WWII called people into many different roles. Some were on the front lines and others made sure that the people on the front lines were well trained and ready to fight. Part of the support team were those that cared for airplanes overseas and at the training camps.
WWII
Even before the United States joined what became known as World War II (WWII), the government started registering young men for the draft. On October 16, 1940, Dewey Stanton McCracken (a.k.a. Uncle Dewey) did his duty and registered. He was deferred in the interest of the nation. He was plenty able bodied, but running the family farm operation kept him at home.
However, several months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Dewey received the call to serve. On October 21, 1942, Dewey was inducted into the Army Air Force. A short time later, he left for Sheppard Field (later known as Sheppard Air Force Base) near Wichita Falls, Texas, where he attended basic training and Technical Training School.
Shepard Field was comprised of 300 acres and had only officially become an Army Air Corp training facility a little over a year earlier. However, training was in high gear with three eight-hour training shifts each day. While there, Dewey said, “The young guys might have done better at the book work, but they didn’t have any practical skills in the field.” He wasn’t quite 25. Still, Dewey thought he was one of the “old guys.” He believed he had general knowledge, life experiences, and skills that the 18-year-olds did not.
Bouncing Around
After his training at Sheppard, Dewey was assigned to March Field near Riverside, California, a short distance from downtown Los Angeles. Dewey was only a little over a hundred miles from San Diego, where his brother William (Howard) lived. Howard had also gotten a deferral because he was working for Solar Aircraft and was considered essential to the war effort.
The airfield at March Field had been built during WWI when General Squier committed to taking warfare to the skies in response to Germany’s similar commitment. By the time Dewey arrived, the facility was training aircrews destined for the Pacific Theater. It was best known, however, for being the location Bob Hope first performed for members of the military. Bob Hope’s service to service men and women pre-dated the war with his first performance being given May 6, 1941 – almost exactly seven months before Pearl Harbor.
The Army Air Force assigned Dewey to be a flight engineer, which included managing mechanical operations during the flight. He was responsible for a variety of actions including lowering the landing gear. He was the one who had to figure out what to do if the hydraulics weren’t working and he couldn’t get the landing gear down. His job also included starting the propellers on the aircraft, a task that he thought was a bit more dangerous than he cared to experience on a daily basis.
Rumor was that Dewey decided that he didn’t like the idea of being a flight engineer because it required him to start the propeller. However, more than likely the Army Air Force just decided they needed him as a mechanic more than they needed him as a flight engineer.
Greenville Army Air Base
On the move again, Dewey went to Florida for a short time before landing at Greenville Army Air Base in South Carolina. He joined the 334th Bombardment Group of the Third Air Force becoming a mechanic on the B-25 Mitchell. In his new role, he cared for the planes used to train replacement aircrews. Like Howard, Dewey had studied at the American Aeronautical Institute in Kansas City prior to his induction in the Army. He had training focused on sheet metal and riveting, which weren’t bad skills for an airplane mechanic to possess.
Soldiering
As Dewey settled into life in Greenville, it seemed he had finally found a long-term Army home. At the time, he didn’t think they were planning to send him overseas anytime soon. In a letter to his dad, Dewey wrote, “We don’t do much soldiering here.” Dewey’s regularly scheduled soldiering activities were limited to ten minutes of exercise each morning, weekly guard duty, and a weekly parade. In addition, early in his time at Greenville, he attended a required fifteen-hour class in chemical warfare and he reported that he expected to eventually spend some time on the rifle range.
With his dry sense of humor, he wrote, “I don’t suppose I could hit a squirrel anymore. I haven’t shot a gun since being in the Army.” Although he implied that he might have lost his edge with weapons, Dewey was actually confident in his shooting ability and he was looking forward to the opportunity to demonstrate how well he could shoot. Having hunted squirrels, rabbits, wolves, and other animals on occasion, Dewey knew he had an advantage on the rifle range over the men who had never held a gun before they entered the service.
Blackout Practice
The only other thing besides work, which he said came in waves, that had been going on was blackout practice. However, that wasn’t anything unique to the military as civilians were required to practice as well – even in Kansas far from the coast. Dewey thought, however, that the reason for the practice might be to give the WACs a break from all the servicemen pursuing them. However, he didn’t sound too interested and he didn’t think their uniforms made them very attractive.
West Point Man
Soon his Commanding Officer was a “West Point Man.” This officer thought that the men should actually be soldiers. However, he did not report a significant change in activities.
A Year Later
Despite constant changes, nothing really changed much at all at Greenville. Each new officer had to put their stamp on things to show their worth. But, effectively things stayed the same. Dewey bounced back and forth between day shift and night shift and things were tweaked here and there. Otherwise, the men played softball, attended shows, and had an occasional party. He said that he hadn’t had KP in months, but he figured that one day they would remember that he was still there.
