Winfred to Folks

Nov. 9, 1943                      0800      WF         March Field, CA Winfred tells the Folks they are really getting a start on third phase. He guesses Cliff is on his way home; they are having nice weather; he has a cold because the temperature in the plane at 20,000 ft is well below zero; and his lips are still sore from the oxygen.

Nov. 8, 1943                     0790      WF         March Field, CA               The Crew Winfred writes the Folks about the effects of oxygen when flying at high altitude. He introduces the crew and tells a story about each. He has a good crew; they have a lot of fun but each man knows his job.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two letters were written and sent home by Winfred on November 7, 1943; one to the Folks and one to his little sister Patsy Ann. Nov. 7, 1943 (1)               0770      WF         March Field, CA                No Env Winfred writes the Folks he is doing okay – caught up on sleep; will not make it home to see Cliff; and hopes for a better rating soon.

Nov. 5, 1943                     0760      WF         March Field, CA Winfred writes the folks he has been doing a lot of flying; 6-to-7-hour missions; flying in formation; gunnery and bombing practice at 20,00 ft over the ocean.  There were pursuit planes, like the real thing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two letters were written and sent home by Winfred on November 12, 1943; one to the Folks and one to his sister Margaret. Nov. 3, 1943 (1)               0740      WF         March Field, CA Winfred writes to the folks. He has not received any mail for the past 4 or 5 days. He no longer gets a daily letter from his girl. They ‘ve been flying every day for a week; went on a search mission for a lost plane that went down; the radio operator did not tell them the location.  Went on a cross country hop; flew over Boulder Dam; next going on a practice gunnery mission over the Pacific; says he is pretty well set on going across soon.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two letters were written and sent home to the Folks on October 31, 1943; one by Winfred and one by Clifford. Oct. 31, 1943 (1)              0720      WF         March Field, CA               No Env Winfred is over his cold now but is still busy. He thinks Clifford is on his way home now, but thinks he, himself, will not be getting off any time soon. Winfred begins Phase 3 training tomorrow. The pilot says he will get him a Sergeant rating. Winfred sez to say ‘hi’ to his brother, is going to get some chow, and has sent two letters home for his friends.

Oct. 29, 1943                    0710      WF         March Field, CA               No Env Winfred apologizes to the folks for not writing much lately, he has been busy flying and going to school. He is getting better at his marksmanship. He thanks them for their financial aid, guesses that Cliff is at home now and wishes he could be there.

Oct. 24, 1943                    0680      WF         March Field, CA Winfred writes his folks that he has been sick this past week but worked anyways because there are not enough radio operators. He does not know if he will get a furlough but could not afford it if he did.  But he wants to get home so bad that he might even steal the money to get there!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two letters were written home by Winfred on October 20, 1943; one to the Folks and one to Margaret. Oct. 20, 1943(1)               0650      WF         March Field, CA Winfred should finish up with the dentist this morning, has been reading about “aerial gunners”, says winter is pretty cool there, is as busy as ever, says “listening to static from 2 or 3 stations constantly for four or five hours will drive you ‘wacky’ – no time to look at the scenery.

Oct. 18, 1943                    0640      WF         March Field, CA Winfred has been flying a lot lately, no time to sleep. He had 2 teeth filled and 3 more to go. He is going on an early morning bombing mission (practice) tomorrow. He still does not have any strips (not a sergeant yet).