked me my name and when I told him, he said they had been looking for me and wanted to know where I had been. I told him that I had the honor of being the only coal hauling pilot on the island and believed my talents could be best used elsewhere. He agreed and assigned me the job of correcting aeronautical charts and plotting moving submarine havens for the local patrol squadrons. In order to maintain flight proficiency, I started flying patrols with the tenant PBY squadrons searching for enemy Japanese forces attempting to re-supply their garrison on Kiska.
In March of 1943, I was promoted to Aviation Pilot First Class (AP1) and assigned to Patrol Squadron 43 (VP-43) flying PBY-5A's. Pre-deployment training was conducted at Tongue Point, Oregon and Whidbey Island, Washington prior to returning to the Aleutians. In October 1943, the squadron began operating from the island of Attu, conducting patrols and night bombing raids on the Japanese base at Paramushiro in the northern Kurile Islands.
On January 1st 1944, I was promoted to Chief Aviation Pilot (CAP) and in March 1944 I was designated a Patrol Plane Commander (PPC) in PBY aircraft, a far cry from my coal hauling days.