Speculation
The guys in Greenville had been busy speculating when the war in Europe would draw to a close. The Army rumor mill said that the Allies were gaining ground and that it wouldn’t be long before it was over. Based on what he heard, Dewey guessed – or hoped – it might be over by mid-December.
Busy, Busy, Busy
A portion of the Greenville crew had been transferred to Battle Creek, Michigan. Dewey didn’t know if that was a sign of things to come, but the idea of escaping the sultry afternoons by moving to a base farther north was appealing. Still, he didn’t think he had a chance of being transferred out of Greenville, especially given they were so busy with the latest B-25 class.
With reduced staff, the maintenance guys at Greenville were fully occupied keeping the planes in working order. The past three weeks, they had even worked on Sunday, but only at half-strength. Dewey liked his Sundays off and so far, he had escaped Sunday duty since some of the guys volunteered to work Sunday so that they could get a day off during the week. It probably meant more work for him, but Dewey felt that he would end up being one of the men who performed a majority of the work anyway. Somehow some of the men always did a majority of the work while others managed to do only the jobs of their choice.
Dewey was glad when the class completed their training. Now, he could finally get some time to relax.
Time Marches On
Time Marches OnEarly September was warm with a low volume of work for the maintenance guys in Greenville. Dewey attended the regular weekly lectures and watched as soldier after soldier was called in to discuss their driving experience. The speculation was that they were looking for men to reassign as drivers. And, Dewey figured those men were headed for an assignment overseas.
One evening, Dewey listened to a required talk about the Articles of War, which defined the regulations of the military and associated discipline procedures. The Army must have been making the rounds ensuring that every soldier knew the regulations because, although separated by the Atlantic Ocean, within a week’s time both Dewey and Howard attended a class on the Articles of War.
A Change
A few days later, Dewey switched from working production line maintenance during the daytime to being in charge of five planes on the night shift. The maintenance routine had been altered requiring all the engine changes and other maintenance line work to take place during the day. Since no flying had occurred for a couple of days, Dewey had little work to do. However, he had to stay on duty until at least midnight. On September 11, he passed the time until the witching hour by sitting in a plane writing letters. At midnight, Dewey planned to draw straws with his men to see which lucky fellow would get the privilege of staying on duty to baby-sit the planes for the remainder of the shift while the others got to sleep.
With the slow work schedule came the ability for the men to get three-day passes. Dewey hadn’t yet figured out what to do with a three-day pass. He thought it might be fun to go see one of Notre Dame’s upcoming football games. However, he figured that too many of the other guys had the same idea.
There wasn’t much excitement in camp either. The men had made some fun by swimming in the recently filled ditching-pool. However, the fun had been quickly squelched by a new rule stating that no swimming would be allowed until the base could post lifeguards at the site. Before the men could again enjoy swimming, rain and cooler temperatures arrived
A Hurricane Takes Aim
A very large and dangerous hurricane was brewing in the Atlantic. Like most hurricanes, its path wasn’t easy to predict. Originally, it was thought that the hurricane might hit South Carolina. However, the storm had taken a turn northward, which resulted in about 400 planes being flown to Greenville Army Air Base to get them out of the path of the storm.
Just in case the storm took another turn and started tracking near Greenville, the Army Air Force put plans in place to fly all the planes to yet another location if necessary. According to Dewey, “If they had to leave in a hurry, I reckon the runway would’ve been hot.”
Greenville Army Air Base escaped the storm. Instead, eye passed near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The change in course resulted in a direct hit on military ships on the Atlantic. The USS Warrington, a minesweeper, two Coast Guard cutters, and another boat sunk and 344 military personnel lost their lives.
More Changes
More ChangesAfter the storm, it was back to business as usual. Dewey’s time on the night shift hadn’t lasted long and he was back on the day shift again, where he spent a busy day in late September doing a double engine change.
Dewey expected more changes at the beginning of October. The official plan had yet to be revealed. However, Dewey thought the brass was serious about creating a new organizational structure. He speculated that the men would be reorganized into four or five flight squadrons with one maintenance squadron.
Dewey wasn’t sure if some of the men might get shipped out with the change or not. Just in case everybody got split up, the guy thought a big party was in order. They invited the wives and girlfriends that lived in the area, as well as the WACs on base. Since Dewey knew everybody in his current unit and he thought they were a pretty good group, he was not looking forward to the change.
