Airplanes, Military--United States--History

Scope and Contents Carl O. Dunbar, Jr. served in the U.S. Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF-214 as a pilot in the Pacific Campaign during World War II. This collection contains news articles, navigation log books, photographs, and a scrapbook with artifacts, government documents and letters, photographs, and ephemera. Dunbar's flight mission log book recorded action at Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. This collection also contains a manuscript written by Dunbar's son, Peter, which highlights his father's military career and flying experiences. The photographs are from before, during, and after World War II. Dunbar included materials from his activities after the war, including his career as a lawyer...

Scope and Contents

The collection of Clarke M. Brandt contains an oral history transcript and various publications about army life during World War II. In it are examples such as George (Bob) Caron who was a tail gunner on the "Enola Gay" B-29 Bomber. The oral history includes Caron's eyewitness account of the bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. Also included are pamphlets and newsletters including "War Buddies," which covers the relationship between a soldier and his canine companion through his years as a member of the US Marine Corps. "War Buddies" is written by Earle Welch and Dick Roberts.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Private First Class Craig Darius Whitesell who served as an armorer with the 3rd Search Attack at Langley Field, VA during World War II. He was stationed in Atlantic City, NJ, Buckley Field, CO, Langley Field, VA, Florence, SC, and Great Bend, KS. This collection includes letters, documents, postcards, photographs, and newspaper clippings. The letters in this collection were written by Whitesell to his parents throughout his time in the Army Air Corps. His letters detail the life of a mainland armorer in the Army Air Corps, which includes training classes, KP and guard duty, and relations between privates and their superiors. He also discusses...

Scope and Contents

This collection contains Franklin Merle Peterson's personal correspondence, newspapers, ephemera, and photographs from Peterson’s lifetime. Peterson was a veteran of the First World War in France and the Second World War in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Scope and Contents This collection consists on a series of papers focused on Albert "Al" Haggerty and the "Three Feathers"  B-24 Liberator Bomber he was assigned as crew chief during World War II. The "Three Feathers" bomber belonging to the 726th Bomber Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. Documents in the collection include Haggerty's memories of his time with the plane, photocopies of pictures of the plane and the crew as well as an excerpt from a book were Sidney Winski, the first pilot of this aircraft,  recounts the "Three Feathers" incident, and finally the transcript of an interview where Haggerty provides a detailed account of his life, his time in training, the "Three Feathers incident," his...

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of Joseph Jennings, who was enlisted in the U.S. Navy and worked as an aircraft radio operator during World War II and served in the South Atlantic guarding the Brazilian coastline near Rio do Janeiro. The interview covers his duties and anecdotes, like his training in Norfolk, VA, his emergency appendectomy, and his time in Dutch Guyana. The interview also describes his early years during the Great Depression in Oklahoma.

Content Description

This collection relates to John L. McQuigg (Lieutenant Colonel with the US Army Air Force) who served with the 8th Air Force in Photographic Reconnaissance in the European and Mediterranean Theaters and participated in the North African and the Italian Allied Photo Reconnaissance Wing, including surveillance for the Anzio Landing. The collection contains military papers, ephemera, photographs, artifacts, and maps covering John L. McQuigg's communication with his wife and children, surveillance operations during the war, and documents from the Air Force reserves following the war.

Scope and Contents

The bulk of this collection consists of log transcriptions of the missions in which Francis P. Rondinone participated. Rondinone was a staff sergeant in the 8th Air Force where he worked as a B-24 Flight Engineer. The log entries cover information such as date, mission purpose, flying time and place. The file also includes a picture of Rondinone in uniform, a scan of his Certificate of Valor, photocopies of documents regarding his Honorable Discharge certificate, his obituary and two poems of unknown authorship related to his squadron.

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This collection relates to Sherman T. Rose, a flight instructor for the Tuskegee Airman and a private in the Air Force enlisted reserve. This collection contains an oral history transcript that details Rose's job as a flight instructor and his experience with segregation in the military.

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This collection contains seven World War II U.S. Army Air Corps related photographs: 1) Line of parked P-51s at unidentified airfield, 2) Ladd Army Airfield, 3) P-39s taking off (photo from Bell Aircraft Corporation),4) P-51 "Buffalo Belle," 5) A C-47 Sky Train, 6) Cartoon of Japanese occupation of Kiska Harbor, 7) B-24 "My Baby" and crew: John C. Bechtel, Navigator; Robert A. Weiss, Pilot; R. C. Murphy, Co-Pilot; E. R. Michael, Bombardier; A. Centore, Ball Turret Gunner; L.J. Binghold, Radio Operator; W. M. Leighton, Nose Gunner and Assistant Engineer; J.W. Shupping, Top Turret Gunner; E. R. Herron--Tail Turret Gunner and Assistant Radio Operator; J. E. Williamson, Engineer.