Seventy years ago today, June 6, 1944, the largest seaborne invasion in history took place: D-Day. About 6:30 a.m., 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Thousands of young men lost their lives there, and their sacrifice eventually helped the Allies win the war.
Hondo students learn navigation 1944 (Maybe my uncle knew these guys!) Frank answers both my parents' letters from a few days earlier. His concerns about his coursework are increasing: he's now flunked two exams. Instead of "I'll be [...]
Ticks and chiggers combine with a flunked test to make this twenty-year-old Air Corps Navigation student pretty miserable. I suffered from scores of chigger bites when visiting San Antonio when I was about Frank's age. I could not stop scratching for days and sleep was impossible from the itching madness. I totally empathize with what my uncle went through.
My mother writes Ebner a newsy letter updating him on the World War II home front—everything from the progress of his father's knee condition to my parents' leisure time activities.
My dad, Fred, is working on a new oxygen regulator that his younger brother, Frank, may very well use at some time. (Dad had a deferment from military service because of his defense work.) He updates his brother on the improvements being made on this essential piece of equipment for airmen, or order to save more lives. It's an example of how two brothers were closely bound in World War II service, even though only one was actively in the military.