Monotonous Spring
When the spring of 1945 arrived, so did a lot of brass. Rumors floated around Greenville that the commanders might cut the number of planes regularly flying by 10 percent, reducing the planes in the air from 63 to 57. As usual it was difficult to determine the validity of the camp rumors. However, when lots of brass were around, changes were likely. It was true that some of the planes in Greenville were grounded because of a shortage of tires as not even the Army Air Corps could dodge the rubber shortage. However, the fleet size exceeded the number of planes currently in regular use so the training continued without pause.
Life in camp was monotonous, varying little except for the changes in the seasons. Spring had already brought a few days in the mid-eighties. However, that hadn’t lasted long and cool rain followed, making for great sleeping weather, but making night guard duty less pleasant.
Dewey’s days off were equally as exciting. He sent a money order to his parents to pay for his required insurance, sent home papers that needed to be handled, wrote letters, and attended to other details. Even letters home, although cheerful, were the same old thing. They usually included a brief statement about what was happening in his world, questions about the farm, and some questions or teasing about his siblings. For instance, he would ask about Ed and the “girls.”
Still, Dewey was happy leading a boring life instead of dodging bullets overseas. However, he thought the Allies would clean up Germany in two or three more months.
Changes Again . . . Or Not
The Army Air Force wasn’t about to waste good flying weather. And, in drastic shift, the brass was suddenly called for increased flying hours. The senior officers planned to reach 15,000 flying hours during the month of May alone. Dewey thought the 300 inspections required to support that many flying hours would prevent any of the mechanics from leaving Greenville anytime soon. He wrote, “. . . a guy has about as much a chance of getting out of here as he would out of jail. . . I know this isn’t a bad place to be, but is kinda monotonous after all this time.”
Of course, not everything remained the same. Dewey was again anticipating crew changes. After all, he figured the new Major needed to make his mark on the unit. How else would they know he had arrived?
Furlough
After word was received that Howard was missing in action (MIA), Dewey was able to get a furlough to come home for a visit. It had been a long time since he had seen the family and with Howard missing he felt that a trip home was a necessity. So, he packed a bag and caught a train for Florida. It wasn’t exactly a direct route home, but in Jacksonville he could catch the Frisco’s Kansas City-Florida Special.
Soldiers on furlough enjoyed reduced train fares. Still, a round-trip ticket from Greenville, South Carolina to Ft. Scott, Kansas cost about $30, which was significant given the pay soldiers received.
Despite being on leave, Dewey was still required to wear his dress uniform when in public, including while traveling. It provided civilians the opportunity to thank the soldiers and helped maintain a positive image for the military. All too soon it was time for Dewey to return to duty. He left more or less the same as he was when he arrived. The only additions were a bit more of a suntan and a bunch of chigger bites that he had gotten while haying. Being a “visitor” was no excuse not to work. And, it seems Dewey enjoyed being back working on the farm.
Winding Down Operations
With the surrender of the Japanese, operations at the air base in Grenville immediately began to slow. Dewey was now working 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with most days requiring less than a full day’s work. Labor Day weekend had yielded Dewey two and one-half days off. He expected only about two-thirds of the planes in Greenville to continue flying. The remainder would be placed in storage. Thus, Dewey thought that he might start getting partial weekends off for the foreseeable future. It would be a dramatic change from the intense flying schedules of a few months earlier.
Separation Center
Once the war came to a close, the military had a much-reduced need for airplane mechanics or a flight training camp. Thus, Greenville Army Air Base was placed on standby status in November 1945. With no job in Greenville, Dewey was transferred to Ft. Dix, New Jersey, where ten divisions had trained for the war. It was now a separation center helping return 1.2 million soldiers to civilian life.
Dewey’s new job was taking the blood pressure of the men during their physicals as part of the discharge process. Although it was not exciting, Dewey enjoyed the fact that with the men clad only in their underwear, he couldn’t tell who were officers and who were enlisted men. Thus, he didn’t have to worry about saluting and he had the freedom to treat all the men the same.
One day one of the older soldiers being discharged asked, “Have you been taking blood pressures long?” “I was working on airplanes last week, sir” he replied, giving himself, if not others, a chuckle.
Eventually, Dewey found himself in the line to have his blood pressure checked. On January 29, 1946, he was officially discharged from the Army.
Afterward
Dewey later stated that when the atomic bomb was first exploded, that his outlook changed. From then on, he believed that anything man thought of was possible. That was likely not the only thing that changed about Dewey when he was in Greenville. Later in life, he was a “real” card player. He was very hard to beat and considered card playing serious business. Dad always said that Dewey could keep track of every card that had been played, making him a tough opponent. Although I don’t know for sure, I imagine he honed those skills during the boring down times at Greenville.
Note: Portions of this story are adapted from a book I wrote about the family, but have not yet published.