B-29 (Bomber)

Scope and Contents This collection includes letters written to Arnold Busch, a basketball coach for Calvary Methodist Church in Lakewood, Ohio, by the students he previously coached. Whether drafted or enlisted, many of the men kept up a correspondence with Busch throughout the war years. This collection also includes Calvary Church newsletters and pamphlets, pamphlets regarding persons registered for service, ration books and other rationing documents, and letters returned to Busch because their recipients were MIA, deceased, or relocated. Also included are photographs of Calvary Church activities on the Homefront, the basketball team, and the Calvary Church’s V-J Day service as well as a copy of an...

Scope and Contents

1st Lieutenant Irvin Baker's unpublished manuscript describes his experiences as a platoon leader with the 4th Marine Division and 10th Amtrac Battalion of the United States Marine Corps. He led his platoon through the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Scope and Contents The collection of George and Hazel Barbour relates to George Barbour who served in the 14th Air Force "Flying Tigers" in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater, and his wife Hazel Barbour who remained on the home front during World War II. The collection contains an oral history transcript interview of George Barbour.  It also contains Barbour's unofficial flight journal. Also included are memoirs by his wife, Hazel Barbour, of life on the home front in South Portland, Maine. The collection also consists of brief recollections of her mother (who worked at a shipyard in South Portland, Oregon) on the life of the Pueblo Air Base.  Moreover, the collection contains log notes of George...

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This collection relates to Corporal Robert L. Butler, who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the U.S., and his wife Virginia Butler. This collection contains letters sent between Robert and Virginia while he was training at six different locations from 1944 to 1945. Also included in the collection are letters to Robert from his mother Vedale Butler (née Irwin) and letters to Robert from his brother Charles. The letters are personal but some discuss Robert’s daily routine while in training. Virginia’s letters mostly discuss her day-to-day routine at home in Michigan and the lives of their friends and family.

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This collection contains Donald Preston Ward's letters, postcards, and miltary documents. Ward served with the 40th Heavy Bombardment Squadron, 20th Air Force during World War II.

Content Description

This collection relates to Francis Edwards who served in the 20th U.S. Army Air Force, 58th Group, 25th Squadron in the Pacific theater. This collection contains an oral history transcript detailing his service during the war and his return to the U.S.

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This collection contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Technical Sergeant Bob Caron was the tail gunner on the B-29, "Enola Gay". The transcript covers his training missions, conditions on the plane during the journey, and his reaction to the bomb and its effects.

Scope and Contents The materials in this collection document the experiences of Helen Toles Buffington, a young woman growing up during World War II, as well as the experiences of Herman Buffington, who served with the 96th Infantry Division as a combat soldier who fought in the Battle of Okinawa. Included in the collection is a transcript of Mrs. Buffington’s high school diary, in which she details her daily activities and emotions from 1941 to 1945. Also included in the collection are excerpts from a diary Helen kept while attending Young Harris College and excerpts from a diary Helen kept during the summer of 1945 while working as a phone operator at the Bell Aircraft Corporation, a major...

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This collection includes photographs and documents pertaining to aerial operations over Europe during World War II. Lt. Herman Simler flew over 30 bombing missions over Europe during his service. The squadrons specified in this collection are the 8th Army Air Force, the 15th Army Air Force, and the 716th-719th bomber squadrons.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Master Sergeant James E. Flynn who served as a technician gunner with the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium),  83rd Bombardment Squadron, in North Africa, Italy, and Burma, as well as a photo gunner with the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron on Guam during World War II. The collection consists of paper memorabilia and material objects from his service from 1942-1945. The medals included a Purple Heart and Air Medal. Flynn served as a member of the prewar U.S. Army and went on to serve in the Korean conflict. His collection consists of documents from his military service, newspaper articles, photographs, silk and cloth maps, medals, and patches.  Images of the...

Content Description

This collection relates to Frank Louis Lash who served as a Captain pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the 587th squadron, 394th Bomb Group in the 8th Air Force which was based in England. The collection consists of a mechanical navigational watch and a brief manuscript detailing how the watch was acquired.

Scope and Contents This collection contains materials related to Margery Ann Tully and her husband Horace L. Tully who served with the 31st Special Naval Construction Battalion during World War II on Saipan and Japan.  The collection contains newspapers; military newsletters/bulletins, including the "Sea Bee" and others; postcards, including a set from Seabee Training Camp at Camp Peary, VA; personal photographs at Saipan and various Japanese cities; photographs of the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Lexington (CV-2) at the Panama Canal and crews; a large-scale group photograph and program from the USS Lexington Farewell Ball; Japanese currency and postage stamps; and ephemera.  Also included is a large...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Francis A. Mirigliano who served as a gunner crewman on a B-29 Superfortress bomber on Tinian, Marianna Islands during World War II with the 39th Squadron, 6th Bombardment Group of the 20th Air Force. The collection includes Mirigliano's dress uniform, leather bomber style jacket decorated with hand painted B-29 nickname of "Snuggle Bunny," pilot’s navigation leather flight portfolio, pilot training log book, personal letters and postcards, newspaper clippings, Tinian base newspaper, flight personnel lists, war service certificates, flight records of bombing missions, files of restricted and de-classified documents, fabric navigational maps of Japan and the...

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This collection consists of WWII U.S. Army Air Corps 9th Bombardment Group photographs, letters, military papers, and documents. Also included in this collection are extensive aerial and personal photographs, date book, unit yearbook, and "buddy book" address book.

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This collection relates to First Lieutenant Julian Davis Sewell who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as a Navigator.  The collection includes an address book containing the names of men who served with Sewell, a basic U.S. Army Air Corps aeronautics class notebook, Civil Aeronautics Bulletin, and 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Ceremony program and roster.

Scope and Contents This collection contains personal papers including letters, notes, sketches, newspaper articles, and a radio interview of Mildred Shearer about her work with the United Service Organization (USO) sketching servicemen. Almost 600 photostatic copies and a few original portraits are included as well. The letters are mainly thank you notes in which servicemen and family members of servicemen commend her for her sketches. However, there are a few personal letters from friends and in one case, an entire collection of correspondence with one man in the Marines named Lieutenant Ralph Hunter Bennett. Her letters from Bennett are romantic in nature, unfortunately, they are abruptly cut...