Enlisted
on 1 November 1940 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Served in the Panama
Canal Zone and Ecuador volunteered for the Pacific Theater of Operation.Assigned
to the 5th Air Force 43rd Bomb Group 63rd Bomb Squadron "The Sea Hawks" to
Captain Harry Staley's crew as a tail gunner on B-17F #41-24521 "Black Jack" and
B-17F #41-24384 "Pluto" Flying mission from Australia and New Guinea. Awards
include Purple Heart Medal for wounds received over New Guinea, Distinguished
Flying Cross Medal for action on 14 February 1943 on mission to Rabaul, New
Britain, Air Medal, Asia Pacific Medal, American Theater Medal, American Defense
Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and Aerial Gunner Wings Discharged in
1945.