Dec 11, 1939 Enlisted and sent to Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois. 5th School Sqdn.

April, 1940 He was enumerated for the 1940 census at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. Don't know why he was there.

Sep 27, 1940 Completed Airplane Mechanics School (32nd School Squadron, class 40-21-B-4)

Mar 7, 1941 Completed Instrument School (32nd School Squadron)

May 22, 1941 Promoted to Corporal (at Chanute Field)

May, 1941 2 months at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah

Sep, 1941 Transferred to Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas as Airplane Mechanic Instructor.

Oct 1, 1941 Promoted to Sergeant

Dec 5, 1941 Completed 140 hour Instructor Training Course at Sheppard Field (318th T.S.S.)

May 1, 1942 Promoted to Staff Sergeant at Sheppard Field

Sep, 1942 Transferred to Amarillo Field, Texas

Nov, 1942 To Gunnery School at Las Vegas, Nevada

Dec 28, 1942 Completed Aerial Gunner's School

Dec, 1942 Transferred to Bolling Field, Washington, DC

Jan, 1943 Transferred to MacDill Field, Florida

with the 3rd Photo Mapping Squadron. They flew F-9 (B-17 version)

Jan 22, 1943 Left for mission to map Canada

From Clarence Becker: We took our new F-10 planes to Alaska & Canada. … photo lab at Fort MacMurray quite a bit north of Edmonton.

Jul, 1943 Returned to U.S.

Nov 17, 1943 3rd PMS left for India via South America and Africa

Based near Gushkara, 90 miles N.W. of Calcutta. Burdwan was 40 miles away.

Flew missions over the hump into China

From Clarence Becker: We took 10 of our F-10s plus 4 B-24s to the CBI in November of 1943. … Photo Lab at our base at Gushkera, India about a hundred miles northwest of Calcutta while we mapped the air routes of India, the Hump from the Assam Valley to Chunking China and the Chabu area that was to become China bases for the B-29s as well as making a mass mosaic or northern Burma that provided the necessary maps for the Imphal invasion Burma that occurred shortly after we returned to the states in mid March 1944.

Mar 15, 1944 Returned to Mac Dill Field, Florida

May, 1944 To Smoky Hill, Salina, Kansas for training in F-13a (B-29) Photo Recon. 3rd Photo Recon Sqdn.

Nov, 1944 To Saipan, Marianas for missions over Japan.

Jan, 1945 Moved to Harmon Field Guam to continue missions over Japan.

Oct, 1945 Returned to the U. S. via ship

Nov 3, 1945 Honorably discharged at Ft Sheridan, Illinois.

James M Vest