The Family is thrilled that Frank, the youngest, has been made a navigator, and they send off congratulations. I'm grouping both of Frank's brothers' letters (first from Will, then from Fred) in one post, and a brief postcard, sent in between the brothers' letters, from Frank to his Mom.
Frank Gartz's classification has come through on 1/4/1944. He's been assigned to be a be a navigator. Stephen Ambrose in his book, "The Wild Blue," about B-24 airmen, states: "After mental and physical exams, the men who passed were asked to list a preference: pilot, navigator, or bombardier. Those who put down pilot—a vast majority—figured you needed a top score to quality, but in fact, the AAF [Army Air Force] took its navigators from those who scored best."
Frank Ebner Gartz is now the farthest away from home he's ever been since starting his World War II training. He's in Los Angeles, California, and tells his mom he wants lots of letters from the folks back in Chicago. He sounds a little homesick and wants to keep in touch.
Frank Gartz's best buddy, Frank Von Arx, is at it again, sending greetings from his present post at Elmendorf Field in Alaska. He writes that some of his buddies are flying at altitudes where the temperature is 60 degrees below zero. That's what these boys in the Army Air Corps will have to deal with regularly on bombing missions.
It's Christmas Eve, 1944, and Frank Gartz just took the test to determine what his classification in the Army Air Corps would be. Pilot? Navigator? Bombardier? Gunner? Read on to find out about the tests he describes that will determine his fate. He's now in California—Santa Ana Army Air Base, to be exact, and this next week he'll be on pins and needles, waiting.