February 22, 1945

Feb. 22, 1945

Dear Mother:

This letter will be very short and probably be the shortest yet.  We are down here in Ardmore Okla. at our final phase base.  I have a full crew which makes 9 men.  They no longer give the crews 2 waist gunners so we have only 9 men.  I have not seen the bombardier yet because he is on leave but I am very fortunate in having a crew such as I have.

Ardmore Army Air Field
Check out the link for stories from the field.

The enlisted men are all privates and corp. and my navigator is a Flt. Officer.  My co-pilot is a wonderful fellow but a little quiet.  He has only had 30 hours in 17s and a graduate of a twin engine school which helps a lot.  I feel very fortunate in getting the officers I have.  My bombardier has been through the school once so we have a good chance of flying overseas.

My enlisted men have had very little time in the ship, especially the engineer upon whom I was going to depend. He knows nothing about the 17 and the ground school and I will have to give him all the dope.  They are all pretty clean cut from most everywhere in the country.  This will have to end because they have put us on a tight schedule for the first 4 days and then on the next 9 so don't look too much for news. 

With love

Austin